This stalling has to stop. Too much is at stake and the finish line is too close to let a cleaner, more prosperous future slip away.
There is a real danger here that we could lose an historic opportunity and all the vital benefits that would come with it--nearly 2 million jobs that will help American families, cleaner cars and fuels that will cut oil imports in half, and climate solutions that will address the biggest environmental and humanitarian crisis of our age.
The time has come to move into the future, not remain stuck in the past, and Americans from all walks of life agree. In the past few days, business executives, labor unions, religious groups, and environmental organizations have said loud and clear that they want our lawmakers to pass a clean energy and climate bill now.
I believe our leaders are listening. On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said:
"Immigration, energy are equally vital to our economic and national security. And we've ignored both of them for far too long. I'm committed to doing both this session of Congress … Common sense dictates that if you have a bill that's ready to go, that's the one I'm going to go to … the energy bill is ready."
But we have to make sure Senators and the White House hear how urgent this bill is. More delay will hurt America--and help our rivals.
Stalling this bill makes climate change impacts worse. This week, the EPA released a report confirming that global warming is already hitting America: 7 of the top 10 warmest years on record and 8 of the top 10 years for extreme one-day precipitation events have occurred since 1990 (you can see some of the startling graphs here). These trends will continue unless low-carbon technologies are put in place now.
Stalling this bill helps China’s economy, not ours. On Wednesday, Tom Friedman wrote that people were high-fiving in Beijing this week because the Senate’s failure to pass a clean energy and climate bill means China can dominate the global clean energy market, which is expected to attract $230 billion in annual investment by 2020.
Stalling this bill helps Iran and other regimes that support extremists. If the Senate fails to pass clean energy and climate legislation, Iran alone will earn an extra $100 million per day on average from higher oil prices.
It doesn’t have to be this way. You can urge your senators to get clean energy and climate legislation back on track by clicking here.
President Obama also has a critical role to play. Last week, I stood in the Rose Garden and heard the president call for a clean energy and climate bill.
Now that the bill has slowed down, it is time for President Obama to step in to stop the finger pointing, and bring people together to get this done this year.
America can’t wait any longer--we NEED a comprehensive clean energy and climate bill now.
]]>
While this may sound like some dense, bureaucratic tussle, it has real implications for America’s best tools for keeping our air clean and safe. So let me put it in more familiar terms.
Would you fly in an airplane that had no back up system? Imagine that the hydraulics in your plane suddenly failed and the captain couldn’t get the landing gear down. Wouldn’t you want the plane to have a back up system so you could return to the ground safely?
That is what the existing Clean Air Act as administered by the EPA and the states offers in the case of federal legislation to regulate global warming pollution: back up.
I support enacting a federal cap to cut carbon emissions. I think a well-designed cap will be effective. But what if unanticipated problems arise and the federal cap doesn’t work as expected to meet the reduction targets? That is when the key provisions of the existing Clean Air Act should be there as our back up system. The EPA and the states should be there with extra tools to get the job done.
This dual-pronged approach is nothing new. The Clean Air Act has never relied on one system alone to reach its pollution limits. The Acid Rain program, for instance, includes an overall cap on sulfur emissions, but it also includes New Source Review, so that when a company puts new money into an old plant to refurbish it, then it has to invest in modern pollution control technology at the same time.
Industry already has 20 years of experience working with a cap and complementary programs at the same time. This approach-- of focusing on one main cap, but working with a safety net below--has indisputably made our nation’s air cleaner and safer. The acid rain program, for instance, has dramatically reduced soot and smog by levels that will reduce premature deaths by between 20,000 and 50,000 per year in 2010.
The two-pronged approach gets results. And that is why we should also maintain state authority to regulate emissions as well. It offers a similar safety valve.
For example, it is absolutely imperative to keep California’s authority over vehicle emissions. When the federal government has turned its back on innovation, California administrations of both parties have lead the nation with ambitious new standards, and other states have eagerly followed. Likewise, all states must maintain their freedom to curb emissions through a variety of efficiency standards, performance standards, and limits on factory-type sources.
This is the authority that turns states into laboratories of innovation. When the federal government goes dark, the lights stay on in states across the nation, and this is what pushes America forward.
Innovation coupled with strong safety nets make for a powerful combination--in carbon caps and in airplanes.
]]>
The bill, called the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, is the right step at the right time.
