Pete Altman's Blog: Solving Global Warming

Broad Support for Climate Legislation

2010-05-13T15:11:53Z

An outpouring of support for climate legislation followed yesterday's introduction of legislative text by Senators Kerry and Lieberman. Here is a sample:

Alstom: "By acting to establish such a legal framework as soon as possible, the US Congress can help stimulate the economy, create skilled jobs, and safeguard competitiveness.”

American Businesses For Clean Energy: "American businesses, large and small, are urging Congress to act in order to make the United States a world leader in clean energy technology, reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources, and create millions of new jobs.

Senators Kerry and Lieberman have worked diligently to craft a bill that will have bipartisan support. This is a critical moment in the legislative debate. Now, is the time for Senate leadership and its members to act.”

BICEP: "America can no longer wait to solve these problems, which seriously threaten our economy, our security and our environment. Now is the time, with a large and growing bipartisan coalition from the business, national security, faith and environmental communities in place, to pass a strong bill that creates many thousands of clean energy jobs, puts our country on the path to energy independence and places a meaningful ceiling on carbon pollution.”

Business Council for Sustainable Energy: "On behalf of the BCSE, I commend Senators Kerry and Lieberman for their commitment to addressing our nation's most crucial challenges--energy security, economic growth, and environmental sustainability. Given the proper regulatory certainty and long-term market signals, America's energy efficiency, renewable energy, and natural gas industries stand ready to reinvigorate our nation's manufacturing sector, firmly establish the US as the global leader in clean energy technologies, and put Americans to work."

Dow: "The certainty of a comprehensive, sustainable energy plan will allow manufacturing companies like Dow to make investments in clean energy that will power the American economy, foster innovation, optimize our domestic energy resources and allow the U.S. to capture the lead in the global clean energy market . . . Today the Senate begins a process of additional deliberation to produce final legislation. Dow will continue to support this process with the aim of passing a bill that garners bipartisan support that creates new jobs, improves our energy security, drives innovation and protects our environment."

Duke Energy: "Senators Kerry and Lieberman’s energy bill will create jobs, protect electricity consumers, make our nation’s energy supply more secure, and protect our environment. Their leadership – and the efforts of Senator Lindsey Graham to craft this legislation – is extraordinary. The legislation can help the U.S. get its economic “mojo” back."

DuPont: "DuPont applauds the leadership of Senators Kerry and Lieberman in taking an important step forward towards the enactment of clean energy and climate legislation that is environmentally effective and economically sustainable… We urge all senators to engage on this important issue.”

Entergy: “Senators Kerry and Lieberman are to be commended for their leadership in introducing meaningful climate change legislation and, in doing so, helping the United States take a major step forward in solving the biggest challenge of our time. With vital assistance from Senator Graham, Senators Kerry and Lieberman have provided the Senate with an excellent proposal for a comprehensive legislative package that will reduce our country’s greenhouse gas emissions.”

Exelon: "We are pleased that the draft bill announced today by Senators Kerry and Lieberman proposes a system for putting a price on carbon, which will use market forces to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the lowest possible cost … We also believe a strong climate policy has the potential to improve our energy security, create lasting, well-paying jobs and ensure America has a leading role in the global clean energy industry.”

FPL Group: “Senators Kerry and Lieberman deserve tremendous credit for crafting a proposal that would move the country in the right direction on energy and climate issues. After years of debate and half measures, the United States still lacks a long-term national energy strategy, leaving us behind other countries in building and exporting the clean energy economy of the future”

GE: “National energy policy must also drive the accelerated deployment of new technologies in the United States if America is to compete and win in the global race for clean energy technology leadership. China and Europe already have enacted robust clean energy policies that are powering technology investment and job creation. It’s time for America to do the same.”

NRG: "This framework puts America on a clear pathway to create a vibrant, innovative clean energy economy to lead the next great global industrial revolution. NRG's planned construction of new nuclear generation would employ 6,000 workers and drive billions of dollars in additional American business spend. When this bill becomes law, it will call forth thousands more clean energy projects, right here at home."

