Climate Action

Calling Out the Bullies, Hotline 5.14.12

USCAN — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:38:45 +0000

Calling Out the Bullies

A recent NY Times article about Julia Trigg Crawford, a Texas farmer who stood up to TransCanada’s demand that the Keystone XL pipeline cross her property, reminded me of something Jeremy Symons of National Wildlife Federation said to me recently. “We will win when people realize that the fossil fuel industry is a bully. They abuse our land, our air, and our health. They violate our rights and pervert our political system.” Examples of bullying are everywhere–mountain top removal, poisoned water from fracking, attacks on the EPA–and it’s all sheltered with money poured into Congress and the media to protect fossil fuel subsidies, fight regulation and oversight, and deny the science behind the most critical issue of our time.

The bullying in Ms. Crawford’s case is all too common, but still hard to believe. Worried about contamination of her creek, she didn’t want the pipeline on her land, but the company did not take “no” for an answer. She soon discovered they didn’t have to. Texas law allows private pipeline companies to use eminent domain to force landowners to let pipelines through. This is true even for TransCanada, a foreign corporation that doesn’t even have approval to bring Keystone XL across the border.

The Guardian reports there is an effort underway by conservative think tanks in the U.S. to eliminate all government programs aimed at promoting the use of renewables. The decade-long surge in renewables can largely be attributed to state renewable portfolio standards requiring utilities to obtain a certain percentage of their electricity from renewable sources, federal production tax credits and stimulus grants. The stimulus grants have expired; the tax credit for wind will expire at the end of 2012. These attacks include:

• A new $6 million election ad buy by the ultra-conservative group Americans for Prosperity attacking Barack Obama’s support for wind and solar power.

• An e-mail and telephone campaign by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and Americans for Tax Reform to repeal or alter clean energy mandates requiring electricity companies to get a share of their power from renewables.

• Putting forward ALEC-drafted bills overturning those measures in Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Colorado, Montana and Washington state.

However, citizens everywhere are calling bullies out and standing up to their abuses. Julia Crawford started a legal fund, “Stand with Julia,” to fight for her property, and donations have topped $6,000. Opposition to Keystone itself continues to grow, and people all across the country are fighting dirty coal and unregulated fracking.

Other examples of standing up to bullies this week include:

• The effort to stop the $113 billion in tax breaks, handouts, and subsidies for the fossil fuel industry over the next 10 years. Today, May 14, 350.org and a number of partners including Friends of the Earth, Public Citizen and others are launching a week-long online push, with the goal of getting hundreds of thousands of people to sign on to support ending these subsidies. For more information, see this week’s featured action alert, below, on the End Polluter Welfare Act.

• Oil Change International just completed a major update of DirtyEnergyMoney.com. The new data reveals that members of Congress have taken almost $16 million from the oil, gas and coal industries so far in this 112th Congress. That puts this Congress on track to be the dirtiest ever. Contributions to Congress from the oil, gas and coal industry have doubled in the last decade.

• A group of California teenagers is suing the federal government for endangering the survival of their generation. They hold the government responsible for global warming because it hasn’t reduced national emissions of carbon dioxide. The teens filed suit in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., which is scheduled on Friday to hear motions to dismiss the case.

• The juvenile plantiffs are part of an organization called Kids vs. Global Warming, founded by then 12-year-old Alec Loorz of Ventura, California. Now a high school senior, he says the lawsuit is vital to his survival. “The government has a legal responsibility to protect the future for our children,” Loorz declared. “So we are demanding that they recognize the atmosphere as a commons that needs to be preserved, and commit to a plan to reduce emissions to a safe level.” Specifically, the youths demand an immediate cap on greenhouse gas emissions and a six percent reduction every year starting in 2013.

The fossil fuel industry may be a big and powerful bully, but every day the community is gaining powerful new tools and ground to fight back. There is so much great work going on, too much to mention in just today’s Hotline. Keep it up, send us your stories, and check out the action alert below!

Peter Bahouth, Executive Director, US Climate Action Network.

Join the Cause: End Polluter (Bully) Handouts

Americans will give $113 billion dollars in taxpayer money to the fossil fuel industry over the next 10 years. Corporate polluters don’t deserve our money, and the planet can’t afford it. The End Polluter Welfare Act, unveiled by Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) last week, would comprehensively abolish fossil fuel subsidies, saving taxpayers billions of dollars. It ends tax breaks, eliminates special financing, does away with taxpayer-funded fossil fuel R&D, and sets fair royalty policies to ensure that fossil fuel corporations pay their fair share. Click here for more information on the bill.

Today, 350.org and a number of partners including Friends of the Earth, Public Citizen, and others are launching a push for this newest tool to take on the fossil fuel industry. From May 14-17, groups will collect signatures and messages of support through email blasts, social media, and mobile signups.

You can help end polluter handouts; here’s how:

First, sign the push here: http://act.350.org/sign/subsidies/

Second, share with your friends: on Facebook and on Twitter.

Third, if your organization is interested in getting involved with this citizen sign-on push, please contact Phil Aroneanu at Phil@350.org.

Featured Resource:

Today, the next round of United Nations climate talks kicked of in Bonn, Germany. US Climate Action Network will be following the Bonn Climate Change Conference from May 14 to 25. Stay tuned as we post updates to USCAN’s climate talks web page, Twitter, and Facebook daily as well as report via Hotline and our Climate Action Blog.

Carol Werner, Executive Director

May 14, 2012

Did you miss EESI’s news roundup, this morning?

Published weekly, Climate Change News recounts the top climate science, business, and politics stories of the week and includes a list of upcoming events and pending federal legislation. Click here to view this week’s comprehensive climate and energy news summary.

News

Events

Climate Action Hotline is the weekly update by the US Climate Action Network. Let us know what you think.

No related posts.

