 |
If you Love Her, |
News & Information Resources |
MAIN MENU
PUBLIC OFFICIALS/GOVERNMENT/LEGISLATION INVOLVED WITH CLIMATE CHANGE ISSUES
2008 Presidential Primaries Voting Guide (League of Conservation Voters)
*Advocates for Action on Global Warming Chosen as Obama's Top Science Advisers. By Juliet Eilperin and Joel Achenbach, Washington Post , December 19, 2008. -- "President-elect Barack Obama has selected two of the nation's most prominent scientific advocates for a vigorous response to climate change to serve in his administration's top ranks, according to sources, sending the strongest signal yet that he will reverse Bush administration policies on energy and global warming. The appointments of Harvard University physicist John Holdren as presidential science adviser and Oregon State University marine biologist Jane Lubchenco as head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which will be announced tomorrow, dismayed conservatives but heartened environmentalists and researchers. Like Energy Secretary-designate Steven Chu, who directs the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Holdren and Lubchenco have argued repeatedly for a mandatory limit on greenhouse gas emissions to avert catastrophic climate change."
Al Gore group urges Obama to create U.S. power grid. By Deborah Zabarenko. Reuters, November 6, 2008. -- "Washington -- Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection has some environmental advice for the incoming Obama administration: focus on energy efficiency and renewable resources, and create a unified U.S. power grid. On Thursday, the group Gore founded rolled out a new media campaign to push for immediate investments in three energy areas it maintains would help meet Gore's previously announced challenge to produce 100 percent clean electricity in the United States in a decade."
After The Circus Leaves Town. Posted by Trip Van Noppen, September 30, 2008. Earthjustice -- "What's happened in Congress during the last two weeks on energy and drilling issues could send us several major steps backwards on the road to a clean and prosperous energy future. As I write this, Congress—instead of passing measures to further increase fuel efficiency and reduce oil demand—is capitulating to the "drill, baby, drill" drumbeat. At midnight, two critical moratoriums will lapse: on offshore drilling and oil shale development in the West. At the same time, crucial tax incentives for wind and solar energy have yet to be renewed. Earthjustice's Policy and Legislation team in DC have been in the thick of fighting provisions that would make America even more reliant on dirty fuels. Extraction and processing of these fuels—tar sands, oil shale and liquid coal—can produce more than twice the global warming pollution as conventional oil. Supporting these fuels through tax incentives is completely at odds with mandatory carbon reductions that Congress must enact if we have any chance of slowing global warming."
Barbara Boxer (Chair, Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works)
*Can Democracy Catch Up to Climate Science? By Larry J. Schweiger, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Wildlife Federation, National Wildlife , August-September 2008. -- "When he first appeared before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Dr. James E. Hansen, head of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, brought alarming findings from a three-dimensional climate model to warn the committee and the world that the Earth was overheating and that we were all responsible. Well, that was 20 years ago. We now know so much more about the consequences of climate change as it unfolds all over the planet. With more than 10,000 peer-reviewed studies published about it, global warming is a highly documented, rapidly expanding crisis that will affect everyone and alter the very nature of tomorrow. Yet despite two decades of accumulating, increasingly alarming science, our government has failed to enact a single law to do anything to curb this crisis...."
CandidAnswers. Voter Guide for the Environment Election ’08. October 2008. -- "CandidAnswers is a survey about the environment, administered by you, the voters. We’ve put the candidates from your district side by side so that you can compare their answers. And if they haven't responded, you can ask them to now! Just plug your zip code into the form below to get started."
*Cap and Trade Legislation. (Diane Rehm Show) June 3, 2008. [Audio] - "The Senate is debating a bill that would reduce U.S. carbon emissions through a cap and trade system. Supporters says the measure is a good first step in fighting global warming, while opponents, including President Bush, say the measure would hurt the economy and push gas prices even higher. Guests: Stephen Moore , Darren Samuelsohn, Manik Roy, Rep. Jay Inslee, (D-Washington), John Stowell."
*Climate Change Bills of the 110th Congress (Environmental Defense)
A closer look at Obama’s energy plan. Economy may slow it, but ‘green’ jobs may grow it. By Mark Clayton, The Christian Science Monitor, November 12, 2008. -- "If President-elect Barack Obama enacts the energy plan he laid out during his campaign, American taxpayers will each get a $500 rebate check – funded by a windfall profits taxes on big oil companies. But that’s just for starters. Besides taxing oil giants more, Senator Obama’s detailed 30-point energy agenda calls for big changes to address carbon emissions, fuel efficiency for vehicles, and domestic and renewable power and efficiency."