It will help us revive the economy and create jobs when we need them most. It will help us reduce carbon emissions before it's too late to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. And it will put American in a position of strength and leadership heading into the international climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December.
The bill is long and complex, and it will take a few days to digest all of its components, but I know already that it gets two critical pieces right: targets and jobs.
The bill sets the target of 20 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2020. This is a strong achievable goal--stronger than the targets in the bill passed by the House in June.
In a piece in Politico, Senator Kerry explained that these targets will drive what he called a "market-based pollution reduction and investment system" that is based on the highly successful--and bipartisan--program for reducing acid rain.
It is the investment aspect of the bill that will drive job creation. Refashioning our energy system into something cleaner and more sustainable will put Americans to work. We will need carpenters to make our buildings more efficient, automakers to build cleaner cars, steelworkers to assemble wind turbines, and engineers to design the next generation of cost-effective hybrid batteries and solar panels.
According to a new report from UC Berkeley, comprehensive energy legislation with strong efficiency measures can create as many as 1.9 millions jobs between 2010 and 2020.
The release of this bill is just the beginning of a long process. Other senators will weigh in on the draft. And make no mistake, so will the lobbyists for Big Coal and Big Oil.
The industries that benefit from keeping America tied to dirty 19th century energy technologies will fight this effort to create a cleaner, more innovative future.
But I remain optimistic that the calls for clean energy and climate solutions across the country will lead to action. I have heard these calls myself from union members in Indiana to religious leaders in Washington, security hawks in Georgia, and business leaders in Ohio.
The majority of Americans support clean energy and climate legislation. Now we must let our senators know that we expect them to pass the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act.
]]>
It means the urgency has never been greater. Three forceful deadlines are looming ever closer:
Let's not forget that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid set his own deadline: he said he intends to pass a climate bill by the end of the year.
Last week, Senators Boxer and Kerry announced they would delay the drop of their draft climate bill a few weeks. In the meantime, NRDC will urge Senators Boxer and Kerry to include strong targets and firm timetables in their draft to get America moving on the path to addressing climate change.
And as the draft emerges, we will take Senator Reid at his word that the bill will come to a vote before the year is over. Indeed, we will hold him to it.
Because while the health care debate may have slowed the climate bill down, it is our job to move it forward again. We will get that job done in the field.
The Washington Post recently reported that the majority of Americans support President Obama's clean energy policies. The environmental community is combining forces with labor unions, religious communities, business leaders, and the youth movement to carry the voices of those millions of Americans to elected officials.
We have already accomplished a great deal. We spent the summer helping to pass the House climate bill, exposing fraud within the dirty fuel lobby's opposition, and responding to genuine excitement for the clean energy opportunities among America's workers. I saw it myself last week when I attended a Made In America rally with steelworkers in Gary, Indiana.
We will build on that work. Our major media and grassroots campaign will reach out to senators in their home districts, and we won't let up if their support for green jobs waivers.
I look at the next few months as among the most challenging in my career. There is a lot of organized opposition to change, even though that is what President Obama was elected to do. Indeed, despite the misleading right-wing onslaught, recent polling shows just how popular clean energy legislation is with most Americans.
Still, it will take a relentless drumbeat of support to drown out industry's fear mongering.
That won't be an easy task. You can help by clicking here and telling your senators you support this bill.
And remember, since the House passed a clean energy and climate bill back in June, we are half way there.
]]>
But, as we've now seen, the town halls meetings held by representatives have erupted into shouting matches and mob scenes, bringing productive conversations to a halt.
While the primary target of vitriol has been health care reform, recent accounts make it clear that some corporate-funded efforts to take down health legislation also want to sink clean energy and climate legislation.
As I just read in the Wall Street Journal, oil companies, like those which support the American Petroleum Institute, have teamed up with astroturf groups, such as Freedom Works, to fund rallies and try to block action on clean energy and climate legislation.
Another group Americans for Prosperity, for instance, is opposed to both health care reform and the Senate's clean energy bill. Rather then being an outgrowth of grassroots concern, it was founded and funded by a top executive at Koch Industries, an enormous oil and gas giant that is one of the largest privately held corporations on the globe.
Similarly, the New York Times reported that the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity--supported by coal companies-- was shipping out "America's Power Army" to town hall meetings. But as my colleague Pete Altman has pointed out, the so-called army is so starved for actual citizens that it has resorted to fraud in its letter campaigns against climate legislation.