Clean Air Act Digest, 5.11.12

USCAN — Fri, 11 May 2012 19:01:57 +0000

UPDATES

Congress:

House

The House has begun voting on FY2013 appropriations bills to provide the federal governments’ annual funding, but the Interior-EPA Appropriations bill, which includes funding for Clean Air Act activities, may be too controversial to come to the House floor this year and may instead be rolled into an omnibus appropriations bill late in the year.

The extension of surface transportation programs passed by the House (H.R. 4348) on April 18 in order to go to conference with the Senate includes a provision to block proposed EPA rules on coal ash from power plants, ostensibly to allow the continued use of coal ash in road-building materials. Although coal ash, the abundant and dangerous waste left over after coal is burned, contains toxic substances, there are no federal standards on its disposal. This provision, which comes from H.R. 2273, should be dropped from the transportation bill. This fact sheet provides more information. Consider taking personal action or sending an action alert to your organization. See the Earthjustice action alert here.

The Gasoline Regulations Act (H.R. 4471), which we are calling the Gutting Air Standards Protection (GASP) Act, may receive a vote in the full Energy and Commerce Committee on May 17. This bill would do nothing about high gas prices but would block several clean air standards and gut the Clean Air Act’s health-based approach to setting ozone (smog) standards. For more information, see previous editions of the Clean Act Digest.
Information on the subcommittee vote can be found here on the Energy and Commerce Committee website.

On May 9, the House Energy and Power Subcommittee held a hearing on H.R. 4273, introduced by Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX), an insidious bill that would allow power plant operators to ignore all environmental laws—federal, state, and local—if they receive a “must-run” order from the US Department of Energy to operate their plants to ensure a sufficient supply of electricity. Current law already ensures that power plants can run when absolutely necessary, without throwing protections for public health and the environment out the window. This coalition fact sheet provides more information.

Senate

Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) continues to state that he will force a vote on his Congressional Review Act (CRA) disapproval resolution on the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for power plants. These standards, finalized earlier this year, for the first time set national limits on mercury, arsenic, lead, acid gases, and other toxic air pollutants. EPA projects that starting in 2016, the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards every year will prevent:

• up to 11,000 premature deaths;

• nearly 5,000 heart attacks;

• 130,000 asthma attacks;

• 5,700 hospital and emergency room visits; and

• 540,000 days when people miss work and school.

Senator Inhofe’s resolution would guarantee this health toll would continue every year, unabated, with EPA stripped of the tools to address those hazards. Americans would be denied, indefinitely, the enormous health benefit from reducing 90% of the mercury and 88% of the acid gas pollution from power plants that burn coal and oil.
Senator Inhofe’s resolution could be brought to the Senate floor for a vote any time between now and June 21st.

To read more, see John Walke’s blog.

Administration:

As reported last week, EPA announced two public hearings on the proposed carbon pollution standard, to be held on May 24 in Chicago, Illinois and Washington, DC. Also, EPA extended the public comment period until June 25. As described in Clean Air Act Digest on March 30, this proposed safeguard sets the first national limits on carbon pollution from new electric power plants. We encourage your organization to attend the public hearings and to collect public comments in favor of the proposed carbon pollution standard. Register ASAP for the hearings – see “upcoming events” below.

ACTION ALERT

Support EPA’s Proposal to Limit Industrial Carbon Pollution from New Power Plants:

Don’t forget to register to participate in the upcoming public hearings. DC speaking slots are already filled up and Chicago slots are filling up quickly– see “upcoming events” below!

The EPA’s proposed limits on industrial carbon pollution from new power plants are critical to protecting the health of our kids and families, sparking innovation in clean technologies and creating American jobs. Industrial carbon pollution spewing from power plants threatens our health. Carbon pollution fuels climate change that raises temperatures and makes smog pollution worse, which can trigger asthma attacks and permanently damage and reduce the function of children’s lungs. It’s no surprise the American people support the Clean Air Act and the EPA’s efforts to update and enforce clean air standards, including carbon and mercury emissions from power plants.

Tell the EPA that you support its efforts to protect our health with new standards to reduce carbon pollution from new power plants and urge the agency to move forward with carbon pollution standards for existing plants. Help drive comment collection by crafting an action alert for your organization.

For more information, visit the Industrial Carbon Pollution Standard web page and the comment collection toolkit on USCAN’s website. For examples of action alerts, see Clean Air Act Digest for April 27. If you have any questions regarding comment collection, contact Lucy LaFlamme at llaflamme@nrdc.org.

UPCOMING EVENTS/DEADLINES

Public Hearings:

Last Friday, EPA announced that two public hearings would be held on May 24 on the proposed carbon pollution standard in Chicago, Illinois and Washington, DC. We encourage representatives of your organizations to attend and testify in person if possible. Here are the specific locations:

• Chicago, Illinois in the Ralph H. Metcalfe Federal Building, Lake Michigan Room (12th floor), 77 West Jackson, Chicago, IL 60603

• Washington, DC in the Ariel Rios East Building, Room 1153, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460

For more information, contact Lara Levison at USCAN, or contact the lead organizers for the two locations:

christine.nannicelli@sierraclub.org – CHICAGO LEAD ORGANIZER

mattO@saveourenvironment.org – DC LEAD ORGANIZER

NEW MATERIALS

A Greener Economy TV Ad, YouTube Video, Earthjustice and National Wildlife Federation, 5.10.12

9 States and DC in Support of Proposed Carbon Pollution Standards, Sign-on Letter, 5.10.12

How the EPA’s New Oil and Gas Standards Will Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, World Resources Institute Blog, 5.9.12

Oppose H.R. 4273: Eliminating Health and Environmental Laws Will Put Our Children’s Health at Risk, Fact Sheet, 5.8.12

Air Pollution, Asthma Burden Unevenly Shared Among U.S. Children, Huffington Post, 5.7.12

USCAN’s new page on industrial carbon pollution

standards includes a compilation of member materials.

Don’t forget the Clean Air Act fan page on Facebook.