Compare the Candidates: Election ’08, a Grist Special Series.
Democratic Leaders Poised to Sabotage Hope for Renewable Energy. By Kelpie Wilson, TruthOut.org. Posted November 13, 2007 (AlterNet). "Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid said that they would jettison the renewable energy provisions in both the Houseand Senate versions of the 2007 energy bill, in the interest of passing a bill before the Thanksgiving. Republicans have been holding up action on the bill for months now …. The big sticking points for Republicans have been support for renewable energy and ending billions of dollars in subsidies for oil companies. Democrats would like to use the oil subsidy money to support solar and wind power."
Democratic Party Platform Outlines Green Goals. Party Is as Party Does. Posted August 14, 2008, Grist. -- "The Democratic Party released its national platform Thursday ahead of its upcoming convention in Denver. While the health-care section is Hillary-esque, most sections, including those environment- and energy-related, echo the calls that Barack Obama has made throughout his campaign. The section 'New American Energy' declares that Dems will create up to 5 million jobs in the green-energy sector, "clean up our coal plants," make the U.S. 50 percent more energy-efficient by 2030, institute a cap-and-trade program, increase auto fuel efficiency, source 25 percent of electricity from renewables by 2025, invest in cellulosic ethanol, install a smarter electricity grid, and reduce oil consumption 35 percent by 2030."
Eight Strikes and You’re Out. By Thomas L. Friedman. Published August 12, 2008, New York Times. -- "John McCain recently tried to underscore his seriousness about pushing through a new energy policy, with a strong focus on more drilling for oil, by telling a motorcycle convention that Congress needed to come back from vacation immediately and do something about America’s energy crisis. “Tell them to come back and get to work!” McCain bellowed.... It was only five days earlier, on July 30, that the Senate was voting for the eighth time in the past year on a broad, vitally important bill — S. 3335 — that would have extended the investment tax credits for installing solar energy and the production tax credits for building wind turbines and other energy-efficiency systems. Both the wind and solar industries depend on these credits — which expire in December — to scale their businesses and become competitive with coal, oil and natural gas.... Senator McCain did not show up for the crucial vote on July 30, and the renewable energy bill was defeated for the eighth time.... In fact, John McCain has a perfect record on this renewable energy legislation. He has missed all eight votes over the last year — which effectively counts as a no vote each time. Once, he was even in the Senate and wouldn’t leave his office to vote."
** Energy Bill Passes House and Fails in Senate. (Friends of the Earth. Environmental Roundup) December 8, 2007. "After months of negotiations, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid this week agreed to bring a strong energy package to the floor ofeach house. Unfortunately, while the bill passed the House of Representatives on Thursday, it was defeated by a Senate filibuster this morning and will now likely be dramatically scaled back before being sent to the president."
Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (Engrossed Amendment as Agreed to by House). HR6. Library of Congress Thomas.
**EPA details health risks of global warming. Published July 15, 2008, Columbia Daily Tribune. Washington (Associated Press) -- "Government scientists detailed a rising death toll from heat waves, wildfires, disease and smog caused by global warming in an analysis the White House buried so it could avoid regulating greenhouse gases. In a 149-page document released yesterday, experts laid out the scientific case for the grave risks that global warming poses to people and to the food, energy and water on which society depends. 'Risk (to human health, society and the environment) increases with increases in both the rate and magnitude of climate change,' scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency said."
EPA chief draws staff’s criticism. Greenhouse gas emissions spark debate. McClatchy Newspapers. Published August 5, 2008, Columbia Daily Tribune. Washington -- "Environmental Protection Agency chief Stephen Johnson stunned his staff last month when he publicly opposed their proposals for regulating greenhouse gas emissions, four union officials representing EPA staff working on global warming policies said in a letter provided to McClatchy yesterday. The letter alleges that Johnson subverted the work of EPA staff and damaged the agency’s reputation for 'sound science and policy'.... Congressional committees are investigating whether the EPA’s decisions have been made in accord with the conclusions of its staff and whether the White House interfered with some of the agency’s work...."
Five Questions You Should Ask the Presidential Candidates. by Greg Haegele, Sierra Club on January 3, 2008. PlanetGreen.Treehugger. "1. How would your administration plan to reduce global warming emissions? 2. How will your administration work with other nations toreduce global warming pollution worldwide? 3. How would you balance federal funding for public transportation and road construction? 4. How do you respond to industries who try to argue that we have to choose between jobs and clean energy? 5. What are your policies on new coal fired power plants and new nuclear power plants?"