As I read the accounts about the rancor--and effigies--found at the recent town hall meetings, I can't help but notice that these disruptive forces aren't offering any solutions. Instead they are peddling misinformation and fear to stop America from moving in a new direction. Change can be hard - and we have every right to get clear explanations and straight answers from our elected leaders. But, the "Just Say No" crowd is simply holding us back from a clean energy future.
What is their plan for dealing with soaring unemployment and our dangerous dependence on oil?
In the face of economic turmoil and global warming, America urgently needs constructive answers, not intimidation. We need bold new opportunities, not business as usual.
Clean energy and climate legislation can get America moving down a cleaner, more efficient path that will generate more jobs for here in America.
America needs real solutions - and we need everyone to do their part by encouraging your Senators to move forward with clean energy and climate legislation. Now, is the time for them to hear from you -- whether its by sending a letter, clicking here, or by going to a town hall meeting in your home state.
The next few months are critical in this debate. I hope you will lend your voice toward a positive conversation for America's future about how we can create jobs, shift to clean energy and unleash economic opportunities across America.
]]>
At NRDC, we have long seen the promise in biofuels. Done right--using sustainable crops and assessing the carbon footprint from soil to fuel tank--biofuels can help reduce our dependence on foreign oil, bring new markets to rural communities, and be a real part of the solution to global warming.
But biofuels can also be done wrong, and if the ACES provisions don't get fixed, that is what will happen. Biofuels production will start threatening forests and wildlife habitat and even increase global warming pollution.
Biofuels done that way is something NRDC can't support. And it is something the American public won't support either. Americans have been willing to embrace biofuels as a clean energy solution, but if it turns into just another dirty fuel, they won't buy it. Nor will they tolerate the huge mandates and generous tax credits that direct more public money to biofuels than any other form of renewables.
I don't want to see that happen. I want to see America realize the promise of biofuels. That's why NRDC will be fighting to stop the three most problematic parts of the ACES biofuels policy from going forward. My NRDC colleague Dave Hawkins is testifying today, along with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on biofuels and other aspects of the ACES bill (follow or read his testimony here). These are some of the things we intend to fix:
Current law (the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007) requires the use of a huge amount of biofuels-36 billion gallons-and requires new biofuels to reduce greenhouse gas pollution. Now, however, as a result of an eleventh-hour change, ACES weakens this requirement by forcing the EPA to use faulty carbon accounting.
Rep. Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson and entrenched Big-Ag interests held ACES hostage, demanding changes that strip away the existing requirement that biofuels producers do a full lifecycle accounting of their carbon emissions, including market-driven impacts such as international deforestation.
This means that if a biofuels company persuades a farmer to grow biofuels feedstock instead of soy, it doesn't have to account for the fact that this decision impacts the global food market, and that somewhere in the world, another farmer is likely to clear carbon-storing tropical rainforest in order to grow soy to make up for the lost American supply.
In this fuzzy accounting system, we wouldn't have to acknowledge that the carbon released from deforestation is greater than the carbon pollution we were trying to limit by burning biofuels in cars.
Unless we fix this, the only responsible course for Congress is to temporarily suspend the renewable fuel standard, which creates the 36 billion gallon requirement. If we can't tell whether our biofuels are taking us in the right direction, we shouldn't require people to use them.
The truth is American farmers can produce biofuels from biomass that doesn't disrupt the food supply or raze our lands by reviving degraded farm land and using residues from agriculture, forestry, and recycling. But without the right signal--a requirement to fully account for lifecycle carbon emissions--American farmers won't have the incentive they need to explore biomass opportunities that prevent deforestation and genuinely reduce carbon emissions.
The ACES compromises took another step backward from existing law by dramatically weakening the guidelines for what constitutes renewable biomass--a change that leaves our native grasslands, wildlife habitat, old-growth forests, and federal lands in danger of being cleared to produce energy crops. ACES now eliminates all sourcing guidelines on non-federal lands and significantly dilutes the level of protection for our federal forests.
The entire purpose of the American Clean Energy and Security Act is to track carbon emissions and account for them under the carbon cap. But lawmakers decided that emissions from burning biomass would not be covered under the cap. If a coal power plant replaces half of its coal with biomass, it only has to buy carbon allowances for half of its pollution.