Clean Air Act Digest is a publication put together by US Climate Action Network and Natural Resources Defense Council. Please contact Lara Levison at llevison@climatenetwork.org for more details. Click here for past issues.

Clean Air Act Digest, 5.4.12

USCAN — Fri, 04 May 2012 21:16:59 +0000

UPDATES

Congress:

The full Energy and Commerce Committee is expected to vote on the Gasoline Regulations Act (H.R. 4471) in May (possibly May 17) and then the bill will head to the floor of the House. The American Lung Association has coined a more accurate name for the bill: the Gutting Air Standards Protection (GASP) Act. Contrary to the claims of its supporters, the GASP Act would do nothing to reduce gasoline prices. Instead, it would delay several important rules to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and it would eviscerate the Clean Air Act’s health-based standards for ozone (smog). For more information, see John Walke’s blog, the community letter of opposition, and fact sheet.

On May 9, the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power will hold a hearing on H.R. 4273, introduced by Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX), which under the guise of protecting the reliability of the electricity grid would allow the override of any federal, state, and local environmental law and regulation under certain circumstances. More information will be posted on the USCAN website in the near future.

Administration:

Yesterday, EPA announced that the public comment period for the carbon pollution standard would be extended until June 25, and two public hearings would be held (see events, below). As described in Clean Air Act Digest on March 30, this proposed safeguard sets the first national limits on carbon pollution from new electric power plants. We encourage your organization to collect public comments in favor of the proposed carbon pollution standard.

ACTION ALERT

Support EPA’s Proposal to Limit Industrial Carbon Pollution from New Power Plants:

UPCOMING EVENTS/DEADLINES

Public Hearings:

Today, May 4, EPA announced that two public hearings would be held on May 24 on the proposed carbon pollution standard in Chicago, Illinois and Washington, DC. We encourage representatives of your organizations to attend and testify in person if possible. Here are the specific locations:

• Chicago, Illinois in the Ralph H. Metcalfe Federal Building, Lake Michigan Room (12th floor), 77 West Jackson, Chicago, IL 60603

• Washington, DC in the Ariel Rios East Building, Room 1153, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460

For more information, contact Lara Levison at USCAN.

NEW MATERIALS

Connect the Dots and Act to Curb Power Plant Carbon Pollution, Natural Resources Defense Council Blog, 5.4.12

Melanie G. Ramey: More Work Needed to Protect Clean Air, The Capital Times Opinion, 5.4.12

A Non-wonk’s Guide to the Carbon Pollution Standard, The Climate Reality Project Blog, 5.2.12

Carbon Pollution Standard for New Power Plants Hearings Page, Environmental Protection Agency Web Page, 5.3.12

USCAN’s new page on industrial carbon pollution

standards includes a compilation of member materials.

Don’t forget the Clean Air Act fan page on Facebook.

Clean Air Act Digest, 4.27.12

USCAN — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:43:45 +0000

UPDATES

Congress:

In previous issues, we have reported on the surface transportation bill moving in Congress. Last week, the House passed an extension of the surface transportation law (H.R. 4348) and this week voted to go to conference with the Senate, which has passed a bipartisan transportation bill (S. 1813). Fortunately the bills do not include provisions jeopardizing the Clean Air Act, although the House bill contains several highly controversial provisions, including a rider to block EPA from issuing new standards for the disposal of coal ash from power plants.

House

In the House, markup in the Energy and Commerce Committee of the Gasoline Regulations Act (H.R. 4471), which would gut a key provision in the Clean Air Act, was bumped from the schedule by another bill but is expected to receive a vote in committee in a couple weeks and then head to the floor of the House.

The American Lung Association has coined a more accurate name for the bill: the Gutting Air Standards Protection (GASP) Act. Contrary to the claims of its sponsor, Rep. Ed Whitfield, and supporters, the GASP Act would do nothing to reduce gasoline prices. In fact, it would delay several important rules to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and it would eviscerate the Clean Air Act’s health-based standards for ozone (smog). EPA would be required to factor in economic considerations when determining how much air pollution is safe to breathe, rather than determining whether air is healthy based solely on public health and science.

For more information, see previous editions of the Clean Act Digest for April 16 and April 20.

Senate

On Wednesday, Senator Hatch (R-UT) introduced the WEST Act. This bill includes a number of anti-environmental bills passed by the House last year, including several dirty air bills that target the Clean Air Act:

* H.R. 1633 would block the Environmental Protection Agency from updating health standards for coarse particle or soot pollution, under the legislative guise of blocking nonexistent and unplanned EPA regulation of so-called “farm dust.”

* H.R. 910 would block the Environment Protection Agency from enforcing Clean Air Act safeguards against carbon pollution. The bill would give the biggest polluters a free pass for unlimited carbon pollution by simply declaring that carbon dioxide is not an air pollutant and repealing EPA’s science-based endangerment determination. The bill would repeal every action EPA has already taken and block every action EPA is developing to limit carbon pollution from power plants, oil refineries, and other industries.

Administration:

The 60-day public comment period on EPA’s proposed standards for carbon pollution from new power plants began on April 13, and supporters are seeking a record number of positive comments. On Tuesday, April 24, a broad coalition of clean air, labor, and other progressive organizations delivered more than 735,000 public comments after the first week of the public comment period. Check out some pictures of the event here. See the action alert below.

Reports:

American Lung Association’s State of the Air Report

ALA released the State of the Air report this past Wednesday. Breathing polluted air can harm your health and even shorten your life. State of the Air is a report card on air pollution in communities across the nation. The more you learn, the more you can protect your health and take steps to make our air cleaner and healthier. For 13 years, the American Lung Association has analyzed data from state air quality monitors to compile the State of the Air report.

ACTION ALERT

Support EPA’s Proposal to Limit Industrial Carbon Pollution from New Power Plants:

Help drive comment collection by crafting an action alert for your organization. The carbon pollution standard was published in the Federal Record on Friday, April 13, launching the official sixty-day comment period.