PNM Resources: “The triple challenge of creating new jobs, securing our energy supply and reducing carbon emissions deserves a comprehensive approach like the Kerry-Lieberman bill…The Kerry-Lieberman bill is an important and constructive step forward, and we hope the U.S. Senate can reach broad, bipartisan consensus on these significant issues.”

Shell Oil: “We are pleased the senators engaged Shell, along with other energy companies and an array of environmental and business groups, in dialogue as the bill was developed. They have pursued an open and inclusive process and ensured that a range of views were taken into account.”

PSEG: "In order for the U.S. to compete in this global economy, there needs to be a price on carbon. A price on carbon will level the playing field and give businesses the certainty they need to invest in the new energy economy."

We Can Lead: “Sound energy policies are our best hope towards reclaiming America's competitive mantle as leaders in this next wave of economic growth - while working on climate stability and energy security. Now is the time for action.”

T. Boone Pickens: “Senators Kerry and Lieberman are to be commended for a plan that recognizes the economic and national security threat of our ever-increasing dependence on foreign oil, particularly OPEC oil … The time to act is now.”

US Climate Action Partnership: “This proposal sets the stage for the additional action required in the Senate to preserve and create American jobs, enhance our energy security and reduce emissions. Different stakeholders with disparate interests must now come together and work on a bipartisan basis toward a common goal of building a clean-energy economy so that the United States can compete in the 21st century.”

More company statements can be found at the websites of USCAP and We Can Lead.

In Wake of Oil Spill, Most Americans See Need for Clean Energy and Climate Legislation

2010-05-07T22:58:10Z

This week, NRDC has been making the case that the Gulf Oil spill is a disaster that should shock the Congress into acting on a big scale to reform our energy system and get moving on clean energy and climate legislation. After all if we really want to prevent future oil spills, we have to cut back on our reliance on oil and the best way to do that is to pass strong legislation.

We've called on President Obama and the US Senate to seize the moment.

It looks like the White House gets it, according to news reports over the last couple of days, such as this one from E&E News (subscrip required):

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said today that he expects public opinion to grow in favor of an energy bill as gas prices make their traditional summer climb and while the oil spill continues in the Gulf of Mexico.

"With what you see is going on in the Gulf, you understand that drilling and drilling alone isn't going to solve our energy problems," Gibbs told reporters. Asked about prospects for a climate bill in the light of the spill, Gibbs said, "It's more ripe than it ever, in all honesty, has been."

Carol Browner, the president's top energy and climate adviser, made a similar connection between the climate bill and the Gulf Coast spill during an an interview with Bloomberg Television's "Political Capital With Al Hunt," which airs this weekend.

And the American people get it as well, as a new poll by NRDC reveals. In it, we found that in the wake of the Gulf spill,

Voters strongly favor the passage of a clean energy and climate change bill, with more than six in ten (64%) agreeing the Senate should pass the bill and four in ten (39%) saying so strongly.

That's a pretty clear signal that the American public gets that we need to move America off of oil and dirty fuels, but that as NRDC Program Director Wesley Warren puts it, "Congress needs a response which is as big as the spill is."

CNN Crew Films Turtle in Distress in Gulf Oil Spill

2010-05-06T15:21:35Z

A short clip by CNN featuring NWF President Larry Schweiger includes their discovery of a distressed turtle swimming its way through the oil slick.

You can learn more about the threat the Gulf spill poses to turtles at NRDC's On Earth site.

U.S. House Committee to Hear from the Lord Haw-Haw of Climate Science

2010-05-06T13:28:15Z

When the U.S. House of Representatives’ Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming holds a hearing today on the “Foundation of Climate Science,” Chairman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) will be hearing from leading climate science experts. The minority on the panel will be hearing from … Lord Christopher Walter Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley.

Who exactly is Lord Christopher Walter Monckton? And why is the 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley a witness?

The independent Politifact gave Monckton a “Pants on Fire” rating for falsely claiming the Copenhagen climate treaty would

sign your freedom, your democracy, and your prosperity away forever — and neither you nor any subsequent government you may elect would have any power whatsoever to take it back again.

Monckton is also on record as calling for leading climate scientists to be put on trial – even though they have been cleared by repeated reviews.

What’s more, Monckton has claimed that NASA blew up a monitoring satellite in order to perpetuate the “myth” of global warming.

