Peter Lehner's Blog: Solving Global Warming

The Clean Energy Bill Is No Place For Dirty Energy Attacks on Public Health

2010-05-14T21:42:38Z

There is much to commend in Senator Kerry’s and Senator Lieberman’s just-released comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation, beginning with solid core carbon pollution limits. These emission limits tighten every year and will drive investments in clean energy that create jobs, cut pollution, and end our addiction to oil from dangerous locations, both offshore and overseas.

Then there’s a nasty provision that will do none of those things.

The draft legislation creates a roving commission that gives power plant polluter lobbyists a platform to make unsupported claims about supposed conflicts between protecting health and cutting carbon pollution.

Specifically, the draft bill establishes a highly objectionable task force to examine utility industry calls for exemptions from federal environmental laws and regulations that utilities allege are impeding power plant retirements or transitions to cleaner energy. The provision’s language is suffused with utility industry complaints and rhetoric and pleas for payment, making clear the design for a biased exercise. Polluter lobbyists deliver a deregulatory wish list to Congress and federal agencies. The agencies then are authorized by this bill to propose regulatory changes to carry out those wishes.

Instead of leaving EPA to do its job to protect the American people, the draft bill would compel EPA and states and public health supporters to spend huge amounts of time fending off industry wish lists to weaken virtually every regulation that affects power plants.

The scope of the provision is so broad that it anoints this commission with the power to go after every health and environmental safeguard that has been adopted through decades of effort – from Clean Air Act protections against smog, soot and toxic pollution to the Clean Water Act to hazardous waste laws to the Endangered Species Act.

But the real target of utility industry fire is the Clean Air Act: current and upcoming EPA rules to cut deadly soot pollution, smog pollution, and toxic air pollution like mercury, arsenic and lead.

Power plant air pollution is responsible for an estimated 20,000-24,000 deaths annually. Each year this pollution is linked to tens of thousands of non-fatal heart attacks, hundreds of thousands of asthma attacks and other cardiac problems, and tens of thousands of emergency room visits, hospitalizations and lost work days.

More than half of coal-burning power plants today lack basic cleanup equipment called scrubbers that control deadly soot pollution, sulfur dioxide pollution and toxic air pollution like mercury and acid gases. As recently as 2006, only one-third of coal plants had these scrubbers.

But there have been nearly 90 scrubbers installed at power plants in just the last two years without causing any electricity reliability problems. And since 2006, dangerous sulfur dioxide emissions from power plants have dropped by a very impressive 3.5 million tons to just under 6 million tons each year, with 1.7 million tons cut in the past two years alone. During that period smog-forming nitrogen oxide emissions from power plants dropped from 3.5 million tons to nearly 2 million tons annually.

Upcoming EPA rules to cut smog, soot and toxic air pollution will require many more scrubbers, cutting power plant pollution by millions of tons more and saving many thousands of lives. Recent experience has shown that we can clean up these plants, protect public health and safety, provide affordable electricity, and power our transition to a clean energy economy.

These life-saving clean air rules are what the utility industry is targeting with this commission and its roving industry agenda.

The draft bill calls out by name three clean air programs for special attack and consideration for “exemption[s].” Not coincidentally, these safeguards long have been targeted by power sector lobbyists:

(1) New source review: a Clean Air Act permitting program for smog, soot and carbon pollution that power plant operators have violated for the past three decades. These violations prompted successful enforcement cases by the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations, joined by state attorneys general, and generated many billions of dollars in injunctive relief requiring pollution control equipment. When I worked on these cases in the New York attorney general’s office, we saw how valuable this clean air law was to control dirty coal-burning power plants and just how much these plants endangered our health. The Bush administration tried repealing these new source review safeguards in its ultimately unsuccessful “Clear Skies” legislation, and now utility lobbyists are trying a new tactic to seek to weaken or eliminate these protections.

It’s worth emphasizing that the draft bill’s invited attack on the new source review program is a reach well beyond the idea of eliminating best available control technology for greenhouse gases. It’s an attack on applying best available control technology to other health-endangering pollutants, like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, that the Clean Air Act has covered for decades.

(2) New source performance standards: this clean air program establishes national performance standards for power plant pollution like smog and soot. EPA is expected to update these standards and propose standards for power plants’ carbon pollution next year.

(3) Air toxics standards: this clean air program establishes national performance standards for toxic air pollution like mercury, arsenic, lead, acid gases and heavy metals. Power plants have escaped meeting these standards for nearly two decades while other industries did their part and complied. During that period the Bush administration stalled the utility industry’s obligation for eight years by adopting thoroughly illegal rules that were struck down after NRDC and other environmental groups joined New York, New Jersey and other states to challenge the rules in court. EPA now must propose these crucially important standards next spring and finalize them next fall, some 21 years after these standards first were authorized in the 1990 Clean Air Act.

These important clean air rules finally will require many power plants to install cleanup equipment like scrubbers that they have escaped for decades due to violations of the law, or illegal delays and exemptions undertaken by EPA. Dirty power plants will need effective pollution controls by no later than 2015, but utility lobbyists argue that they should be allowed to escape those cleanup obligations if they were just given more time to shut down instead.

The draft legislation leaves an ominous blank for when any future shutdown date might be, but power plant lobbyists have been pushing for 2020 or 2025 or even later. Of course they don't want to clean up their toxic or smog or soot pollution during the period between now and 2020 or 2025 or later. Or if they did agree to better controls it would only be at the margins since they do not wish to install meaningful controls like scrubbers.

As a nation we have suffered the deadly consequences of this dangerous shell game for the past three decades. When the 1977 amendments to the Clean Air Act were adopted, dirty, decades-old power plants were grandfathered from strong cleanup requirements due in part to the prospect held out by the utility industry that waves of plants would shut down soon and it was not necessary to require them to incur the capital costs to clean up.

History has proven that prospect to be a fraud. The dirty old coal plants did not shut down and they did not clean up. Instead they continued to evade cleanup by going so far as to break the law themselves, then persuading the prior administration to break the law on their behalf.

