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A Vow Not To Go Away on Climate Legislation: Climate Action Hotline July 23

Rhys Gerholdt — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:12:49 +0000

July 23, 2010

No sooner had Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced on Thursday that climate measures would be dropped from a new and much more narrowly focused energy bill than the finger pointing began. Democrats blamed Republican resistance. Republicans countered that not even enough Democrats were wedded to cuts in carbon emissions. Climate advocates groused privately that the president didn’t do enough to help. Journalists blamed environmentalists for an inflexible message that didn’t rouse enough public ire.

Whatever. It’s painful.

Still, in the dispiriting hours after the announcement climate advocates and Senate leaders agreed that the Earth is warming dangerously, the nation will suffer economically as climate change accelerates, and that giving up is not an option. “If we can’t do it in the next weeks, we’ll do something that begins to do something responsibly in the short term,” said Senator John Kerry, the Senate’s most important climate action leader. “But this will stay out there, and we’ll be working on it. We’ll be asking you to talk to your senators and move them to understand why we have to get this done.”

“The twin challenges of building a clean energy economy and addressing global warming are too important to fail,” said Gene Karpinski, the president of the League of Conservation Voters. “The fight to create new clean energy jobs and solve the climate crisis will continue — in this Congress, in the states and at the EPA.”

Less Filling
The new and less ambitious energy bill that Senator Reid plans to introduce next week will focus on a response to the BP Gulf disaster, improvements to energy efficiency, converting vehicle fleets to natural gas, and other energy measures that are more likely to attract bi-partisan support. But the introduction of such a bill would appear to have the effect of squandering the work of the House, which passed a cap-and-trade bill in June 2009 that set a national cap on carbon emissions and required companies to have permits for such emissions.

The question pondered by climate activists in and outside of Washington is what will it take to tee up and pass a comprehensive climate bill? The worst oil disaster in the nation’s history wasn’t enough. Nor was the news this week from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that 2010 is the warmest year on record.

New Message Campaigns Needed
Two openings, though, for new and urgent message campaigns may have presented themselves this week.

The first was a report from the Natural Resources Defense Council that linked climate change to water shortages and found that “more than 1,100 counties — one-third of all counties in the lower 48 — will face higher risks of water shortages by mid-century as the result of global warming.” Water is personal, essential, and very much at risk in the era of climate change.

Secondly was the news that China next year will put a price on carbon and start a program of domestic carbon trading to help it meet a 2020 carbon intensity target. Americans thrive on competition and there is no more important global race than the one China is winning in developing the markets and technology to command the multi-trillion dollar low carbon economy.

This troubling week also included the sad news that Stephen Schneider, the Stanford climatologist whose ability to communicate the risks of climate change to ordinary people was as keen as his scientific acumen, died at the age of 65. Paul R. Ehrlich, the biologist and population expert, said of Schneider, “I don’t think anybody has worked harder and longer to educate the public on climate issues in particular and science issues in general.” Our condolences to Schneider’s family and all of us who knew and admired his work.

Until next week, take care, Keith Schneider

Dems Abandon Comprehensive Energy Legislation
At a press conference this afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), the Democrats’ top climate and energy negotiator, acknowledged officially, and with obvious disappointment, that they lack the votes to pass legislation limiting carbon pollution, and that forthcoming energy legislation will be extremely narrow, in a bid to overcome a GOP filibuster.

Democrats Pull Plug on Climate Bill
Senate Democrats pulled the plug on climate legislation Thursday, pushing the issue off into an uncertain future ahead of mid-term elections. Rather than a long-awaited measure capping greenhouse gases – or even a more limited bill directed only at electric utilities – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will move forward next week on a bipartisan energy-only bill that responds to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and contains other more popular energy items.

On the Death of the Climate Bill
Not only will the bill not contain any restrictions on greenhouse gases — not even a watered-down utility-only cap – it won’t even contain the two other key policies that would have moved clean energy forward: the Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) and the energy efficiency standards.

Lack of Votes for Senate Democrats’ Energy Bill May Mean the End
The decision to abandon the proposal was another concession to the difficult political environment that party leaders face, as many rank-and-file congressional Democrats are wary of casting any votes that could be used in Republican attacks.

Carbon Trading in Pipeline for China
In a recent development, it now appears that China will implement a domestic carbon cap and trade program in its 12th Five-Year plan set to begin in 2011. Details sounding the program are still being worked out but official have said that China made the decision to implement the program to help the nation reach its 2020 carbon intensity target.

Stephen H. Schneider, Climate Change Expert, dies at 65
Stephen H. Schneider, 65, an influential Stanford University climatologist who parlayed his expertise on the dangerous effects of greenhouse-gas emissions into a second career as a leader in the public dialogue — and debate — on climate change, died July 19 in London.

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

“Many of us want to do a thorough comprehensive [climate and energy] bill that creates jobs, breaks our addiction to foreign oil, and curbs pollution,” Reid said. “Unfortunately at this time we don’t have a single Republican to work with in achieving this goal.”