Current Action Alerts:

Support EPA’s Proposal to Limit Industrial Carbon Pollution from Power Plants, Natural Resources Defense Council Action Alert

Thank EPA Administrator Jackson for Proposing Carbon Pollution Standards, Environment America Action Alert

Stand Up to Big Polluters: Support the EPA’s New Standards for Global Warming Pollution, League of Conservation Voters Action Alert

Fight for Starving Polar Bears, National Wildlife Federation Action Fund

Represent the Science! Submit Your Official Comment to the EPA Today, Union of Concerned Scientists Action Alert

Take Action: Help End Dirty Energy, Environmental Defense Fund Action Alert

Stop Industrial Carbon Pollution, Earthjustice Action Alert

UPCOMING EVENTS/DEADLINES

Public Hearings:

EPA will hold public hearings on the recently proposed standards. Details on the timing and location for those hearings are not yet available. Stay tuned for updates.

NEW MATERIALS

Americans File More than 735,000 Comments in Support of Carbon Pollution Standards, Natural Resources Defense Council Blog, 4.27.12

POLL: Small Businesses Want Government Investments in Renewable Energy Technologies and Support EPA Clean Air Standards, Small Business Majority, 4.24.12

There They Go Again: House Republicans Seek to Eliminate Right to Breathe Clean Air, Call it a “Study,” Natural Resources Defense Council Blog, 4.16.12

USCAN’s new page on industrial carbon pollution

standards includes a compilation of member materials.

Don’t forget the Clean Air Act fan page on Facebook.

No related posts.

There is no hope, but we might be wrong. Earth Day 2012 Hotline, 4.23.12

USCAN — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:02:14 +0000

“There is no hope, but we might be wrong.”

Earth Day 2012 Edition

The Strip | By Brian McFadden published in The New York Times, 4.22.12.

Happy Earth Day!

Since the first Earth Day, the environmental threats facing our country and planet have worsened, growing exponentially in number and complexity. Even as we learn more about these crises, already-anemic media coverage continues to decrease.

Here is an example of bad news not well covered:

The 112th Congress is the most anti-environmental Congress ever, making it responsible for the worst legislative assault on key safeguards for the environment and our health in U.S. history.

Since Republicans regained control of the House in 2010, the body has voted more than 190 times to block, delay or weaken the common sense safeguards that defend our water, wildlife, air and lands. And the onslaught continues.

According to information compiled by the Energy and Commerce Committee, the total anti-environment votes in 2011 included:

77 votes to dismantle the Clean Air Act;
27 votes to block actions that address climate change;
26 votes to defund or repeal clean energy initiatives;
84 votes to block actions that prevent pollution;
114 votes targeted at the EPA;
18 votes to dismantle the National Environmental Policy Act; and
28 votes to dismantle the Clean Water Act.

(Source: Legislative Database: The Most Anti-Environment House in History.)

Similarly, here is an example of negative biase of climate change in the media:

“Frozen Planet,” the seven-hour series that has attracted millions of viewers to the Discovery Channel in recent weeks, shows Earth in extremis. On this planet, the poles are violently cold, yet atypically vulnerable to the warming trends that are endangering polar bear populations and causing huge chunks of ice to break off Greenland and Antarctica.

What the series never assesses, however, is why.

As we know, scientists agree that human activities are influencing changes to the climate (especially at the poles) and believe that the situation requires serious attention. That scientific consensus is largely absent from “Frozen Planet,” an omission that sheds light on the dilemma of commercial television: the pursuit of ratings sometimes clashes with the quest for environmental and scientific education, particularly on issues like global warming.

Including the scientific theories “would have undermined the strength of an objective documentary, and would then have become utilized by people with political agendas,” Vanessa Berlowitz, the series producer, said in an interview.

Discovery Channel is not alone, but perhaps representative of a growing trend.“Many organizations, and it sounds like Discovery is one of them, appear to be more afraid of being criticized by climate change ‘dismissives’ than they are willing to provide information about climate change to the large majority of Americans who want to know more about it,” said Anthony Leiserowitz, the director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication.

Those dismissing the human effect on climate change make up only about 10 percent of the American population, according to Dr. Leiserowitz’s research. However, by drowning out the broader conversation about the subject, they seem more numerous than they actually are.

(Source: No Place for Heated Opinions, The New York Times.)

Here is the good news:

The public seems to get it.

Researchers at Yale’s Environmental Studies Department just released new data indicating, by a 2-1 margin, that Americans believe weather in their communities is getting worse, not better. A strong majority is beginning to link extreme weather events to evidence of climate change.

Another poll released last Wednesday, shows that a large majority of Americans believe that this year’s unusually warm winter, last year’s blistering summer and some other weather disasters were probably made worse by global warming. Again, by a 2-to-1 margin, the public says the weather has been getting worse, rather than better, in recent years.

The survey, the most detailed to date on the public response to weather extremes, comes atop other polling showing a recent uptick in concern about climate change. Read together, the polls suggest that direct experience of erratic weather may be convincing some people that the problem is no longer just a vague and distant threat.

“Most people in the country are looking at everything that’s happened; it just seems to be one disaster after another after another,” said Anthony A. Leiserowitz of Yale University, one of the researchers who commissioned the new poll. “People are starting to connect the dots.”

The poll suggests that a solid majority of the public feels that global warming is real, a result consistent with other polls that have asked the question in various ways. When invited to agree or disagree with the statement, “global warming is affecting the weather in the United States,” 69 percent of respondents in the new poll said they agreed, while 30 percent disagreed.

It seems there are some things the Congress and the “deniers” are finding they can’t control. You can’t fool mother nature – or the public.

Peter Bahouth, Executive Director, US Climate Action Network.

Put that Docket in your Pocket and Send some Comments In!