And as our good friend Kevin Grandia from DeSmog Blog points out:

While Monckton's educational background is in journalism, he has recently been touted by many think tanks as an expert in the field of global warming.

Christopher Monckton and the Heartland Institute

Monckton is listed as a "Global Warming" expert for the Heartland Institute, a Chicago-based freemarket think tank. The Heartland Institute frequently attacks the scientific evidence for human-caused climate change. The Heartland Institute has received over $791,000 from oil-giant ExxonMobil since 1998.

The tobacco industry has also been a regular funder to the Heartland Institute, with at least $190,000 coming from Philip Morris since 1993. The Heartland Institute maintains a smoker's rights section on its website called "The Smoker's Lounge."

Christopher Monckton and the Science and Public Policy Institute

Monckton is listed as a "Chief Policy Advisor" for the Science and Public Policy Institute (SPPI). The SPPI was until recently managed under the name "Center for Science and Public Policy Institute" by another freemarket think tank called the Frontiers of Freedom.

The Frontiers of Freedom has received over $1 million in funding from oil-giant ExxonMobil.

More recently, Monckton made headlines for referring to a Jewish climate change activist as “Hitler Youth.” That might be dismissed as a meaningless “one off” comment if Monckton had not also that “‘misplaced belief in climate change’ is killing more people than Hitler.”

But let’s give Monckton the benefit of the doubt here and not dismiss him as some paper-thin caricature from Monty Python.

(Yes, let’s not do that despite this curious - and actual - photo of Lord Monckton apparently performing “Putting on the Ritz” at his home in Scotland, found on Guardian.co.uk.)

OK. So he's fudged some climate facts and exhibits an eclectic style of dress. But he's a British Lord, right? That's gotta be worth something.

Ah, no. He ran for the House of Lords. But contrary to his claims, he is not a member of the British House of Lords.

Well, Monckton's website claims his role correcting a table in the 2007 IPCC report "earned him the status of Nobel Peace Laureate". But his explanation that his Nobel Prize Pin - "made of gold recovered from a physics experiment" -was awarded by "the Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Rochester, New York, USA" does seem odd. Last time I checked, the Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Rochester, New York, USA was not the one responsible for handing out Nobel Prizes.

Monckton's claim was rejected in no uncertain terms by Nobel Committee secretary Geir Lundestat who told The Punch:

The claim is ridiculous," said Lundestat. "He is not a laureate - no way, no way.

For the record, Monckton did backtrack on his Nobel claim in January of this year, telling reporters that "it was a joke, a joke." But I guess he hasn't had time to update his websites yet, where the claim still appears.

What's no joke are the outrageous and unfounded claims Mr. Moncton makes about global warming and the platform he is provided by committed denialists. He reminds me of another propagandist - Lord Haw-Haw. During World War II, the Germans used to broadcast to England a program featuring a posh-sounding announcer whom the Britons dubbed Lord Haw-Haw because they knew his role was to spew misleading and demoralizing propaganda to weaken the Allied war effort.

Perhaps those who invited to today’s House hearing Lord Monckton did not take the time to check him out first. Or, maybe this is just a concession that when it comes to debunking climate science, “Lord Haw Haw” is the best that they can come up.

No More Spills — Tell the US Senate We Need Clean Energy and Climate Legislation Now

2010-05-05T14:32:23Z

The Gulf Coast oil disaster is already having a profound impact on people's lives and jobs and threatens our oceans and all kinds of life in the sea. First, we need to clean up this disaster and ensure that BP is held accountable. NRDC has sent a team of experts to the Gulf to document the environmental and health impacts of the spill and to advocate for every possible action to limit the damage to public health, marine life and coastal ecosystems.

You can learn what our team is doing, learn more about the disaster and find out what immediate steps we need to take at NRDC's Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill resource page.

But, we need to make sure we won't have more disasters like this in the future, and the the only way to truly minimize the risks of major oil spills is to minimize our reliance on oil. In a letter to President Barack Obama, NRDC President Frances Beinecke said

The best protection we have against offshore accidents is to end our dependence on oil. We simply don’t have to jeopardize our oceans, fishing industry, tourism business, and rich coastal ecosystems in order to fuel our cars and trucks. We can pass clean energy and climate legislation--legislation that will slash our oil reliance by spurring innovation in cleaner solutions--things like more efficient cars and plug-in hybrids.