Fix or Ditch Lieberman-Warner (YouTube webcast of Friends of the Earth TV ad).
*Flip the Switch: Create America’s Clean Energy Future (Sierra Club). Find out how your Senators and Representative voted on key energy amendments by entering your zip code.Governors Challenge Congress to Cap Global Warming Pollution in New TV Ad. (Environmental Defense Action Fund). Posted November 14, 2007. "Three western governors, Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), Brian Schweitzer (D-MT) and Jon Huntsman (R-UT), challenge Congress to cap America's global warming pollution in a new Environmental Defense Action Fund TV ad."
** Google PowerVotes: Clean Energy 2030! Published by carlosrymer, October 2, 2008, (It’s Getting Hot in Here) -- "While America’s youth are working hard towards having 1 million youth pledge to Power Vote, Google has announced its own PowerVote pledge with its Clean Energy 2030 Proposal. The Internet giant has continued to lead beyond its main business by pledging to make Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal, joining General Electric in figuring out how to get America’s national grid to be “smart,” and even becoming a leader by example with a large solar power installation at their headquarters. Now, Google has announced a proposal that could wean America off of most fossil fuels by 2030, a plan in line with what T. Boone Pickens has called for with his Pickens Plan and the call by Al Gore to make all electricity consumed in America renewable by 2018. Google’s proposal calls for a 100% reduction in coal and oil consumption in America by installing 300 GW of onshore wind energy, 80GW of offshore wind energy, 170GW of solar photovoltaic, 80GW of concentrated solar power, 15GW of conventional geothermal, and 65GW of enhanced geothermal. It also calls for an increase in sales of plug-in and hybrid vehicles to 90% of all sales by 2030 (reaching 42% of the U.S. vehicle fleet in 2030), increasing conventional vehicle fuel efficiency to 45mgp by 2030, an acceleration of the vehicle fleet turnover from 19 to 13 years (increasing sales by 31%), and building some 32,000 kilometers of new transmission lines. The bill: $4.4 trillion . If we begin in 2010, this means an annual investment of $220 billion by the private sector and the government, with the majority of it coming from the private sector. It will also mean savings of $1 trillion by 2030 due to the lower price of renewables compared to oil, as well as other factors."
**Green Energy Voter Guide. (Environmental Defense Action Fund). Lost Eight Years. No Federal Action Despite Dire Warnings.
Greening the 2008 Democratic National Convention. (Democratic National Committee). August, 2008. -- "Our mission is to produce the most environmentally sustainable political convention in modern American history. We initiated our comprehensive greening plan a full year before the Convention and continue to incorporate sustainability principles in all aspects of our planning and restoration. Our programs range from minimizing waste at resource recovery stations to measuring our carbon footprint. Our goal is to holistically design-in environmental sustainability measures in every possible way, take responsibility for our impact on the climate and create a lasting environmental legacy for the Democratic Party and the city of Denver."
Harry Reid Says "Coal Makes Us Sick."YouTube [Video] June 30, 2008.
House Members to Watch on Global Warming. Environmental Defense Action Fund . Posted January 25, 2008 .... "The focus now shifts to the House, where leaders have promised to vote on global warming legislation this year. Here are 10 of the most influential global warmingmovers and shakers in the House. These representatives are making key decisions for better or for worse – on drafting and moving legislation that will stop global warming."
House OKs repealing of oil subsidies. Bill would give funds to alternative energy. Published February 28, 2008, Columbia Daily Tribune. Washington (Associated Press) - "The House approved $18 billion in new taxes on the largest oil companies yesterday as Democrats cited record oil prices and rising gasoline costs in a time of economic troubles. The money collected over 10 years would provide tax breaks for wind, solar and other alternative energy sources and forenergy conservation. The legislation, approved 236-182, would cost the five largest oil companies an average of $1.8 billion a year over that period, according an analysis by the House Ways and Means Committee. Those companies earned $123 billion last year."
**How Green Is Your Candidate? "Interviews and information on the presidential candidates' energy plans and environmental positions." Updated November 13, 2007. GRIST Environmental News & Commentary.