Support Obama’s Efforts to Protect Health and the Planet:

Proposed Industrial Carbon Pollution Standards for New Power Plants

The EPA’s proposed limits on industrial carbon pollution from new power plants now have a docket number with the EPA—and the clock is ticking to get comments in! This standard is critical to protecting the health of our kids and families, sparking innovation in clean technologies and creating American jobs. Industrial carbon pollution spewing from power plants threatens our health. Carbon pollution fuels climate change that raises temperatures and makes smog pollution worse, which can trigger asthma attacks and permanently damage and reduce the function of children’s lungs. It’s no surprise the American people support the Clean Air Act and the EPA’s efforts to update and enforce clean air standards, including carbon and mercury emissions from power plants.

Tell the Obama Administration that you support its efforts to protect our health with new standards to reduce carbon pollution from new power plants and urge the agency to move forward with carbon pollution standards for existing plants.

Help drive comment collection by crafting an action alert for your organization. The carbon pollution standard was published in the Federal Record on Friday, April 13, launching the official sixty-day comment period.

Visit USCAN’s website (click here) for more info on the Carbon Pollution Standard and your Action Toolkit.

American Lung Association’s Action Alert: Click here.

National Wildlife Federation’s Action Alert: Click here.

Resource Round-up:

Earth Day Dispatch #2: A Billion Acts with Meaning, Tck Tck Tck Blog, 4.22.12

It’s Climate Change That Threatens Our Way of Life — Not the Actions We Need to Take to Solve It, Kelly Rigg’s Blog, Huffington Post, 4.22.12

Time-lapse of Montreal’s Earth Day March, The Montreal Gazette, 4.23.12

Climate Change to Affect Corn Prices, Study Says, The New York Times, 4.22.12

How Has Your Local Climate Changed? The Weather Underground Shows You, Michigan Radio, 4.22.12

Carol Werner, Executive Director

April 23, 2012

Did you miss EESI’s news roundup, this morning?

News

Events

Climate Action Hotline is the weekly update by the US Climate Action Network. Let us know what you think.

Clean Air Act Digest, 4.20.12

USCAN — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:53:04 +0000

UPDATES

Congress:

On Tuesday, April 17, the Energy subcommittee of the House Energy & Commerce Committee voted 15 to 8 on party lines to pass a draft bill called the Gasoline Regulations Act, described by the committee as a legislative response to high gasoline prices. In fact, the Gasoline Regulations Act is yet another assault on the Clean Air Act’s protections for public health and the environment. For more information, see Clean Air Act Digest for Monday, April 16.

Administration:

Oil and Natural Gas Air Pollution Standards/”Fracking” Standards

On Wednesday, April 18, EPA released final rules to reduce air pollution from the production, storage, and transmission of oil and natural gas. The rules include the first federal air pollution standards for hydraulic fracturing of natural gas wells. Often called “fracking,” this process involves injecting a specially blended liquid at high pressure into a rock formation, creating fractures that allow more oil and gas to be extracted. The process produces a whoosh of air pollution when the liquid flows back – gases that can be captured and sold by companies instead of emitted into the air.

In EPA’s fact sheet summarizing the rules, the agency states that the final rules are expected to reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which contribute to the formation of smog, from new hydraulically fractured wells. It will similarly reduce VOCs from existing wells that are refractured. The rule will also reduce air toxics and methane, a greenhouse gas many times as potent as carbon dioxide when emitted directly into the atmosphere.

For information on how this is an important step forward with more work to be done, see Meleah Geertsma’s blog and Miriam Rotkin-Ellman’s blog. For an update on how leading companies are already complying with the requirements in the new rule, see David Doniger’s blog.

ACTION ALERT

Support EPA’s Proposal to Limit Industrial Carbon Pollution from New Power Plants:

Current Action Alerts:

Support EPA’s Proposal to Limit Industrial Carbon Pollution from Power Plants, Natural Resources Defense Council Action Alert

Thank EPA Administrator Jackson for Proposing Carbon Pollution Standards, Environment America Action Alert

Stand Up to Big Polluters: Support the EPA’s New Standards for Global Warming Pollution, League of Conservation Voters Action Alert

Fight for Starving Polar Bears, National Wildlife Federation Action Fund

Represent the Science! Submit Your Official Comment to the EPA Today, Union of Concerned Scientists Action Alert

Take Action: Help End Dirty Energy, Environmental Defense Fund Action Alert

Stop Industrial Carbon Pollution, Earthjustice Action Alert

UPCOMING EVENTS/DEADLINES

Public Hearings:

EPA will hold public hearings on the recently proposed standards. Details on the timing and location for those hearings are not yet available. Stay tuned for updates.

NEW MATERIALS

Environmental Groups Praise EPA’s First-Ever Clean Air Protections for “Fracking”, Joint Press Release, 4.18.12

Natural Gas and Oil Production Standards will Protect Health and Reduce Toxic Air Pollution, American Lung Association Press Release, 4.18.12

EPA Issues Updated, Achievable Air Pollution Standards for Oil and Natural Gas, Environmental Protection Agency Press Release, 4.18.12

Strong Clean Air Standards For Natural Gas Leaks A Trifecta For America, Environmental Defense Fund Blog, 4.18.12

Oil and Natural Gas Air Pollution Standards, Environmental Protection Agency Webpage

Standards of Performance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions for New Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units, World Resources Institute and Pace Energy and Climate Center Paper, 4.16.12

USCAN’s new page on industrial carbon pollution

standards includes a compilation of member materials.

Don’t forget the Clean Air Act fan page on Facebook.

Clean Air Act Digest, 4.16.12

USCAN — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 20:58:49 +0000

UPDATES

Congress:

House

Tomorrow (Tuesday), the Energy subcommittee of the House Energy & Commerce Committee is voting on a draft bill known as the Gasoline Regulations Act and a companion bill, described by the committee as “two legislative responses to high gasoline prices.”