That's why I hope you'll join NRDC in sending a clear message to the US Senate to support and pass comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation that cuts our dependence on oil, puts a firm limit on global warming pollution and ensures this type of accident doesn’t happen again.

As my colleague Dan Lashof notes, Senator Harry Reid and columnist Tom Friedman (among others) are saying the oil spill disaster may be the shock that the Congress needs to at long last take concrete steps to move the US forward.

We've setup an action page that makes it easy to get this message to your US Senators. Please take a moment now to write them and help us prevent future oil spills and put the US on a path to a cleaner, safer and energy-independent economy.

Communications Workers of America President Larry Cohen at Good Jobs, Green Jobs

2010-05-04T13:57:29Z

More from the opening plenary at the Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference: Communications Workers of America (CWA) President Larry Cohen:

Because of the Blue Green Alliance, CWA feels stronger, more hopeful, more committed. Our leaders who are here come from IUE-CWA and I heard remarkable stories yesterday of recreating jobs across the country, bringing hope to manufacturing workers as people are being hired back and creating new green products.

If you want to learn more about CWA workers hired back to help build the clean energy economy, you can see their stories (and more) at our CleanEnergyStories website.

We've got a bunch of interviews with real workers, including Wes Anderson (CWA-IUE), who makes batteries for hybrid cars at the Cobasys plant in Springboro, Ohio.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference

2010-05-04T13:41:21Z

I’m at the annual Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference at the Washington Hilton Hotel. Organized by the Blue Green Alliance, the annual conference is a growing draw for thousands of workers, businesses and enviros interested in learning more about clean economy jobs and how we can revitalize America by investing in a clean energy and economic future.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is addressing the conference. Here are some comments I jotted down:

We need to create jobs around 3 pillars: investment around health care; investments in innovation in education and investments in clean energy and addressing the climate issue. We’ve taken care of the first two. Now we need to get the third done.

I think we can pretty soon put clean energy and climate legislation on the President’s desk. That will be important for our national security, our economy and our nation’s future. This is good for business. Green is gold.

More diverse support for climate legislation: military vets, GE and Rio Tinto

2010-04-29T20:17:49Z

More diverse support for moving forward on climate legislation is visible today.

Generals and Admirals: National Journal reports that

More than 30 retired military generals and admirals are in Washington this week pushing Congress and the administration to pass the Senate trio's "American Power Act," despite the fact that the bill has not yet been introduced.

Jonathan Powers, COO of the Truman National Security Project, said at a press conference this morning that the national security challenges posed by inaction on climate legislation -- including U.S. dependence on foreign oil and global instability caused by climate change -- will help restart the stalled negotiations.

A letter signed by the generals and admirals and appearing as an ad in Politico, Roll Call and Military Times reads

America's billion-dollar-a-day dependence on oil makes us vulnerable to unstable and unfriendly regimes. A substantial amount of that oil money ends up in the hands of terrorists. Consequently, our military is forced to operate in hostile territory, and our troops are attacked by terrorists funded by U.S. oil dollars, while rogue regimes profit off of our dependence. As long as the American public is beholden to global energy prices, we will be at the mercy of these rogue regimes.

General Electric:

During a presser before his company’s annual meeting, GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt discussed climate and energy legislation with reporters, as the Houston Chronicle reported:

While the rest of the world invests in renewable, nuclear and cleaner energy sources, the U.S. continues to fall further behind, General Electric's chairman and CEO said Wednesday in Houston.

In an interview before the company's annual meeting, Jeffrey Immelt said the situation eventually could put the nation at a competitive disadvantage.

“We just seem to be stalled,” he said.

Over the next five years, China will have installed five times more than the U.S. in power capacity, Europe is moving aggressively into offshore wind power, and Asia is focusing on solar energy, he said.

…

Immelt called for a comprehensive government effort to put standards into place so businesses can invest in technologies that have a solid future.

“Some leadership in Washington would be helpful,” he said, emphasizing that he's not focused on any one technology.

If the United States doesn't do it, GE will have to go overseas. “We have to go where the action is,” he said.