There is a surefire way to cut all of this dangerous air pollution – smog, soot, toxins, carbon pollution – and that is to shutter these dirty old coal plants and replace them with cleaner resources. The American public should not be asked to offer their children's health as a bribe to shut these dirty plants. Congress should just set a schedule for these plants to clean up or shut down. But that schedule must not be one that allows these plants’ air pollution to continue sickening or even killing people, nor one that delays or weakens vitally important health safeguards.

Our friends at the American Lung Association have rightly noted that “[p]rovisions in this draft bill create an irresponsible process to roll back tools every community needs to protect its most vulnerable residents – children, seniors and those with chronic diseases – against dangerous air pollution.” The Association urges that these unnecessary and objectionable provisions be stripped from the bill.

We agree.

Clean energy legislation is the last place we need more damage from dirty energy.

Clean Energy Stories Movie Premiere

2010-03-26T00:32:18Z

I just came back from the premier of a very powerful movie, Clean Energy for a Strong USA. which tells the stories of clean energy workers around the United States. The film makes clear what the environmental community, organized labor and many forward-thinking members of Congress have known for quite some time: clean energy and climate legislation can put Americans back to work.

The movie features laid-off workers given another chance by clean energy investments; veterans who know that their role in the clean energy economy will make America safer; and business leaders who know they can revitalize our economy and make the United States the global leader in clean energy if Congress does the right thing; the smart thing.

I have seen first-hand how hard it is to find a job in today's market. My oldest daughter and her friends are entering the workforce right now and it is demoralizing to try and find a job in this market. But as tough as it has been for them, it hardly compares to the difficulties faced by workers who are trained and ready to work but have been recently laid-off and are looking for a job while they have a family to support and a monthly mortgage payment.

All of this being said, there is cause for hope. Since we began working with the BlueGreen Alliance, I have met workers who have found new jobs after being laid-off, and even some workers who managed to keep their jobs while the economy deteriorated and unemployment soared.

What do they have in common?

They are all in the clean energy sector. And now we have comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation moving through Congress that can provide jobs and opportunities to workers all over the country.

This bill can create two million new jobs. Those aren't my numbers, they come from the University of California, Berkeley.

These are good jobs, for hard-working Americans who have the skills we need right now. Jobs for electricians in Missouri, steelworkers in Indiana, carpenters in Pennsylvania, tool and die makers in Ohio, machinists in Michigan, wind-turbine builders in South Carolina, computer software designers in Virginia…people who work with their hands and their minds.

These are good-paying jobs, jobs that can't be outsourced or shipped overseas, the kind of jobs that built this country -- the kind of jobs we need to get us back up on our feet.

And one thing more.

This bill will prepare our families for success in the global marketplace for the next generation of clean energy technology.

We know where the growth is coming -- just look around. We are building and using solar panels, hybrid cars, wind turbines, smart grids, fast trains and much more. These are the technologies of tomorrow -- and we can get busy today -- investing, building, preparing ourselves to be the world leader in these fast-growing markets.

That's a bet on the future of our workers. It's a bet on the strength of America. And we'll see the payoff for decades to come.

Sign the Declaration of Energy Independence and demand action on climate legislation today. Join us!

Cleaner Cars and Strong Climate Policy Can Create up to 150,000 American Jobs, new report says

2010-03-16T20:03:51Z

Today, NRDC with the UAW and the Center for American Progress released a new report that demonstrates that fuel efficiency can go hand in hand with creating tens of thousands of high quality, clean energy manufacturing jobs. This is a text-book example of how with the right policies, we can create a win-win situation for the environment and the economy. Building more fuel efficient cars will, without doubt, reduce harmful pollution that threatens our environment but by putting the unemployed back to work, it can help save the economy too.

The report released today, called “Driving Growth: How Clean Cars and Climate Policy Can Create Jobs” was written by two Michigan-based researchers, Alan Baum from the analysis firm, The Planning Edge and Daniel Luria from the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center. Building more efficient vehicles, the study concludes, would create a need for additional clean car technologies, (think improved transmissions, hybrid drive trains, turbo chargers, etc.) throughout the car supply chain that would, in turn, create tens of thousands of new jobs in many different states.

According to the study, increasing a car's fuel use to 40.2 miles per gallon by 2020 could create more than 190,000 jobs through the world. We believe cars could go to an even higher fuel standard, which would create even more jobs but the bottom line is: Better fuel economy means more clean technology components and more manufacturing jobs.

The key challenge is ensuring to the greatest degree possible that these jobs are created and remain domestically. Depending on policies, the study estimates between 49,000 and 151,000 of the jobs will be in the United States. Most experts, including those in the auto industry, understand that the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation are likely to strengthen greenhouse gas and fuel economy vehicle standards for the post 2016 period.

However, it is up to Congress to make sure the jobs that come along with new vehicles stay within the United States. Creating the right incentives can make sure that up to 150,000 of these new jobs stay here. The study sponsors agree with the report’s recommendations: “Comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation is the ideal policy tool because it provides support at the scale, predictability and duration needed to a fund a meaningful economic and technological transition. Domestic manufacturing incentives funded through steady allowance revenues, could prove crucial in the choices firms make where to locate production decisions and our economic stake in these emerging trends.” Clean energy, climate protection bills in Congress, including the House-passed American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454) and the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S.1733, the Manager’s Mark), can help ensure the auto jobs of the future are American jobs. Each of these bills provide more than $23 billion dollars in long-term funding, stretching from 2012 to 2025, to retool manufacturing facilities for the production of advanced combustion vehicles and the next generation of clean vehicles powered by grid electricity.

We have often said clean energy is the cleaner, cheaper, and faster way to meet our nation’s energy needs. Now we can add to that list “and create more good-paying jobs in the United States.” The report we released today demonstrates that building better cars is good for the environment and good for the economy. We urge Congress to act to ensure the U.S. does not lose out in the race for clean energy jobs.

High Speed Rail: $8 Billion Down Payment on Jobs, Security, and Sustainability

2010-01-28T18:45:57Z

Last night, I wrote that I was excited to hear President Obama lay out plans to recover the economy, enhance our energy security, and cut pollution by investing in an efficient, 21st-century high-speed rail network. But I had no idea how thrilled I’d be to actually see the Administration’s plans on paper.