In fact, the Gasoline Regulations Act is yet another assault on the Clean Air Act’s protections for public health and the environment. Authored by subcommittee chairman Ed Whitfield (R-KY), the bill sets up a committee to study the cumulative impacts of several EPA rules on gasoline prices, with the goal clearly being to delay rules to reduce air pollution from motor vehicles (“Tier 3”), derail two clean air standards relating to petroleum refineries, and delay new air quality standards for ground-level ozone. The bill would also greatly weaken the Clean Air Act by barring EPA from relying on science alone in determining how much ozone pollution is unhealthy to breathe. For more information, see John Walke’s blog and these materials:

Group sign-on letter in opposition to the Gasoline Regulations Act of 2012.

Gasoline Regulations Act of 2012 fact sheet.

Administration:

Oil and Natural Gas Performance Standards

Also on Tuesday, April 17, the EPA is expected to finalize updated standards to reduce air pollution from the production, storage, and transmission of oil and natural gas. As proposed last year, the rules would greatly reduce emissions of smog-forming volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which contribute to the formation of smog, from wells that are hydraulically fractured. The rule would also reduce emissions of air toxics and of methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Carbon Pollution Standard

The carbon pollution standard was published in the Federal Record on Friday, April 13, launching the official sixty-day comment period. As described in Clean Air Act Digest on March 30, these are the first national limits on carbon pollution from new electric power plants. This proposed standard is an essential step to protect American’s health and well-being from the carbon pollution that is driving dangerous climate change. We encourage your organization to collect public comments in favor of the proposed carbon pollution standard. For more information, visit the Industrial Carbon Pollution Standard webpage and the comment collection toolkit on USCAN’s website. If you have any questions, contact llaflamme@nrdc.org.

ACTION ALERT

Support EPA’s Proposal to Limit Industrial Carbon Pollution from New Power Plants:

The EPA’s proposed limits on industrial carbon pollution from new power plants are critical to protecting the health of our kids and families, spark innovation in clean technologies and create American jobs. Industrial carbon pollution spewing from power plants threatens our health. Carbon pollution fuels climate change that raises temperatures and makes smog pollution worse, which can trigger asthma attacks and permanently damage and reduce the function of children’s lungs. It’s no surprise the American people support the Clean Air Act and the EPA’s efforts to update and enforce clean air standards, including carbon and mercury emissions from power plants.

Tell the EPA that you support its efforts to protect our health with new standards to reduce carbon pollution from new power plants and urge them to move forward with carbon pollution standards for existing plants.

Current Action Alerts:

Support EPA’s Proposal to Limit Industrial Carbon Pollution from Power Plants, Natural Resources Defense Council Action Alert

Thank EPA Administrator Jackson for Proposing Carbon Pollution Standards, Environment America Action Alert

Stand Up to Big Polluters: Support the EPA’s New Standards for Global Warming Pollution, League of Conservation Voters Action Alert

Fight for Starving Polar Bears, National Wildlife Federation Action Fund

Represent the Science! Submit Your Official Comment to the EPA Today, Union of Concerned Scientists Action Alert

Take Action: Help End Dirty Energy, Environmental Defense Fund Action Alert

Stop Industrial Carbon Pollution, Earthjustice Action Alert

UPCOMING EVENTS/DEADLINES

Public Hearings:

EPA will hold public hearings on the recently proposed standards. Details on the timing and location for those hearings will be available once the proposal has been printed in the Federal Register. Stay tuned for updates.

NEW MATERIALS

Oppose the Gasoline Regulations Act:
Bill Makes all Americans Pay with their Health, Fact Sheet

Carbon Standards FAQs, General Information, Technical Information, and Myths vs. Facts, Fact Sheets

Letter to Chairman Whitfield in Opposition to the Gasoline Regulations Act of 2012, Group Sign-on Letter,
3.28.12

Comment Collection Toolkit for Proposed Carbon Pollution Power Plant Standards, 4.11.12

New Pollution Rule Needs Support, Letters to the Editor The Portland Press Herald, 4.10.12

Poll Shows Majority Support for Carbon Controls, but Partisan Split Persists, E2 Wire, 4.9.12

Climate Change Could Be Tough on Seniors’ Health: Study, MSN Health, 4.9.12

Clean Power: The EPA Raises the Bar on Future coal-fired Plants, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 4.6.12

EPA Carbon Limits Should Pass to Protect Our Air, Journal Tribune Editorial 4.5.12

Survey Says Public Supports New EPA Coal Plant Rule, Public News Service-VA, 4.3.12

A Stronger America: Reducing Pollution, Generating Cleaner Energy, and Building a Stronger Economy, Environmental Defense Fund Fact Sheet

USCAN’s new page on industrial carbon pollution

standards includes a compilation of member materials

including dozens of reactions to this week’s

announcement.

Don’t forget the Clean Air Act fan page on Facebook.

Earth’s Titanic Challenge, Hotline 4.16.12

USCAN — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 20:11:37 +0000

Earth’s Titanic Challenge

This past weekend marked a hundred years from when the Titanic sank tragically in the icy Atlantic Ocean. Although a century ago, this historic event has not only lived on but gained epic recognition in popular culture. Not surprisingly, this symbol of avoidable demise has been used as metaphor for climate change more than once. In this week’s blog pick, Joe Romm of Climate Progress features Director James Cameron‘s recent comments on the connection between what happened and our climate predicament. In an interesting opinion piece, Stephen Hiltner explores this topic for the Times of Trenton. Hopefully, we’ll learn from our mistakes before it’s too late.

The Titanic At 100 Years: We’re Still Ignoring Warnings, This Time It’s Climate Change, Says Director James Cameron

Opinion: Earth’s Passengers Should Learn From Titanic Mistakes

Tell President Obama: Protect our Rocky Mountains from Being Torn Apart!Oil companies are pushing to open vast sections of the Rockies for tar sands and oil shale mining. Oil shale mining requires dangerous experimental technology that heats rocks to nearly 1000 degrees to squeeze out tiny amounts of oil — destroying habitats and cooking the climate along the way. Tar sands have been called a “carbon bomb” and are one of the dirtiest fuels on the planet.