…

“We've all done a disservice to the debate by hanging it as a ‘green initiative' when really it's about energy security, energy productivity and pollution reduction,” Immelt said.

And, E&E News reports that mining giant Rio Tinto sent its own letter up to the Hill, saying

All indications are that the senators' heavy lifting has taken us significantly farther towards a balanced and comprehensive policy solution," wrote Preston Chiaro, the company's group executive for technology and innovation. "Neglecting its promise will not only delay the actions necessary to address the climate imperative, but will increase, rather than reduce, the uncertainties for businesses like Rio Tinto as we face a more rigid and expensive regulatory process under the Clean Air Act.”

UPDATE:

More than 50 organizations just sent a letter to President Obama urging him to continue to demonstrate his leadership on clean energy and climate legislation, saying

This must be the year that the United States passes comprehensive climate and energy legislation into law in order to create jobs, strengthen our national security, and reduce carbon pollution. As a nation, we cannot afford to delay action any longer; we urge you to work closely with Senate leaders to ensure the full Senate takes up a comprehensive energy and climate bill in June.

Oil Spill? What Oil Spill?

2010-04-29T14:24:56Z

As oil gushed out of an underwater oil well ruptured by a deadly explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) published an essay on April 26 by AEI scholar Steven Hayward that called the environmental threats from off shore oil "largely obsolete."

And no, that’s not out of context. Here is the full paragraph:

The two main reasons oil and other fossil fuels became environmentally incorrect in the 1970s--air pollution and risk of oil spills--are largely obsolete. Improvements in drilling technology have greatly reduced the risk of the kind of offshore spill that occurred off Santa Barbara in 1969. There hasn't been a major drilling related spill since then, though shipping oil by tanker continues to be risky, as the Exxon Valdez taught us. To fear oil spills from offshore rigs today is analogous to fearing air travel now because of prop plane crashes in the 1950s.

Subtle spill?

You’ve just got to wonder about these ‘scholars’ sometimes. By the 26th, the Deepwater Horizon had already exploded and sank, 11 workers had died, and a mile-deep oil leak began spewing what is now known to be 5,000 barrels a day into the Gulf of Mexico. Given Hayward is publishing on websites – AEI’s, the Pacific Research Institute’s and the Weekly Standard’s – you’d think he might have been able to update his essay (or thinking) a bit.

But Hayward is connected with institutions that spend a lot of time making the case for polluters and against clean energy. I’ve previously blogged that Hayward and another AEI colleague were exposed two years ago for trying to pay IPCC scientists $10,000 to criticize the IPCC findings. Hayward is also a director of the oil-industry-alumni-staffed Institute for Energy Research (IER), a “think-tank” run by former Koch Industries and oil lobbyist Thomas Pyle. IER has of late specialized in bashing clean energy, ~~calling it~~ fueling claims it is a 'dirty lie.’

Now the dirty mess in the Gulf is re-exposing the very real risks of offshore oil drilling. As the oily slick from the sunken Deepwater Horizon grows daily, Gulf coast residents and the rest of the nation are watching, wondering whether the Coast Guard’s desperate last-ditch effort to control the slick by setting it on fire will save the fishing grounds, shores and economy of the Mississippi Delta.

While the images of the burning rig and spreading slick have already been enough to cause Democratic and Republican officials to question whether offshore oil drilling is really such a good idea, they apparently aren’t enough to persuade the dirty-energy advocates at AEI and IER.

Support for Moving Forward on Climate

2010-04-28T16:46:26Z

Support for moving forward on climate is stronger than ever, with an impressive array of constituencies speaking up to make clear they want to see the US Senate take up consideration of clean energy and climate legislation.

This includes new calls from businesses. The Hill is reporting that We Can Lead whipped up a letter from 175 companies addressing the current delay, saying

As American business leaders, we urge you to continue work on comprehensive energy and climate legislation and to help put the efforts by Senators Kerry, Graham and Lieberman back on track. A carefully constructed climate and energy bill will spur a new energy economy and with it create millions of new American jobs…at the same time it will enhance our national security by making American more energy independent.