Today, the president announced the first big steps toward a network of high speed rail corridors across the nation. The $8 billion in awards will touch 30 states in every region of the country, and are a down payment on a truly visionary transportation system.

Completed in 1992, our highway system is second to none in the world (though it is in dire need of repair and rehabilitation, which must be the focus of new highways investments). But in other areas, our transportation system is woefully behind our competitors in the global economy.

High speed rail has been up and running in Europe and Japan for years, and their systems continue to expand. China is investing tens of billions of dollars in their rail system, as are other Asian nations. Other emerging economies such as Brazil, Argentina, and South Africa all have major systems scheduled to come on line in the next decade.

As I said last night, President Obama’s commitment to high speed rail is a commitment to build the other half of the transportation system. Paired with new investments in local transit, commuter rail, and local pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, it is a key part of a rebalancing of our national transportation system. With $2.5 billion more from Congress on the way in 2010, and plans for major new investments proposed by House Transportation Chairman Jim Oberstar, this rebalancing starts now.

So what exactly does the president’s plan look like? Eventually, each of the major regions of the US will have high-speed rail connecting most major cities. Though this is a long term goal, today’s announcement will take a big step toward achieving it. The strategy is to invest in key corridors in a phased approach, building on our successes with each phase.

The first phase will concentrate funding in the West, Midwest, and Southeast.

West - $2,942,000,000
Midwest - $2,599,600,000
Southeast - $1,870,000,000
Northeast - $485,000,000

Grants fall into three categories: 1) true high-speed rail service, aimed a projects that will run at up to 150 miles per hour when completed; 2) emerging high-speed rail, which will bring existing passenger rail corridors up to speeds of 110 mph, with plans to increase speeds in the future; and 3) a series of projects to lay the groundwork for future high-speed rail corridors.

Largest awards

California High-Speed Rail: $2.25 billion
Tampa-Orlando Phase 1: $ 1.25 billion
Chicago-St. Louis Midwest: $1.1 billion
Madison-Milwaukee Midwest: $810 million
Seattle-Portland: $590 million
Charlotte-Richmond-Washington, DC: $520 million

The president’s rail initiative will have both an immediate and lasting impact on our country. Not only is this investment going to create tens of thousands of jobs and build our economy in the near term, it is going to continue to contribute to our economy in the long term.

When trains start running in each corridor, it is going to be a boon to both American businesses, which will benefit from better, more efficient mobility. Since rail is much more efficient than flying or driving, it will also help our energy security and our environment. A major study of transportation and climate change found that high-speed rail investments can help to save millions of tons of global warming pollution.

Fully building a national high speed rail system is something that will take time, stretching long beyond President Obama’s term of office. However, his vision extends beyond politics to the good of the country. The high-speed rail system that American begins building today will be a legacy ensuring that tomorrow, our country continues to have the best, most efficient transportation network in the world.

High-Speed Rail Tops Obama Plans for National Investments

2010-01-28T02:56:44Z

As I watched President Obama’s State of the Union speech tonight, I was excited to see the President connect the nation’s most pressing priorities with his vision of a modern high-speed rail network, following in the footsteps of President Dwight Eisenhower.

President Eisenhower told the nation in his 1955 State of the Union Address, “A modern highway system is essential to meet the needs of our growing population, our expanding economy, and our national security.” A year later, construction began on the largest infrastructure project America had ever attempted: the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways. Building the Interstate System would put Americans to work, help our nation’s businesses to prosper, and make the country more secure.

In tonight’s State of the Union Address, President Obama pledged economic recovery and national security through a similarly historic commitment to build the other half of America’s transportation system. The president will announce the first $8 billion of high-speed rail investments tomorrow, a down payment on a bigger plan to connect America with fast, efficient, modern trains. But I don’t need to hear his plan to understand how it will move this nation forward, because I know from experience.

I frequently travel between NRDC’s New York headquarters and our Washington office. My priority is getting there quickly, safely and with minimal impact on the environment. I choose high-speed rail whenever I can. It’s the quicker, easier, and cleaner than driving or flying. I don’t have to deal with airport delays and I am reducing pollution. The fact that these trains frequently sell out tell me many others agree. But too few Americans have this choice to begin with.

As much as America needs high-speed rail service, we will also see its benefits before a single high-speed train leaves the station. These investments will have an immediate impact on the U.S. economy, creating construction, manufacturing, and engineering jobs that can’t be outsourced. Last year, 32 rail manufacturers and suppliers pledged to expand or establish U.S.-based operations as a result of the Administration’s funding of high-speed rail.

High-speed investments will have a lasting impact on America as well. An efficient high-speed rail network will help us cut oil use in transportation, which will increase our energy independence and enhance our national security. It will help to improve the environment and avoid the impacts of climate change. It will also help America grow and prosper by improving mobility across the country, relieving gridlocked roads and crowded airports, which helps American commerce to thrive.

Eisenhower’s transportation vision helped America to prosper for 55 years. President Obama’s commitment to high-speed rail and a modern, efficient transportation system will put America on track to another century economic success.

Mayor Bloomberg & Speaker Quinn Put NYC at Forefront of Fight Against Climate Change

2009-12-15T16:00:56Z

While our world leaders gather in Copenhagen to address climate change on a global scale, here at home, New York City tackled the number one contributor to its own carbon footprint – its buildings.

New York City firmly established itself as a leader in the fight against climate change with the City Council’s adoption last week of a package of ground-breaking legislation that will make the Big Apple’s skyline substantially more energy-efficient. These four bills (Int. Nos. 476-A, 564-A, 967-A and 973-A) are part of the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan that Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced on Earth Day this year. Together, the package represents one of the most comprehensive and far-reaching efforts in the nation to curb global warming pollution from existing buildings. It is expected to reduce New York City’s greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 5 percent, laying an excellent foundation for meeting the city’s mandate to reduce its emissions 30 percent by 2030.

And the good news doesn’t stop at the environment – it extends to New York’s consumers and economy, as well. In these tough financial times, the legislation is expected to create more than 17,000 jobs and lower New Yorkers’ energy bills at the same time – cutting costs by an estimated $700 million a year. The savings will come from the creation of a New York City Energy Conservation Code, and by requiring annual building performance benchmarking, periodic energy audits and building tune-ups, lighting upgrades, energy efficiency retrofits of city-owned buildings, and separate meters for commercial tenant spaces.