This makes sense if the biomass is sourced in a sustainable, low-carbon way, but if the biomass comes from old growth trees or plowed under forests, then burning that biomass constitutes a major increase in carbon pollution. It should be covered under the cap, not given a free pass.
The American public already tempered its support for biofuels when last year's spike in biofuels production was held responsible for rising global food costs.
Once people learn that lawmakers such as Representative Peterson are trying to strip away the guidelines that protect tropical forests, safeguard American wildlands, and ensure that biofuels are genuinely low-carbon, they will rightly grow more skeptical of the biofuels industry.
If we can repeal the last-minute biofuels amendments to ACES, we can replace that skepticism with a belief that biofuels done right can be a real, American-grown, global warming solution.
]]>This is a historic moment. But work still lies ahead. We need to strengthen the bill as it works its way through the Senate and on to the White House.
Watch this NRDC video to find out more about the significance of this legislation and where we need to head next.
]]>
This historic vote defied expectations. Back in January, few people believed that six months into a new session and a new administration--and in the midst of an economic meltdown--we could pass transformative clean energy legislation in the House.
Well we did it. And we did it because this is America's quickest path toward a cleaner, more prosperous future.
House leaders Nancy Pelosi, Henry Waxman, and Ed Markey deserve a great deal of the credit for this success.
This was not an easy fight. The bill touched off regional differences and challenged Big Oil's and Big Coal's stranglehold on America's energy supply. Waxman, the chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, had to corral many opposing interests to create a bill that would get out of committee and survive the bumpy journey through the Senate and on to the White House.
The bill that made it past the House will help America begin to address the climate crisis. I hope that the bill will become stronger as it progresses along the legislative process, but as Waxman said at a recent press conference: all the essentials for fighting global warming are already in the bill. (Watch the video release NRDC produced on the significance of this bill.)
One of the keys to this bill's success was that Americans from all walks of life urged their lawmakers to back climate action. (Click here to learn about the cross-section of Americans who came to a DC rally in support of the bill on Wednesday.)
I saw it for myself. In the past year, I traveled the country to help build momentum for national climate legislation, and the people I talked to--from clean energy entrepreneurs in Cleveland to labor organizers in Chicago, from national security experts in Georgia to religious leaders in New York-- all believe that building a clean, sustainable energy future will unleashing enormous opportunities for Americans. I agree, and that is why I am thrilled that the House passed this bill.
But I also recognize that this is just the beginning. We need to improve this bill and get it through the Senate and on to the president's desk, and we need to do it before the international climate negotiations begin in December in Copenhagen.
The fight in the Senate will be challenging. But just as we defied expectations in the House, we can defy them in the Senate.
In the coming weeks, my NRDC and colleagues and I will be turning all our attention to this final push. The House's historic passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act just gave our efforts powerful momentum.
]]>In the nearly two decades I have been advocating for climate solutions, I have never witnessed a more urgent moment or stronger leadership.
The scientific evidence is clear: to prevent severe, widespread, and irreversible impacts of global warming from dominating our future, we must act now--not in a year or two.
The economic analysis is equally clear: according to the EPA, and even some of the scenarios peddled by climate action opponents, the economy, personal income, and job creation grow robustly under a climate bill. Our economy--and the planet--needs this bill.
Fortunately, both the White House and members of Congress have responded to these findings. Representatives Henry Waxman and Ed Markey have drafted the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) and shepherded it to the floor for a vote on Friday. President Obama has pledged his support for the bill; here is his comment on it from Tuesday's press conference:
Keep in mind: the ACES bill isn't the last word on climate action. But it's a decisive one.
Transitioning our entire energy structure to cleaner, more sustainable sources is an enormous undertaking, one that cannot be completed with one policy, one fiat, or one declaration. But it can start here, with the ACES bill.
Not only will we endeavor to make the bill stronger as it works its way to the White House, but the bill reflects the unfolding nature of climate change. ACES includes something called science look-backs: if, after the bill has passed, new scientific data calls for stronger action, our lawmakers have room to strengthen regulations and clean energy opportunities.
In the meantime, ACES gets us headed in the right direction. The legislation:
I personally hope the bill gets strengthened as it moves through the legislative process, but I am happy that it already includes these critical elements.
Still, the window of opportunity for this bill could close quickly. We face two looming deadlines.