And this week, The Hill, Politico, Reuters and the Wall Street Journal have been reporting on calls from the US Climate Action Partnership, We Can Lead and American Businesses for Clean Energy for Congress to move forward.

31 Environmental groups also sent a letter up to the hill, saying

Representing thirty-one national organizations and millions of Americans who support strong clean energy and climate change legislation, we write to urge the U.S. Senate not to squander the great promise of bi-partisan action we've witnessed over the last six months. This must be the year that the United States passes comprehensive climate and energy legislation into law in order to create jobs, strengthen our national security, and reduce carbon pollution. We can't afford to delay action any longer; we urge the Senate to take up a comprehensive energy and climate bill in June.

The Christian Coalition’s President Roberta Combs is saying

Now, though political divides threaten to stall progress, Congress must not turn aside from the continuing crisis. …With a strong push from Congress, U.S. businesses and entrepreneurs will bring the power of America’s free market to bear on solving our energy crisis, while ensuring our future prosperity.

In an oped in today’s Politico co-signed with NWF’s Larry Schweiger.

And the Utility Workers Union has been highly vocal, with National Journal reporting that

Utility Workers Union of America President Mike Langford said "it's just very disappointing that we can't do what's right for America to produce new jobs and put the people first, put the economy first rather than party politics."

Langford, whose members are employed by electric generation and transmission companies, said climate change legislation is needed to boost the economy. "Right now utilities aren't investing because they don't know where the line in the sand is going to be drawn" on controlling greenhouse gas emissions, he said. UWUA members in town this week for their annual legislative conference still plan to lobby their senators to adopt a climate bill.

And interestingly, the delay is prompting some Senators whose votes Kerry, Graham and Lieberman will need to express interest in getting to climate. As E&E News reports today (subscription required) that Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) said

... in terms of jobs and economic stability, I thought -- and I said this a year and a half ago -- it should be health care first and energy second.

And the article goes on to say

I'd love to see [climate] get back on track," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), who added that she was "anxious" to see the official Kerry-Graham-Lieberman proposal.

Of course, how this will all play out is anyone’s guess. But one thing is clear: there is widespread interest in turning up the heat on the climate question this year.

40 Years After the First Earth Day, A Diverse Movement. Join it - Text "EARTHDAY" to 30644

2010-04-22T15:59:27Z

There is a lot to celebrate forty years after the first Earth Day. My colleagues have noted many of the key environmental and health gains we have made thanks to America’s environmental awakening.

I am also struck by another aspect of this 40th anniversary of Earth Day: the remarkable diversity of support for the key ideas Earth Day embodies: that natural wonders and the wonders of life are worth protecting and nurturing, for their own sakes as well as our own, for now and ever.

Four decades ago, scientists and tree-huggers recognized and believed that we needed to take much greater responsibility for how we as individuals and societies treat the world around us.

Now look around, and it’s a lot more than just the pocket-protector and granola set urging that Congress take on the biggest challenge we’ve faced in those four decades (if not more). CNN has a good piece on this that quotes NRDC President Frances Beinecke. And in the twenty years that I have been organizing, I've seen a lot more constituencies get active, and have had the honor of working with many of them.

Labor unions and their members understand that promoting clean energy industries, reducing toxics in the workplace, promoting public transit and other steps create stronger and safer workplaces and employment opportunities.

Faith-based organizations view stewardship of the earth as care for God’s creation. As the National Religious Partnership for the Environment notes on its website, “With Earth in grave environmental peril, many religious Americans are seeking to respond through our faith.”

Military experts increasingly understand that drastic changes to the environment can trigger social upheavals, struggles for resources and violence. Keep the environment on which people depend healthy and sustaining, and we make the world a safer place.

And veterans are becoming more vocal in pointing out that remaining addicted to fossil fuels keeps America’s men and women in harms way.

National hunting and fishing groups, whose conservative-leaning membership has expressed growing concern with the impacts of climate change on wildlife, are becoming increasingly involved in the climate fight.

More and more businesses – all sizes and types – either see new opportunities in a cleaner, greener future, or have learned how reducing waste and pollution can help their bottom line in the present.

So on this, the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, I hope you will join me in recognizing and celebrating our common cause in protecting the earth – and ourselves – from our worst habits and join me in celebrating our greatest opportunities.