Under President Bush, in 2008 the Bureau of Land Management opened over two million acres of public land to oil shale and tar sands mining in Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. President Obama’s administration is now considering reducing the land available for these destructive practices and is considering four options (see below). We have until May 4th to submit public comments in support of our favorite option (Alternative 3), proving that broad public support exists for the climate, healthy communities, wildlife, and scarce Western water resources. Make no mistake: this comment period will literally determine the fate of the West for decades to come.

Please feel free to use these Sierra Club resources as you prepare your action alerts for this important topic.

Oil shale email: http://action.sierraclub.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=234902.0

Oil shale alert: https://secure.sierraclub.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=8497&autologin=true

Alternative 1 – No action alternative. This alternative leaves in place the 2008 Bush decision for both oil shale and tar sands (roughly 2 million acres for oil shale and 431,000 acres for tar sands).
Alternative 2 – Conservation focused alternative. The alternative opens 461,965 acres for oil shale and less than 229,000 acres for tar sands.
Alternative 3 – RD&D only for oil shale/ “Pending commercial lease” for tar sands. All oil shale areas would be closed except for the six current RD&D leases and their associated preference right lease areas (PRLA). Under this alternative, that would restrict development to roughly 30,600 acres. For tar sands, since there is no federal RD&D program, all areas would be closed except for the one lease application currently pending on Asphalt Ridge in Utah (covers approximately 2100 acres).
Alternative 4 – Moderate development scenario (BLM’s language). This alternative is a combination of Alternative 1 and 2. Under this alternative, all areas designated in the 2008 PEIS (Alternative 1) would be open for commercial development, except Adobe Town in Wyoming (180,910 acres) and all ACECs (76,666).

For more information, please contact JP Leous at jpleous@climatenetwork.org.

Featured Resource:

Clean Air Act Digest

Have you seen the weekly Clean Air Act Digest? This electronic publication, produced jointly with NRDC, is your one-stop for all things Clean Air Act. Get the latest updates, action opportunities, resource materials, and much more, here.

Carol Werner, Executive Director

April 16, 2012

Did you miss EESI’s news roundup, this morning?

News

Climate Action Hotline is the weekly update by the US Climate Action Network. Let us know what you think.

Global Weirding in my Backyard, Hotline 4.9.12

USCAN — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 18:33:23 +0000

Global Weirding in my Backyard

Spring is definitely sprung, but for many of us, that statement barely elicits a yawn this April. Here in North Carolina – and the Southeast region is certainly not alone – we’ve experienced spring-like temperatures for months. On a personal level, it has been strange to bring out the flip flops in February, watch tulips and roses bloom simultaneously in March and already dread the weekly lawn mow now that it is April.

All those activities pale in comparison to the wild temperature swings and extreme weather events occurring at alarming rates across the U.S. Last year alone, the country suffered 14 extreme weather events, each causing losses of at least $1 billion. The March 2nd tornado outbreak was the biggest we’ve seen in years with 132 tornadoes reported, leaving least 39 people dead. In fact, there were a total of 154 tornadoes from January through March of 2011. According to senior meteorologist and long-range forecaster Jack Boston at AccuWeather.com, more active weather is anticipated with another peak season of severe weather anticipated later this spring. “Severe weather will get more active by the middle of April,” he reports. “The pattern will get more progressive,” meaning more storms will cross the country.

Like me, forecasters, climatologists, and citizens around the world are marveling–and fearing – what’s to come. Europe just stepped out of a deep freeze, Fiji is underwater from a recent tropical storm, and East Africa has still yet to recover from a drought last year that is responsible for 30,000 deaths. We are not alone in thinking about the connection between climate change and our everyday weather. Don’t forget to check out some of the related resources below.

350.org is hosting a world-wide Climate Impacts Day on 5/5/2012 to protest, educate, document and volunteer with people around the world to support the communities on the front lines of climate change. I challenge you to take a minute to learn more about this day of action and get involved personally or through your own organization! See this week’s action alert for more information.

Kellyn Garrison, Southeast Regional Coordinator, US Climate Action Network.

350.org has been organizing hard-hitting grassroots climate actions for the past three years. Their next global day of action is coming up soon, and they want to make sure that your organization has a chance to be involved. Saturday, May 5, 2012 is Climate Impacts Day, when communities will “connect the dots” between extreme weather and climate change. On this day communities all over the world will gather to host rallies, educational events, and adaptation projects to connect the dots between increasingly extreme weather and global climate change.

Join: http://www.climatedots.org/

2011 had more multi-billion dollar disasters than any year on record. Tragically, this is a pattern set to continue unless we begin to tell the story of the catastrophic climate change driving these events, so that the next time this happens, carbon emissions are the culprit. This will enable us to continue our work building a movement to confront the fossil-fuel industry–and its political handouts–directly.

Click here to read the invitation from 350.org Co-Founder and environmental scholar Bill McKibben. For partnership inquiries, contact Sara Camp (sara@350.org).

Whether your organization is interested in assisting with outreach or directly supporting actions on the ground, 350.org is eager to work with you. If you aren’t affiliated with an organization and want to take action, visit 350.org today and get your social media on by sharing the FB posts and tweets below!