When it comes to green buildings, while it’s also important to focus on new construction, we can’t just start from the ground-up. Our existing buildings will be here for decades to come, and making them more energy-efficient is a key part of the solution to address climate change.

As a New Yorker, I’m proud to see Mayor Bloomberg, Speaker Quinn and the City Council showing local leadership and for demonstrating the important role the cities of the world can play in solving the greatest environmental challenge of our time.

Now is the time for Cape Wind

2009-11-19T16:53:31Z

Today in the NY Times, there's an exciting article about efforts to develop deepwater, floating wind turbines. The article makes it clear that there are still engineering and major costs hurdles, but I'm hopeful that one day floating wind farms will provide bountiful zero-carbon electricity. But we have to get started today, and fortunately we can. The Cape Wind project proposed for Nantucket Sound is ready to be built now.

Unfortunately, with seemingly endless review, the future of Cape Wind continues to hang in the balance. On Tuesday, NRDC sent Secretary Salazar a letter (PDF) urging him to require that the Interior Department complete the review of the Cape Wind project and issue a final decision prior to the commencement of the U.N. Climate Change Conference on December 7, 2009. This letter echoes a similar message to the Secretary from Congressman Markey. It is time to have a clear indication from our federal government that offshore renewable energy is a priority in this country. As the administration and the world gear up for next month's meeting in Copenhagen, action approving the Cape Wind project would speak louder than words.

Cape Wind is still in federal regulatory review limbo after eight years of rigorous environmental and permitting review that has demonstrated that its environmental benefits will almost certainly outweigh its impacts. As the Obama administration's contribution to this delay creeps up on a year, the need for final approval becomes ever clearer. The delay is slowly eroding the confidence of investors and developers and undermining the President's efforts to lead the world towards a global agreement on climate. Today also in the NY Times, Kate Galbraith writes about clean tech companies pressing for federal incentives for clean energy, but no amount of money is going to get projects built if the investors and developers lose faith that good projects will actually get permitted.

The U.S. has watched as other countries have continued to forge ahead in their successful development of offshore renewable energy. (The deepwater floating turbines mentioned in the Times article are being developed in Norway.) It is evident that the technologies for the successful deployment of offshore renewable energy exist, however the U.S. has yet to permit a single project in federal waters. Getting the process right is critical to advancing these technologies in a robust and environmentally sustainable way. We understand that Cape Wind is the first project to get to this stage, that the law has changed since the project started, and that assessing the balance between the project benefits and any potential impacts does require careful consideration. But the process should not take eight years.

It is a new day in Washington. We have courageously moved towards establishing a new era of energy and environmental priorities in this country as indicated in the passage of the 2007 energy bill, American Reinvestment and Recovery Act and the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act. The Department of Interior has been an important part of this progress moving forward and finalized regulations for offshore renewables in general and launching important planning efforts for onshore renewables on federal lands.

Nevertheless as we look forward to Copenhagen and read the steady flow of new science suggesting that global warming is happening faster than we ever expected, we cannot underestimate the challenge that remains in front of us. While a tremendous amount of work remains to be done, with respect to offshore wind in America, further delay is inexcusable. It can be done, and the time to act on the Cape Wind permit is now.

For additional information on offshore wind development, please visit the following: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/bcolander/us_offshore_wind_development_s.html

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/ngreene/finally_a_final_eis_for_cape_w.html

Driving Toward Clean Air at Our Nation’s Ports

2009-10-27T21:41:31Z

This post was co-written with Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club. NRDC and Sierra Club are members of the Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports, supporters of the clean truck program.

"Cancer alley." That's what many Southern Californians call the 23-mile rail and truck corridor connecting our nation's largest seaport to massive distribution centers east of Downtown Los Angeles. In California alone, diesel air pollution from ships, trucks and trains kills more than 3,700 people every year -- more than died in the 9-11 attacks.

Despite this stunning death-toll, the American Trucking Association is aggressively trying to dismantle a successful program adopted a year ago this month by the Port of Los Angeles that is well on its way to reducing diesel emissions from port trucks by 80 percent, and establishing a model that diesel-afflicted communities around the nation are beginning to follow.

California's diesel body count may be highest, but concentrations of cancer, asthma and other diseases caused by air pollution occur wherever large amounts of cargo move by ship, truck and train. The victims tend to be poor people of color who live or work alongside our ports, freeways and cargo hubs. But toxic diesel smoke knows no boundaries. It follows the wind, depositing carcinogenic particulate matter in the lungs of rich and poor alike.

By banning the oldest trucks outright, putting cleaner trucks on the road, and creating powerful rules to move cargo greenly, Los Angeles officials have removed 2,000 of the dirtiest rigs from service and helped business put nearly 6,000 clean-burning and alternative fuel trucks on the road.

The landmark clean truck program at the Port of Los Angeles sets the standard because it ensures that trucking companies that can afford to meet increasingly stringent environmental standards are responsible for clean-up, instead of independent truck drivers, who have been historically underpaid. Under the program, trucking companies agree to meet environmental, safety, and security standards in exchange for access to port terminals.

However, the trucking industry is spending millions of dollars to undermine this progress and the progress of like-minded ports nationwide that want to adopt clean-up plans. In an ongoing lawsuit against the Port of Los Angeles, the trucking industry is trying to weaken the progressive clean truck program, arguing that the port has no authority to reform port trucking operations that occur on its own property or even cure inefficiencies that affect the bottom line. Industry representatives go so far as to argue that the port should be barred from verifying whether trucks comply with clean air standards when entering port facilities.

Municipal airports and privately-owned stadiums place conditions on those who want to do business there, increasing the odds that vendors operate safely and consistently provide a high level of service. Ports should feel empowered to do the same.

The litigation by the trucking industry relies on obscure federal law that wasn't designed to restrict the right of local governments to protect their residents' health. That's why Congress should act now to clarify the right of states and municipalities to protect their citizens from the lethal byproduct of cargo transport.