You can start by texting EARTHDAY to 30644 to demand comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation. Legislation that will create 2 million jobs, cut 2 billion tons of pollution, and save 2 trillion dollars.

Want to do more?

Make a sign with instructions, tell your friends, take a photo and share it. The message is simple, “text EARTHDAY to 30644” and tell the Senate it’s time for a comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation. Help us spread the word: make a sign or a T-shirt with the words “Text EARTHDAY to 30644” and take it or wear it to your local Earth Day event.

NRDC and more than 80 other organizations representing faith leaders, labor organizations, veterans, environmental activists, sportsmen, farmers, business leaders, youth and community leaders are all asking you to text EARTHDAY to 30644. Will you join us?

Call on America's elected leaders to deliver on the promise of a clean energy revolution and climate action now! After all, forty years ago, Congress responded with a spate of legislation to protect our environment. Forty years later, with broader support than ever before, Congress has no excuse not to act.

Duke Energy's CEO Jim Rogers Has Left the Chamber of Commerce Building

2010-04-19T18:27:03Z

Just saw this note at ThinkProgress:

Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers, a critic of the US Chamber of Commerce’s reactionary stance on climate policy, has left the lobbying giant’s board.

Debunked Climate Hoax: Letting Go is So Hard to Do

2010-04-19T18:12:18Z

Q: When do a hodge-podge of climate change science denying groups with energy industry ties – including the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute and the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) – hold a Capitol Hill briefing on “Climategate”?

A: They do so within 72 hours of the latest scientific review panel exonerating climate scientists of any wrongdoing. See “Climategate: Officially a Fake Scandal” for more details. The Los Angeles Times has a good account as well.

That’s right. Just when those ill-informed attacks on climate scientists have been stripped of even the remotest pretense of credibility, Heritage, Cato and CEI went to Congress last Friday in a vain attempt to breathe new life into their debunked conspiracy theory. I guess it’s natural for professional denier groups to be in denial about the fact that there’s no “there” there. Letting go is so hard to do…

As Kate Sheppard at Mother Jones put it,

You might think the recent exoneration of the scientists involved in the so-called "Climategate" scandal would have put a damper on efforts by climate change deniers to exploit the issue. But the leaders of the anti-science movement were still at it on Friday, as the Heritage Foundation and the Competitive Enterprise Institute hosted a lunch briefing on Capitol Hill to continue playing up the "controversy."

Maybe the esteemed fellows from Heritage, CEI and Cato missed the scathing editorial in Thursday’s Houston Chronicle:

… hackers raided the computer system at the climate research unit of Britain's East Anglia University and published thousands of scientists' private e-mails. Global warming skeptics portrayed the communications as proof that devious researchers were cooking data to support a global warming hoax. That charge was decisively rejected by a British government commission that examined the e-mails. Although it faulted the scientists for petty and sometimes vindictive comments about their detractors, the commission found no grounds to challenge the scientific consensus that global warming is happening and is caused by human activity …

As writer Elizabeth Kolbert points out in the current issue of the New Yorker,

The message from scientists at this point couldn't be clearer: the world's emissions trajectory is extremely dangerous. Goofball weathermen, Climategate, conspiracy theories — these are all a distraction from what's really happening.

Despite all the spinning and hot air, the science is solid and global warming is a real, deadly serious concern. It's time to deal with it.

So who exactly are these groups who are having such a hard time letting the denial hoax go?

Let’s look at them one at a time:

HERITAGE FOUNDATION

Fight Clean Energy Smears sums up the Heritage Foundation story very neatly:

The Heritage Foundation is a mainstay of misinformation and exaggeration when it comes to climate and climate policy issues. In the last couple of years, Heritage has misrepresented the impacts of global warming on the US economy, twisted news reports to justify scary claims about ‘climate taxes’, issued bad economic analyses and deceptive presentations, and released exaggerated claims about economic ruin and impacts in the agricultural sector should Congress pass climate legislation. This is only a representative sample.

The Heritage Foundation also teamed up with the Institute for Energy Research to promote the widely debunked “Spanish” study. Heritage has been funded by ExxonMobil and tobacco companies. According to an investigative report by Greenpeace, oil services giant Koch Industries and its family foundations gave the Heritage Foundation grants worth $3,358,000 between 1997 and 2008.