First, the international climate negotiations are scheduled in Copenhagen this December. If we don't arrive with a strong commitment to cut global warming pollution at home, the global consensus could be deeply undermined.
Second, pressure for health care reform is mounting here at home. President Obama has said repeatedly hat he wants Congress to send him clean energy and climate legislation, but the media and the public are beginning to get caught up in the health care debate. If Congress acts swiftly to pass ACES, it can devote its attention more fully to health care.
I urge everyone who cares about the health of the planet and the prospect of sustainable prosperity to tell their representatives to support the American Clean Energy and Security Act. Click here to do so.
]]>That's why Ohio was such a good place to go. It has enormous potential to become, as Ohio's Senator Brown likes to say, the Silicon Valley of clean energy technology.
Now that might surprise some people. After all, Ohio is home to multiple energy-intensive industries, and it gets a shocking 85 percent of its electricity from dirty coal.
I am under no illusions that Ohio will rid itself of coal power overnight. That will be a gradual process, and it will require federal incentives for capturing global warming pollution from coal plants and storing it underground.
But in the meantime, Ohio is taking steps to shift toward greener energy. NRDC's Midwest Program has been working for the past few years in Ohio in support of the state's excellent energy efficiency programs and its new renewable energy requirement.
These initiatives are a good start, but a national climate law that increases demand for clean energy technologies would dramatically expand the number of good paying jobs in Ohio.
We are well aware of how critical the jobs issue is in Ohio, and we know that a national clean energy agenda has to demonstrate its ability to generate new jobs. We are confident that it can.
The University of Massachusetts, for instance, has estimated that Ohio alone could produce over 80,000 clean energy jobs. These include jobs for steelworkers who build wind turbines, electricians who install solar panels, construction workers who retrofit buildings and homes to make them more energy efficient.
Why so many opportunities? Because clean energy jobs are more labor intensive and require more domestically-made materials than the fossil fuel industry. Studies show that for every $1 million spent on clean energy, we can create 3 to 4 times as many jobs as if we spent the same amount on fossil fuels.
My NRDC colleague, Pete Altman, knows an Ohio man named Wes McGuire who got laid off when his factory closed down. Wes decided to take a two-week training course in green technology that was offered by his county career center. The course led to an interview with a Springboro, Ohio company called Cobasys, which makes batteries for hybrid vehicles. Now Wes is a maintenance technician and CWA-IUE member at Cobasys.
If the American Clean Energy and Security Act gets passed by Congress in the next month or two, more people like Wes will find jobs at Cobasys, because the bill includes provisions that will expand the market for hybrids. Cobasys will need to ramp up production to meet the rising demand, and that means more jobs in Ohio.
While I was in Cleveland, I talked with a number of community leaders and business executives, and each one of them said they want Ohio to be a leader in the clean energy economy.
They have the ability, because a national push for low-carbon technologies will tap into Ohio's traditional strengths. Ohio has a remarkable industrial base, dense networks of upstream and downstream suppliers close to R&D facilities, and a well-trained work force.
Look at Toledo. The former glass capitol is converting factories to make solar panels. There are already 90 companies in Ohio that manufacture the 8,000 parts it takes to build a wind turbine.
The clean energy economy in the Midwest will be about using what you have, but changing what you do with it. The jobs will follow.
]]>
Not only did the bill clear a major hurdle on Thursday night--moving out of committee and closer toward the House floor. But it did so with the backing of lawmakers from across the nation, representing a wide range of energy needs. The bill was also endorsed by many environmental, business, labor, and other organizations.
I view this broad support as a testament to the bills immense economic and energy potential.
This bill has the power to jumpstart whole new industries, create millions of good-paying American jobs, and generate hundreds of billions of dollars in energy savings and benefits to low-income families. It will also demonstrate American leadership as the international community crafts a new agreement to protect our planet in Copenhagen later this year.
Thursday's vote was the culmination not just of a week of marathon debate within the committee, but months of negotiation and years of planning, strategizing, and mobilizing. Even before Waxman and Markey released their first draft in late March, an incredible team of NRDC experts were working with congressional staff on the policy details that shaped this nearly thousand-page bill.
The vote last night is a validation of that work. It also validates the work NRDC has put into partnerships like US Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) and the Blue-Green Alliance of environmentalists and labor unions.