Los Angeles has survived these challenges so far, but the specter of intense litigation with the trucking industry may dissuade other ports and municipalities from pursuing similar programs to reduce diesel pollution and save lives. Mayors Bloomberg and Booker of the Ports of New York and Newark respectively, Mayor Ritter of the Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Port of Oakland Mayor Dellums, and officials in Virginia, Charleston, Houston, and Tacoma know that unchecked diesel pollution degrades and shortens lives and causes tens of billions of dollars in health-related costs every year. They are all calling to regulate and reduce truck-produced pollution at their ports.

Our collective failure to protect the public from diesel pollution is a moral outrage and a shame on our nation. Fortunately, the Obama Administration appreciates that Americans want and deserve clean air and the sustainable jobs that accompany it. In the case of Los Angeles, there's a proven track record of success. As we celebrate the program's first year, Congress should embrace this local green-growth model and take action to protect it.

A Goal for Copenhagen: Keep the Focus on Enforcement

2009-09-23T20:50:20Z

Few seem willing to address the issue openly, but one of the toughest issues to address when delegates gather in Copenhagen in December for the global conference on climate change will be governance. Many developing nations attending have stressed and under-funded civil systems. Others are torn by armed conflict and human suffering that push enforcement of environmental laws to the fringes of the political priority list. As an experienced environmental prosecutor, I know how hard it is to achieve compliance particularly with environmental laws which are often perceived as not posing the type of immediate threat to public safety that ordinary crimes are -- even in a stable democracy such as the United States. I also know what happens without enforcement: Very little.

Beyond my experience as a prosecutor, I also have a personal connection with a story that proves this point. That experience is with the tale of two modest Central American nations, Costa Rica and Nicaragua -- neighbors who share a long common border, similar environmental laws -- and vastly different records of enforcement. I've watched this tale unfold first-hand for nearly 30 years during frequent visits to the region to help with family businesses in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. (The family coffee farm there is Rainforest Alliance-certified.)

When economic expansion, cheap credit for cattle and laws favoring deforestation all contributed to a dramatic loss of Costa Rica's lush tropical rain forest between 1950 and the mid-1980s, alarm bells went off in the corridors of power. Vast stretches of remaining public forest land were placed under protection, national parks were expanded and reforestation projects launched. With a well-established rule of law and functioning government institutions, the protection worked. A quarter of the nation's territory is national forest land. Forests on privately-owned land are protected with the help of FUNDECOR (Foundation for the Development of the Central Volcanic Mountain Range), a non-profit foundation established to protect Costa Rica's tropical forests. Under a FUNDECOR program, revenue from taxes on gasoline and tourism are used to pay farmers not to cut forested areas of their land. Those monitoring the program say the compliance rate of private landowners is high -- 99 percent, according to one estimate. Moreover, although the situation is far from perfect, in many areas of the country, people really do comply with laws restricting logging.

As a result, Costa Rica's rainforest, which had shrunk from about 60 percent to around a quarter of the country's land area between 1950 and the mid-1980s, began growing again and today once again covers over half the country. Shrewd political leadership coupled with some slick marketing has leveraged the richness of those forests into one of the country's biggest commercial assets. Eco-tourism today is a huge money-spinner and President Oscar Arias talks about a new goal to make Costa Rica the first nation in the world to become carbon neutral by 2021, in time for the country's 200th birthday.

The ingredients to this success: political stability, functioning institutions, a respect for the rule of law, a strong economy and a stable middle class that values quality of life issues, such as a clean environmental quality. Now, with huge economic benefit from eco-tourism, strong environmental practices play an additional role. They protect an important commercial asset. The consistency of Costa Rica's enforcement of environmental laws -- and other legislation -- also creates a level of predictability that encourages new investment across a broad cross-section of the economy.

In neighboring Nicaragua, the story is very different. With income levels about one-fifth of those in Costa Rica, Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the hemisphere (behind Haiti). Poverty, together with a history of political turmoil through much of the past century, have left Nicaragua's government institutions woefully under-funded, inefficient and open to corruption. There is no well-developed culture of compliance with environmental laws or consistent enforcement to assure such compliance. The judicial system is weak and there is no clearly defined political vision of what to do with the forested land.

Because of this, illegal logging operations all too often out-muscle municipal authorities who are responsible for forest management but have few of the resources needed to fulfill the task. Today, Nicaragua's forests occupy roughly half the territory they covered in 1950 and continue to shrink in size, albeit at a slower pace than a decade ago. A dramatic turn-around any time soon seems too much to hope for.

My point here is that it will be critical to focus in Copenhagen on steps that take the realities on the ground into consideration. Only such steps can make a difference. Environment specialist Michael Levi at the Council on Foreign Relations is correct when he calls it "a waste of time" to focus too heavily on near-term, legally binding carbon emissions caps for developing countries. They may sound serious, but, as Levi points out, they are largely toothless. Verification is difficult and punitive measures highly unlikely.

There's no silver bullet that can resolve the carbon emissions problem in Copenhagen, but there are steps that can be taken to help developing nations strengthen their institutions and, with that, enforcement.

Under provisions of the Central America Free Trade Agreement's (CAFTA) environmental chapter, for example, the United States is working with governments in the region, including Nicaragua, on a program to strengthen environmental legislation. This work includes a public awareness campaign about a provision in the agreement that enables individuals to sue for compliance.

Shortly after coming to office, the Obama administration declared it planned tough enforcement of environmental provisions in America's trade agreements. Such steps are crucial because the sooner developing countries learn there is a visible upside to responsible environmental practices then pressing for enforcement will be seen more as an asset than a liability. Then we will be on the way to real change.

Talking Climate at Poder Magazine's Oceans Forum

2009-08-26T15:14:23Z

In addition to places of wonder and beauty, our oceans are vital economic engines. The U.S. ocean economy contributes more than $230 billion to the nation's GDP annually, providing more more jobs and more economic output than the nation's entire farm sector. Protecting the oceans therefore preserves both an essential element of our natural heritage for future generations as well as sustaining American jobs and revenue.