The significance of the Koch-Heritage tie is seen in the following from Greenpeace:

“This private, out-of-sight corporation is now a partner to ExxonMobil, the American Petroleum Institute and other donors that support organizations and front-groups opposing progressive clean energy and climate policy. In fact, Koch has out-spent ExxonMobil in funding these groups in recent years. From 2005 to 2008, ExxonMobil spent $8.9 million while the Koch Industries-controlled foundations contributed $24.9 million in funding to organizations of the ‘climate denial machine.”

COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE

The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) has a long rap sheet on climate science denial and obfuscation. CEO has run television ads downplaying global warming that were so misleading the author of the study cited in the ads openly protested, saying:

[CEI's] television ads are a deliberate effort to confuse and mislead the public about the global warming debate…They are selectively using only parts of my previous research to support their claims.

According to ExxonSecrets.org, CEI has accepted more than $2 million in ExxonMobil support since 1998:

CEI is at the center of the global warming misinformation campaign … CEI, among many other statements denying the seriousness of global warming, has argued that climate change would create a "milder, greener, more prosperous world" and that "Kyoto was a power grab based on deception and fear.”

Greenpeace documents that Koch Industries’ interests have provided CEI with $471,420 in support between 1997 and 2008.

CATO INSTITUTE

Turning again to Fight Clean Energy Smears:

The Cato Institute tends to focus on disputing the science behind global warming and questioning the rationale for taking action. The organization’s 2009 “Handbook for Policymakers” on global warming begins with the suggestions that Congress should “pass no legislation restricting emissions of carbon dioxide” and “inform the public about how little climate change would be prevented by proposed legislation.” Robert Bradley, an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, is also a founder and the CEO of the Institute for Energy Research.

According to the investigative report by Greenpeace, Cato received family foundation grants from oil services giant Koch Industries worth $5,278,400 between 1997 and 2008.

Well, maybe Heritage, Cato and CEI are having a hard time letting go because when it comes to climate denial, the groups have their story and they are sticking to it, regardless of the facts.

Leaders from the Epicenter of the Clean Energy Economy: the 2010 Green Jobs, Good Jobs Conference

2010-04-19T16:33:44Z

Want to learn more about how clean energy will strengthen the US economy by creating millions of green jobs in the US? Come join NRDC, the Blue Green Alliance and many other organizations at the Green Jobs, Good Jobs conference May 4-6 in Washington, D.C.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Colorado Governor Bill Ritter are among the many top-line speakers who will address the leaders from labor, business and the environmental communities working to transform ideas into action by building a green economy that creates good jobs and preserves our economic and environmental security.

The 2010 Conference will feature exciting plenary sessions and keynote speeches from labor, environment, business, elected and administration officials, including Speaker Pelosi, Governor Ritter, U.S. EPA Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe, and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

The two-and-a-half-day Conference will also feature more than 100 workshops focused on topics ranging from green manufacturing to transportation to business, investment and new markets to state and local initiatives. Among the speakers at these panels include Dr. Paul Anastas, Assistant Administrator for the Office of Research and Development at the U.S. EPA; Dr. David Michaels, the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health; Robert Stanton, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Policy, Management and Budget; U.S. Representatives Keith Ellison and Emanuel Cleaver; and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter.

And, part of the package is the Green Innovation Expo, where you can see and learn about concrete examples of how companies and organizations are growing the green economy and developing clean energy jobs.

You can learn more about the conference and register at www.greenjobsconference.org.

Climategate Satire Among Pulitzer-Winning Works

2010-04-14T19:00:43Z

Mark Fiore, the sharp-witted editorial cartoonist who has become known for his skill with animated cartoons, has been awarded the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning.

Among the award-winning portfolio of cartoons considered by the Pulitzer Committee and earning Fiore this esteemed recognition is a late 2009 animation ridiculing the so-called "climategate" kerfluffle arising out of thousands of personal emails stolen from the University of East Anglia.

The animation puts the exaggerated and hysterical claims by climate science deniers into context by giving the history's greatest scientists - Kepler, Newton and Einstein - similar treatment using their own writings.