- Senator Harry Reid

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Asks Court to Block EPA from Regulating Emissions

Suzanne Bopp — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:01:09 +0000

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, no surprise, is asking a federal court of appeals to review the Environmental Protection Agency’s ruling that greenhouse gases pose a health risk that the agency could regulate under the Clean Air Act. The Chamber is leading the national campaign that includes the oil, natural gas, coal, and utility industry that believes doing nothing to limit carbon emissions is better than doing something. Stasis, the Chamber asserts, is a better move for the economy than regulating carbon and modernizing how America power itself. In the face of ample evidence that securing environmental safety — Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, Superfund, RCRA — produced vast environmental gains, the Chamber is convinced that regulating carbon will cost the economy more than leaving polluters to keep polluting.

“Today the Chamber is filing a formal petition indicating it will challenge EPA’s decision to trigger Clean Air Act regulation, based on lapses in EPA’s process in making that decision,” said Steven J. Law, general counsel of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in a press release.

The Chamber’s stance on climate change has cost it several members recently, including PG&E, PMN, Exelon, Apple and Mohawk Fine Paper. Nike decided to abandon its seat on the Chamber’s board.

The statement closes by saying that “The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations” – this despite the fact that this number was exposed as an exponential exaggeration last fall by Mother Jones.

Texas Governor Gets a “Citizen Citation”

Suzanne Bopp — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:51:50 +0000

Texas Governor Rick Perry is one of several politicians and business interests (including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a group of senators) trying to stop the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases, but after he filed his lawsuit against the EPA this week, Texas environmental groups made a filing of their own.

Texas’ Public Citizen and the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club issued Perry a citizen citation to “cease and desist endangering the health of breathers, the economy and the climate in Texas by continuing to permit coal plants and other large sources of CO2.”

The groups issued a joint press release that read, in part:

“This morning, Gov. Rick Perry attempted to show Texas voters that he is bigger than both Texas and federal law by filing a lawsuit challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) finding that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public health. Instead, he just further highlighted his failure to protect Texans’ health and the safety and long-term stability of our economy and climate.

“Instead of suing the EPA, Perry should be taking proactive steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build up our clean energy economy. Perry likes to brag about his accomplishments in promoting wind and energy efficiency and the emissions Texas has avoided as a result, but he is also hammering through a second Texas coal rush that will negate all that hard work and add 77 million tons of CO2 to Texas’ already overheated air.”

Governor Perry’s petition claims that EPA regulations would be devastating to farmers and ranchers, and that the EPA did not use sound science to reach its decision on greenhouse gases.

Greening the Big Apple

Suzanne Bopp — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 10:02:06 +0000

Buildings are the biggest source of greenhouse gases in New York City — 79 percent of emissions – and now city leaders are taking steps to make them greener.

Four bills passed this week as part of the city’s Greener, Greater Buildings plan are expected to reduce New York City’s greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 5 percent.

One of the laws requires owners of buildings larger than 50,000 square feet to conduct energy audits every 10 years and to make environmental “tune-ups” to operations and maintenance systems, including upgrading lighting systems by 2025. Another creates an energy code that buildings will have to meet whenever they make renovations.

The legislation is expected to create more than 17,000 jobs and lower residents’ energy bills at the same time – cutting costs by an estimated $700 million a year.

The city has a mandate to reduce its emissions 30 percent by 2030.

16 States and New York City Back the EPA’s Endangerment Finding on CO2

EPA Says Greenhouse Gases Are Dangerous, Can Be Regulated

Suzanne Bopp — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:49:35 +0000

Yesterday, the EPA announced that global warming pollution endangers the health and welfare of Americans, and must it be reduced. This “endangerment finding” means the EPA will move forward with preparations to regulate large emitters of greenhouse gases.

In 2007, the Supreme Court had ordered the Bush administration to determine whether greenhouse gases were endangering Americans, saying that if the EPA decided that was the case, the agency had the authority and the responsibility to regulate those emissions under the Clean Air Act. Yesterday’s announcement was the EPA’s answer to that question.

- Suzanne Bopp

EPA Presses Case to Regulate Greenhouse Emissions

Suzanne Bopp — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:12:59 +0000

This week, the EPA is holding public hearings in Arlington, Va., and Chicago on the agency’s proposal to begin regulating global warming gases from power plants, oil refineries, factories and other major sources, under the authority of the Clean Air Act.

The current Clean Air Act regulations for such pollutants as lead, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides apply to facilities that emit 100 to 250 tons annually. That threshold is inappropriate for the six global warming gases EPA has authority to regulate (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride). Under the EPA’s proposed “tailoring” rule, facilities that emit at least 25,000 tons of greenhouse gases a year would have to obtain permits. This program would cover nearly 70 percent of the nation’s total greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources. Small farms, restaurants and other small facilities wouldn’t be affected under the new rule.

The EPA will accept written comments on the proposed rule until December 28, 2009.

– Suzanne Bopp