This week I will join some of the best and the brightest minds in ocean policy, science and business leaders at a forum sponsored by Poder Magazine to address the most pressing issues facing our seas. I will be participating in a roundtable discussion on climate change and the effects of too much carbon pollution on our oceans. I look forward to talking about ocean acidification - also known as "the other carbon problem" - and how pending climate legislation can help address this insidious threat to our seas.

NRDC is fighting on the frontlines of these issues - and the forum happens to come on the heels of our brand new documentary on ocean acidification, ACID TEST, which premiered on Discovery's Planet Green earlier this month.

As most people by now know, burning fossil fuels creates carbon dioxide pollution, the primary cause of global warming. But the consequences don't stop at our atmosphere - approximately one quarter of carbon dioxide emissions are absorbed by the Earth's oceans. This same pollution is profoundly changing ocean chemistry by rapidly making the water more acidic.

When carbon dioxide dissolves into the water at the surface, it creates an acid. There are thousands of species in the ocean that create protective shells to survive, but when the water's acidity gets too high, the animals can't grow shells or shells dissolve. Scientists now believe that unless we slash carbon dioxide pollution quickly, rising acidity may wipeout species that form the foundation of the ocean's food web. Corals, plankton, shellfish and all of the ocean life that depend on them are at risk.

America needs strong climate and energy legislation to reduce ocean acidification - in addition to strengthening our economy, breaking our dependence on oil, and reducing global warming pollution. This bill will help jumpstart our economy, make America a leader in clean energy for the 21st Century, and bring us closer to a future of healthy oceans.

Fortunately, the House of Representatives steered us in the right direction by passing the American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act earlier this summer. ACES will reduce the pollution that causes ocean acidification and global warming by setting national limits on carbon emissions for the first time ever in America. The bill reduces carbon emissions 17% by 2020, and that target goes up to 80% by 2050. Now, we will look to the Senate leadership to strengthen the bill, and follow through on its enormous promise to lead our country in a new direction - toward a future of clean energy and healthy oceans.

It took hard work to ensure that this bill reflects the views of many different voices and regions from across America. Now there is growing momentum across the country - including business leaders, entrepreneurs, labor, faith groups, veterans, and many others - for action on clean energy and climate. I hope you'll join NRDC as we turn to the Senate, and fight hard to strengthen and swiftly pass strong climate legislation to help avoid the worst impacts of climate change and acidification.

In addition to curbing CO2 emissions, which is all-important, we also need to make the oceans more resilient so that they are better able to withstand the impacts of global warming and ocean acidification. Just like a healthy person is better able to handle an illness, a healthy ecosystem is better able to withstand additional stress. President Obama is showing exactly the kind of leadership we need to save our seas and revive our Great Lakes by pursuing an overarching national policy for these resources. On June 12, he issued a Presidential Memorandum calling for the development of a national policy to protect and restore the health of marine and coastal ecosystems, and an interagency taskforce is now in the process of developing specific recommendations on how to implement such a policy. We hope President Obama will issue an Executive Order formally establishing a national oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes policy to protect, maintain, and restore the health of these ecosystems - and all that depend on them. You can join us in telling the President you want to see this happen here.

By taking these steps to make our seas more resilient against the myriad threats they face, and by curbing carbon emissions - we can help guarantee the health of our oceans and a sustainable future for ourselves.

Rainstorm Couldn't Stop the Made in America Jobs Tour

2009-08-25T16:30:11Z

A ferocious storm provided an electrifying backdrop for the recent kick-off of the Made in America Jobs Tour, the first of 22 rallies across the country to promote the job creating potential of a new clean energy economy.

This tour offers an opportunity for people to tell a new story- and hit back on those "opponents of change" who are trying to block progress for America. Over the past several weeks, we have heard too much fear-mongering and misinformation sponsored by front groups of big oil and coal associations. Now, it's time for a new story about how we can create good-paying jobs through clean energy investments in Cleveland and across the country.

The quick moving storm did not dampen the enthusiasm of the rally near the Cleveland Science Center. As lightening bolts danced off Lake Erie, the rally shifted to the center's parking garage. Outside, the center's iconic 150 foot wind turbine provided a fitting image for a new clean energy future in the job hungry rust belt.

Speakers from all walks of the labor, business, education and environmental communities came forward to talk about how the clean energy economy can help American workers.

Speakers like United Steelworkers metal greaser Lee Geisse, who builds titanium hubs for wind turbines in Louisville, Ohio. Lee, wearing her union hard hat, said: "I'm lucky enough to have worked in a place that worked all through the downturn. My company had the foresight to invest in the clean energy economy."

I had a few minutes after the rally to talk with Lee. When I asked her about the response she gets when she talks to her colleagues about clean energy, she said my question is a fairly typical one from the "green" world. But she added that union members completely understand. "The workers know we need to move to clean energy," she said. "We're smarter than they think."

You can see Lee in short video clip, here:

Lee understands that clean energy policies can create good-paying jobs in Cleveland and across the country. According to the Political Economic Research Institute (PERI), we can create over a million and a half jobs across America by investing in clean energy. In the Cleveland metropolitan area, investment in clean energy would produce more than 10,000 jobs-and more than half of them would go to people with a high-school degrees or less.

Investing in clean energy will have additional benefits, like weatherizing homes so people in Cleveland save money -- up to 4 percent of their income-- on heating and cooling bills. And these investments will improve access to public transportation so that people can save money -- 1-4 percent of their income -- getting to work.

Tom Conway, the international Steelworker's Union vice president, was emphatic about the growth potential from clean energy technologies in Ohio, where turbines are being build in abandoned and converted steel mills. As he said: "When you think about green jobs, green jobs are just a lot of regular, traditional jobs that help reduce the carbon footprint and help our planet be cleaner...it's work that we know we can do, that Americans can do. This is the way to move forward and rebuild manufacturing that we need so importantly in this nation."

By the time the rally came to an end, the sun was peaking through the crowds, glinting off the powerful turbine blades nearby. Mother Nature had demonstrated that she is nothing to tamper with.

There's no doubt that people like Tom and Lee get it. And I know they are not alone. Across America people understand that we can make our air safer and our communities stronger by moving to clean energy. We don't have to choose between good jobs and the environment- we can have more good jobs and a safer environment.