This victory is significant, but it is just the beginning of the huge effort that lies ahead to get a strong bill to the President's desk.
Over the next couple of months the bill is expected to be referred to eight other House committees before going to the floor for a vote. While some committees do not plan on scrutinizing the bill, others will consider it carefully, so our team will be tracking these deliberations closely. If everything goes as planned and the bill passes the floor vote, then the Senate will take up the bill in the fall and we start all over again. (See my recent post about the critical importance of getting a House vote before the August recess.)
I look forward to continuing to push toward a signing ceremony at the White House in the near future.
]]>
I echo Obama's praise. He was referring to the fact that Rep Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is close to a deal on a draft bill that will move America toward a clean energy future, create millions of jobs and whole new industries in America, and reduce global warming pollution.
The past few weeks of negotiations have been tough, but Waxman has addressed the concerns of key legislators on how to craft a bill that the 59-member committee can approve.
Judging from what Waxman said on Tuesday night, several key issues have been agreed among Committee Democrats, and Waxman is confident the bill will pass out of Committee next week and head to the House floor for a vote.
The working draft now:
Although the bill contains compromises, the legislative process is by its nature one comprised of multiple interests. The top priority for NRDC remains setting firm limits on carbon pollution that will unleash energy investments that take us down a cleaner energy pathway. This bill will get us moving in that direction.
It also sends a message that the world has been waiting to hear. In the past few months, I have met with various international leaders, from Minister Xie Zhenhua, the lead climate negotiator for China, to Connie Hedegaard, the Danish minister of the environment. Each one of them has asked me if Congress is serious about addressing climate change.
After years of delay due to big oil and other special interests, Congress is finally moving forward and fulfilling President Obama's vision of America's clean energy future. Now let's get this through the committee and to the floor. More work lies ahead.
]]>This was a welcome development. I have appreciated the fact that Obama endorses clean energy and climate legislation every chance he gets. But the meeting took it to another level.
Obama called the meeting to reach out to the 36 Democrats on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which is currently revising the Waxman-Markey draft climate legislation.
Some swing voters on Capitol Hill are concerned that even if this climate bill passes the House, it will die in the Senate, and yet they will still be attacked for supporting it in the first place. They say, "Don't make me walk a plank if we are not going to succeed."
Having the White House involved helps change that dynamic. President Obama's engagement could reassure skittish lawmakers that he is seriously committed to passing climate legislation and will throw his support behind it.
The truth is we need presidential leadership to get a climate bill passed. We saw what the absence of leadership did for the United States during the Bush years: it wasted eight critical years and stalled Congressional efforts. Obama needs to get out front on global warming, and the meeting with the House Democrats showed that he is getting there.
And believe me, the world is watching Obama very closely. This week I met with Connie Hedegaard, the Danish minister of the environment. As the host country for the international climate negotiations in Copenhagen this December, Denmark has a role in framing the conversation.
Hedegaard came to me in part for intelligence on what is likely to happen in the United States and how the White House and Congress are influencing one another.
As we lead up to the international talks, it seems like the key nations are holding off on making commitments until they see what the next guy does. Who will be the first to blink? As one of the world's leading global warming polluters, the United States should step forward and lead.
We should show the world that Congress has made a commitment to reduce our emissions here at home. If we don't, we will lose whatever "Obama bump" in credibility we got after the inauguration, and we could deeply undermine the world's next climate agreement.
The best hope for avoiding that fate rests on the House of Representatives. Last year, the Senate tried to pass a law to limit global warming pollution, but this year it is emerging from the House, in part because of the bold leadership of Reps. Henry Waxman and Ed Markey, and in part because of internal structure.
The House has one committee with the authority to draft comprehensive climate legislation: Waxman's Committee on Energy and Commerce. In the Senate, five separate committees have jurisdiction over the issue, and when you have five different players, no one is on first. So the action has moved to the House.
But right now, the outcome rests on a few swing votes and on Waxman's efforts to secure those votes while still maintaining the integrity of the bill.
What could help persuade those swing voters to support strong climate leadership? Hearing from their constituents could help. If one of these committee members is your representative, let them know how much you care about this issue.
But getting a deadline from Obama would also help. I welcome what Obama has said about climate legislation so far, but I would like to hear him say that he wants Congress to pass a bill THIS YEAR.