Tweets: On 5/5/12, #ConnectTheDots between climate change and extreme weather: http://climatedots.org via @350 #350ppm

Millions of our friends & neighbors are already feeling the impacts of climate change. Let’s #ConnectTheDots 5/5/12: http://climatedots.org

Facebook Posts: It’s not just you: the weather is definitely getting weirder. It’s time to connect the dots between extreme weather, fossil fuels and the impacts of climate change. On 5/5/12, we’re joining people across the world will be joining together in a day of action to #ConnectTheDots. (link to climatedots.org)

Millions of people across the world are already feeling the impacts of climate change – floods, drought, and unprecedented extreme weather events. On 5/5/12, we’re going to #ConnectTheDots between the wild weather and fossil fuels. Join us: (link to climatedots.org)

Related Resources:

Warmest Ever? You Bet. March Temps Fry All Records, Climate Central Blog, 4.9.12

The Other Arab Spring, Thomas L. Friedman, Op-ed The New York Times, 4.7.12

Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change

Adaptation (SREX), IPCC Special Report 3.28.12

Tornadoes Rip through Dallas Metro Area, Wunderground Blog, 4.9.12

Climate Change Drives Extreme Weather, Says New Research, Slate.com Video, 3.27.12

Connecting the Dots, Climate Nexus Report, 2.2012

Carol Werner, Executive Director

April 9, 2012

Did you miss EESI’s news roundup, this morning?

News

Climate Action Hotline is the weekly update by the US Climate Action Network. Let us know what you think.

Getting to Higher Ground, Hotline 4.2.12

USCAN — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 20:31:49 +0000

Getting to Higher Ground

Happy Anniversary! That’s right: it’s been five, count ‘em, five years since the highest court in all the land decided that greenhouse gases are air pollutants and the EPA may regulate their emission. This is the “wooden” anniversary, so get out there and celebrate by planting or at least hugging a carbon-sequestering tree.

As we all know, Massachusetts vs. EPA set the stage for our community’s current efforts to protect the EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases—including efforts to generate comments in support of the EPA’s proposed standard for industrial carbon pollution. This was one of many topics covered at the 2012 USCAN Annual Conference, held March 20-22 in Denver, CO.

What do you do when you are hosting a conference whose participants are so high-caliber that they could all be panelists, whose interests range from the KXL fight to rooftop solar, and work in communities across the country? First, you host said conference at altitude– hoping the thin air mellows folks out and enhances the effects of happy hour. (kidding, kind of). But seriously–this year’s Steering Committee designed an agenda that focused on three critical areas of our community’s collective efforts: communicating and building momentum, breaking fossil fuel’s grip on our economy and planet, and pushing a clean energy future forward. Wanting to tap into the energy and expertise of panelists and audience participants alike, the Steering Committee focused on creating as much time and space for conversation as possible.

HUGE thanks to the Steering Committee:

Nathan Wilcox, Bill Bradlee, Mary Ann Hitt, Lucy Laflamme, Angela Anderson, Jacqueline Patterson, Claudia Malloy, KC Golden, Joy Bergey, and Adriana Quintero!

The conference began with a thought-provoking discussion of how we talk about our issues and climate change, who can best carry our message to various audiences, and how social change occurs. From there we learned about campaigns across the nation and beyond, ranging from the Clean Air Defense Campaign to energy efficiency in Colorado to international climate policy to fighting coal in the Midwest. Rare is the chance that one can attend one event and be brought up to speed on policy, politics, and campaigns occurring in such a broad array of important climate issue areas!

Through dialogue and debate, our community continues down an important road as we shake off the last vestiges of post cap-and-trade mourning and frustration, and start to bend our broad array of campaigns together as a unified movement—working not in isolation, but in support of a common vision.

For Members Only: Want to read highlights from each of the panels and see some of the presentations? Visit the USCAN website today. Log-in required.

JP Leous, Outreach Director, US Climate Action Network

Protect Proposed Standard to Reduce

Industrial Carbon Pollution from Attack

EPA’s proposal has come under immediate and forceful attack from opponents on the side of Big Coal and Big Oil. At stake is your health and American jobs.

Tell President Obama to stand up for our right to breathe clean air and fight for clean, green American jobs. We’ve heard corporate polluters’ lies and scare tactics about new pollution standards, and it’s time we fight back with the truth: new industrial carbon pollution standards protect children’s health, fight catastrophic climate change, and spur the economic innovation and jobs we need now.

Carbon pollution fuels climate change and makes smog pollution worse, which can trigger asthma attacks and permanently damage children’s lungs. It’s no surprise the American people support the Clean Air Act and the EPA’s efforts to update and enforce clean air standards, including carbon and mercury emissions from power plants.

Tell the President that you support protecting our health with standards that reduce carbon pollution from new power plants. Urge him to move forward also with carbon pollution standards for existing plants.

Current Action Alerts:

Support EPA’s Proposal to Limit Industrial Carbon Pollution from Power Plants, Natural Resources Defense Council Action Alert
Thank EPA Administrator Jackson for Proposing Carbon Pollution Standards, Environment America Action Alert
Stand Up to Big Polluters: Support the EPA’s New Standards for Global Warming Pollution, League of Conservation Voters Action Alert
Fight for Starving Polar Bears, National Wildlife Federation Action Fund
Represent the Science! Submit Your Official Comment to the EPA Today, Union of Concerned Scientists Action Alert
Take Action: Help End Dirty Energy, Environmental Defense Fund Action Alert
Tell the EPA: Americans Want Carbon Pollution Protections!, Sierra Club Action Alert

For more information or messaging materials, please contact JP Leous at jpleous@climatenetwork.org.

Clean Air Act Digest

Earth Hour 2012 Kicks Off World Wildlife Fund

City Challenge ,

World Wildlife Fund Climate Blog, 4.1.12

Around the world last night, millions of individuals switched off their non-essential lights as part of the world’s largest symbolic environmental action. From the Eiffel Tower in France to the Ghirardelli Square sign on San Francisco’s Fisherman’s wharf, some of the planet’s most iconic landmarks participated. Read more: http://www.wwfblogs.org/climate/content/earth-hour-2012-kicks-wwf-city-challenge

Carol Werner, Executive Director

April 2, 2012

Did you miss EESI’s news roundup, this morning?

News

Climate Action Hotline is the weekly update by the US Climate Action Network. Let us know what you think.

Holding Our Ground, Climate Action Hotline 4.11.11