The Made in America Jobs Tour, organized by the Alliance for Climate Protection and the Blue Green Alliance, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, will sponsor more than 50 events in 22 states, including St. Louis, Missouri; Detroit, Michigan; Gary, Indiana; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Check the website www.repoweramerica.org/tour for more information about when a rally will be coming to a community near you.

Secretary LaHood and Shifting the Way we Build

2009-06-20T15:30:27Z

President Obama reached across the political aisle when he selected Representative Ray LaHood, a Republican from Illinois, as his Transportation Secretary. The appointment was met by some skepticism: LaHood's resume on transportation issues was decried as very thin.

But Secretary LaHood earned special praise earlier this week when he joined the leaders of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development in a new Partnership for Sustainable Communities, a landmark effort in recognizing the vital and logical but not always well understood relationship between housing, transportation and the environment.

The ambitious, collaborative approach these three agencies are taking will have a positive impact on the lives of millions of Americans and represents a shift in the way we build our country and protect our environment.

Considering that housing and transportation account for two of the largest slices of our emissions pie, the Partnership and its forthcoming work will be essential to America's continued prosperity in the 21st century.

In testimony before a Senate committee, Secretary LaHood noted the urgent need to reduce emissions, the health benefits of well-designed efficient communities and the savings associated with public transit. As my colleague Kaid Benfield noted in his blog, Secretary LaHood's testimony painted a clear picture for the future of transportation:

"Transportation can play an enhanced role in creating safer, healthier communities with the strong economies needed to support our families," he said.

"Integrating transportation planning with community development and expanding transportation options will not only improve connectivity and influence how people choose to travel, but also lower transportation costs, reduce dependence on foreign oil and decrease emissions," LaHood continued. "All segments of the population must have access to safe and convenient transportation options to get to work, housing, medical services, schools, shopping and other essential activities including recreation."

As EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson succinctly put it in her own testimony before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, "where you live affects how you get around, and how you get around often affects where you live. Both decisions affect our environment."

Secretary LaHood's statement, which highlighted the economic and environmental importance of developing a new transportation network (and ethos) in the United States, showed strong vision in thinking outside the highway box. And the Partnership for Sustainable Communities is poised to do just that.

Making Smart Choices for America's Clean Energy Future

2009-06-18T21:36:25Z

According to an assessment by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the world is going to invest more than $16 trillion in energy by 2030.

There are two ways that we can invest this money: a smart way and a dumb way. If we invest wisely, we will move America to a new clean energy future that makes us a leader for the 21 century. But if we stumble and invest in an unwise way - focusing on old, dirty technologies and fossil fuels - we will end up being left behind.

As two new reports released today show, America can benefit greatly from significant energy investments in clean energy-if we are smart. If we are smart, we will create millions of new jobs, increase our energy independence, and protect the planet from global warming pollution. And these will be opportunities for people across all income and education levels - with even more opportunities for advancement.

If we are smart, we will use this investment to increase our energy efficiency - through weatherization and retrofits. This will save consumers on their utility bills.

If we are smart, we will increase people's access to public transportation thereby lowering people's living expenses.

For too long, we've looked at economic opportunity and protecting the environment as being in conflict with each other. But, this view is at odds with the growing body of evidence that demonstrates we can strengthen our economy and fight global warming. We can shift to clean energy, protect the planet and create new opportunities for families - and we can do this all at the same time.

Today, NRDC is helping to release two major reports from the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (PERI). One is co-authored by NRDC and Green For All. The other is a complementary report by PERI and the Center for American Progress (CAP).

The NRDC/Green For All report, called "Green Prosperity: How Clean-Energy Policies Can Fight Poverty and Raise Living Standards in the United States," shows that shifting from traditional fossil fuel to clean energy will improve the standard of living for millions of Americans across all skill and education levels, especially among lower-income families. Nearly half of the 1.7 million new jobs created by a $150 billion clean energy investment will be accessible to workers with relatively low levels of formal education. Of these, nearly 75 percent will have high potential for advancement. Plus, there will be additional opportunities to lower monthly energy and transportation costs.

The other report, "The Economic Benefits of Investing in Clean Energy" presents a broader view - showing how the combination of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) could serve as the foundation for bringing total clean-energy investments in the United States to approximately $150 billion per year, creating 1.7 million jobs. That kind of growth would create nearly a 1 percent drop in the national unemployment rate.

And what about the concerns that we sometimes hear that low-income Americans would be left behind if our nation addresses climate change?

It turns out that's just not true. The NRDC/Green For All report concludes that half of the net new jobs created by clean-energy investment will be accessible to workers with relatively low levels of formal education. (You can learn more about clean energy jobs at http://www.nrdc.org/energy/greenjobs/ .)

What's particularly significant about the types of jobs created by clean energy is that compared to fossil-fuel energy jobs there is a much greater opportunity for upward advancement. Three out of every four clean-energy jobs are accessible to people with just a high-school education are upwardly mobile jobs, meaning they provide the opportunity for advancement and higher income, giving people the power to lift themselves out of poverty.

Consider these additional findings:

Major investments in clean energy will mean significant improvements in energy efficiency in buildings and homes, lowering overall energy costs for consumers, especially for lower-income households. These savings could be as high as 4 percent of household incomes for some families.

New investments in clean energy will also boost public transportation, especially in urban areas with disproportionately-large populations of lower-income families. Increased investment in public transportation could lead to an average reduction in living costs of 1 to 4 percent per family.

Now we just have to sure to make the right choices to make those green jobs and other benefits for lower-income Americans happen. And America may soon have this opportunity with the clean energy and climate legislation currently moving trough Congress.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), that is moving through the House, is likely to be an extremely important driver of the clean energy investments that American needs. While the bill is not perfect, we need to move forward with this legislation to ensure that we can shift to clean energy future that will deliver millions of new jobs, cut global warming pollution and create new opportunities.

Now is the time for leaders in Congress to move America in a new direction. Now is the time for leaders to make smart choices for all Americans.

Getting on Track: The President Lays Out a High-Speed Rail Plan

2009-04-16T19:17:25Z

Standing in front of an audience of members of the transportation industry, policymakers local and state officials as well as NRDC staff (including Deron Lovaas, our transportation specialist, and me as representatives of the environmental community), President Obama this morning fleshed out his plans for launching the construction of a new high-speed rail system connection metropolitan regions across the country.