That timeframe will reassure lawmakers that their climate vote is backed by the president. And it will also reassure the world that America is ready to enter the Copenhagen negotiations with firm commitments at home.
]]>
I sensed early on that Obama came to the White House ready to roll on climate solutions. Right away he selected a team of skilled scientists and legal experts to advise him, but he hasn't left all the leadership to his cabinet secretaries and federal agencies.
He himself has offered critical direction. He has used his speeches and policy proposals to advance a host of clean energy initiatives, and he has repeatedly underscored the role that green energy technology will play in jumpstarting our economy. (See a timeline of the Obama administration's environmental actions below.)
But while Obama's initial commitments have been a very good start, they are still just the dress rehearsal for real climate action. The main act will be a national law that allows America to fight global warming by spurring clean energy innovation.
That law will come from Congress, not the White House, and Rep. Henry Waxman holds the drafting pen right now.
Obama has expressed his support for this kind of law every chance he gets, but as the legislation moves further along in the process, I hope he will get more deeply engaged. I hope he will lead, guide, and press our lawmakers to pass it this year.
There is no sense in waiting, not when a climate law will advance two central pieces of Obama's agenda: economic growth and energy security.
Obama began transforming the climate landscape way back in January. Just one week after the inauguration, I got invited to come to the White House. Let me put this in context. During the eight long years of President Bush, I was asked to come to the White House exactly once. But just six days into the new administration, I got an invitation, and it was to witness Obama take two important climate steps.
First, he directed the EPA to reconsider its denial--under President Bush--of California's right to limit global warming pollution from cars. And second, he called on the Department of Transportation to raise fuel efficiency standards.
Then, a week later, he asked the Department of Energy to set new efficiency standards for common household appliances. This move alone will save in 30 years the amount of energy produced by ALL the coal-fired power plants in America over a 2-year period.
The first few months of the administration brought a flurry of welcome environmental decisions, but what I found most stunning was that Obama put clean energy at the center of his two showcase economic proposals: the stimulus package and the federal budget.
His stimulus package identified clean energy innovation as an essential economic engine. And it set aside funds and tax incentives to get more technologies into the mainstream.
Obama's budget was the first in history to propose making critical investments in our clean energy future and tackle global warming head on. The action has now moved directly to Congress but the President's leadership will remain crucial.
President Obama's economic proposals are poised to make a real and lasting imprint on our energy landscape: Americans will grow accustomed to seeing more wind farms, more energy efficient windows, and more green-collar workers because of the money Obama was willing to commit to securing our energy future.
But we can't stop there. A law that puts a price on carbon emissions will give the private sector the incentive it needs to build on the government's investment in clean energy.
That's why I hope to see President Obama sustain his already promising green leadership by continuing to urge Congress to pass a climate law.
]]>
I felt that energy every where I went. I felt it on Tuesday evening when I watched President Obama's State of the Union address and heard him repeatedly make the link between creating a clean energy future and generating economic growth. Most importantly he called on congress to enact a cap on carbon to address global warming
I felt it the next day when I went to the Hill to meet with lawmakers. We started the day off with an NRDC breakfast reception for House members, where we had a bipartisan group of members. Representative Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) had the line of the morning. Speaking about global warming, he said, "I may be a conservative, but I am not an idiot."
I met with several senators that day, including Senator Reid. They are ready to move on climate legislation in this Congress. But all of us realize that we have a lot of work to do in order to get a strong bill passed.
During the trip, Carol Browner, the assistant to the President for energy and climate change, addressed NRDC's board of Trustees. First we applauded her for the many actions the administration has taken on climate and energy just in the last month, including the commitments to improve fuel efficiency in cars and the economic stimulus package which Browner described as the largest energy bill ever passed. Then she announced that the federal budget (released the next day) would for the first time include revenue from a cap and invest program to limit global warming. This action heightens the pressure on congress to act promptly.
It's obvious that the president and his top advisers have a clear vision of how to get America on the road to a more sustainable energy and climate future. Browner conveyed a strong commitment that we really could arrive at that destination together. Many in Washington seem to share that commitment these days. Our new leaders, including the inspiring EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson who also spoke to NRDC's board, recognize that these are challenging times. But they also see that Americans are eager for bold plans that improve our health, preserve our environment, and jumpstart our economy.
It will take a committed citizenry to help them make this vision a reality.
]]>