The new three-part program -- projects to remove bottlenecks in existing rail systems, building new high-speed corridors, and making drawing up even bigger rail plans - is being launched right away thanks to the unprecedented $13 billion downpayment from the recovery bill and his budget proposal. And I do mean right away: The Administration intends to announce the first round of projects, after a competitive process that will include analysis of greenhouse gas reductions of different projects (I asked), in September. So this is high-speed delivery of the first links in a new system.

To be at the White House at 8 am, I had to fly down from New York City this morning. I hope soon to be able to train down for an 8 am meeting. (I'm writing this on the train as I return; on the train I can participate in a conference call and don't need to arrive at the airport 45 minutes early.)

The President's speech was fantastic, and I encourage you to check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu4aQTexL-U or below:

The most moving passages were at the beginning:

"We have to build a new foundation for our future growth. Highways are clogged, airports are choked with traffic and we pump too many greenhouse gases into the air. What we need then is a smart transportation system equal to the needs of the 21st century. A system that reduces travel times and increases mobility. A system that reduces congestion and boosts productivity. A system that reduces destructive emissions and creates jobs. What we're talking about is a vision for high-speed rail in America."

And then, as he does so well, President Obama put each and every American into the picture:

"Imagine boarding a train in the center of a city. No racing to an airport and across a terminal, no delays, no sitting on the tarmac, no lost luggage, no taking of your shoes. [laughter] Imagine whisking through towns at speeds over 100 mph, walking only a few steps to public transportation and ending up just blocks from your destination."

Having had to travel out to the airport early today, take off my jacket and shoes, and stand in several lines, these words struck a particular chord with me.

He then talked about the fact that other countries have lapped us, several times, in the drive toward a high-speed rail system, concluding that: "[I]t's being done, it's just not being done here. There's no reason we can't do this. This is America! There's no reason why the future of travel should lie somewhere else beyond our borders." Again, having recently returned from NRDC's office in Beijing, where I took a high speed rail to Hebei that was faster, quieter and smoother than the Acela I'm now on, these words seemed perfectly pitched to me.

He also quantified some of the benefits, including reducing need for foreign oil by millions of by and reducing CO2 by six billion pounds annually, which he pointed out is equal to removing one million cars from our roads.

Finally the President addressed those who think this should wait because we have too much on our plate. President Obama invoked Lincoln, who was pushing to connect east and west with rail while north fought south. The project brought everyone together, and the two lines heading to one another met in the middle with the "blow of hammer." A newspaper of the time editorialized: "We are the youngest of peoples but we are teaching the world to march forward."

He then called on all of us in the room and across the country, to support this effort since it will require sustained generational commitment. This is just the first step, but it's a great start, as Bill Millar of the American Public Transportation Association told me afterward. One of the key Members of Congress, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar, who will be instrumental to the whole endeavor, talked with me about the importance of the project as well. He seems to agree with the President, who quoted fellow Chicagoan Daniel Burnham's assertion that we should make no small plans since they don't have the power to stir men's souls. I hope so, because we will need him to champion this relentlessly in Congress.

I know NRDC is committed to pitching in. Kaid Benfield and Deron Lovaas on my staff have blogged about this on these pages and elsewhere, and my whole transportation team looks forward to working with the President, Vice President Biden, Secretary LaHood and their staff to get the job done.

As for me, I can't wait to travel to more destinations without having to remove my shoes at security!

Green Jobs to Meet America's Economic, Energy and Environmental Challenges

2009-02-06T18:09:37Z

I had the pleasure of speaking at the national Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference in Washington, D.C. yesterday. This was a truly remarkable event that brought together thousands of people -- from steelworkers to business leaders to students to environmentalists.

The green jobs movement seeks jobs that can both provide a dignified life and a decent wage and protect our health and climate. This effort is the most recent of those inspiring moments when ordinary people, with extraordinary commitments to making the world a better place, succeeded. These movements of ordinary people drove the affirmation and expansion of civil rights; the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively; and the cleanup of dangerous pollution in our neighborhoods.

One feature of these pivotal moments is that they brought together many different people who nonetheless share common goals, common challenges, and common opportunities. This moment, as the earlier ones, also is in part sparked by a crisis. Today a new President and a new Congress face an economy in crisis, a planet in peril, and an outdated energy infrastructure that cannot meet the demand for the future.

These challenges also bring us an opportunity. The opportunity to come together and make a reality of our vision of an economy powered by clean efficient energy, mobilized by clean efficient transportation systems, and employing tens of millions of people with good-paying jobs.

The economic system and the world eco-system are linked. What happens in and to our system deeply affects the other. Both are sending us strong signals that we cannot delay action to save our planet.

While almost everyone agrees that global warming is real and man-made, there are still those who are fighting to stop action on the environment. These are groups who say that climate policy is too costly for business or that the economic downturn means that we cannot take on a climate bill at this time.

But, we say this is our time and we cannot afford to delay.

The last eight years have been about delays and now it is time for action. A comprehensive federal climate policy that is fair, flexible and far-sighted is essential to meeting these goals.

Dollar for dollar, investing in clean energy creates more jobs than investing in traditional energy like oil and gas. In fact, investing in clean energy would create four times as many jobs as would result from spending the same amount of money within the oil industry.

Investing in public transportation projects and highway repairs will also maximize job creation and avoid wasting taxpayer dollars. For every $1.25 billion invested in public transportation projects, 51,300 people are employed. Investments in public transportation create 19% more jobs per dollar than building new roads or bridges. Investments in road and bridge repair create 9% more jobs than building new roads or bridges.

There is a lot of work ahead to build the political will needed to generate the momentum for this vision. We believe that by working together- with our partners in government, labor, business, and environmentalists-we can rebuild America and transform our nation with a new clean energy future. Americans have the ingenuity, skills and determination to make this future a reality -- and we can do it together by starting today.

We cannot get to these solutions piecemeal. We need a comprehensive global warming policy. That's why we need to work together to create the political will to move forward on broad climate change legislation this year.