The Incidence of US Climate Policy. Posted by Rich Sweeney, September 10, 2008, (Common Tragedies, Thoughts on Environmental Economics). -- "Last week Dallas Burtraw, Margaret Walls and I released a new RFF discussion paper titled, 'Where You Stand Depends On Where You Sit: The Incidence of US Climate Policy.' In it we analyze the first-order impacts of 10 different cap-and-trade policy alternatives across regions and income groups. Rather than overtly advocating one policy or attempting to optimize outcomes along some predefined dimension, this initial report is intended largely to highlight the potential distributional effects of capping carbon and to describe the broad range of options available for policymakers to address these effects....
Join the Town Hall Meeting January 30, 2008. (Sierra Club). "Get on the phone with the candidates! ... Would you like a chance to ask thePresidential candidates what they would do to fight global warming, put us on the path to a clean energy economy, make the EPA an enforcement agency again, or reform the Army Corps of Engineers? As a Sierra Club member, you could have the opportunity next week to pose those questions. That's when the Sierra Club plans to sponsor a teleconferenced Town Hall with all the Presidential candidates who accept our invitation."
Kerry to make climate a top priority for Foreign Relations panel. Posted by Kate Sheppard, November 25, 2008, Grist. -- "Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) wasn't on the Democratic ticket this year, but he's set to gain some additional influence in Washington thanks to the Obama-Biden victory. With Biden leaving the Senate for the vice presidency, Kerry will become the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and today he told reporters that climate change will be an issue that is 'front and center' for the panel next year."
*League of Conservation Voters. Environmental Profiles of all 2008 Presidential Candidates.
Lost Eight Years by the Numbers. "Over the last eight years, global warming took its toll on the world. While climate scientists confirmed that it is undoubtedly a man-made phenomenon and predicted its disastrous future effects, the Bush Administration worked with various members of U.S. industry to bury this evidence and block action. Check out our 10 Facts About the Lost Eight Years to learn more."
Minnesota Passes Sustainable Buildings 2030 Proposal. (Architecture 2030). "A bill authored by Minnesota State Senator, Yvonne Prettner Solon, has passed requiring new buildings in the state to become carbon neutral by 2030." Read a press release here.
Majority of Senate Voices Support for Progress on Comprehensive Climate Change Bill. Environmental Defense Fund, June 6, 2008 -- "A majority of the U.S. Senate today voiced support for moving forward with the Climate Security Act, marking an historic turning point in the debate over national climate policy. While the bill could not survive continuing delay tactics, it garnered important new momentum that sets the stage for quick action in the next Congress."
Make Freddie and Fannie Go Green. By Brent Blackwelder & James S. Henry, July 24, 2008, The Nation. -- "After nearly a decade of US overspending on largely non-green, energy-inefficient, low-density housing, our nation is in the midst of the largest bank bailout since the 1980s Savings and Loan crisis. Congress is responding by rushing through legislation that would allow the US Treasury to lend up to $300 billion to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two gargantuan government-sponsored enterprises that now guarantee nearly 45 percent of the nation's $12 trillion in mortgages.... Now is the time to create a green Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. We need to be farsighted as we look to the next generation of houses. The goal must be to shift from underwriting energy-guzzling McMansions to a green lending strategy that protects us from energy inflation and the impacts of rapid climate change."
McCain ignores environment and climate change (Clean Air Canada), September 6, 2008. -- "In his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention Thursday night, presidential candidate John McCain mentioned climate change and global warming exactly zero times. He never even uttered the 'E' word (environment). It used to be that McCain's bipartisan work combating global warming was a point of pride for the GOP senator. That was before he selected VP candidate Sarah Palin, who is a global warming denier and is passionate about drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The closest McCain got to the climate was in talking about energy: ‘We'll produce more energy at home. We will drill new wells off-shore, and we'll drill them now. We'll drill them now.’"
National Environmental Score Card. League of Conservation Voters.2007, 1 st Session, 110 th Congress. -"Search by State, Last Name, Zip Code, or Session to see how Congressional Members rate on LCV's National Environmental Scorecard."
National Wildlife Federation National Policy Solution: Which Cap and Trade Bills Meet the 2% Goal (80% by 2050)?
House:
- Safe Climate Act of 2007 (H.R.1590): Reduces global warming pollution 15% by 2020 and about 80% by 2050. Some money may go to protect wildlife from global warming. Lead Sponsor: Waxman
- Climate Stewardship Act of 2007 (H.R. 620): Reduces global warming pollution 15% by 2020 and 75% by 2050. Expected to generate well over $500 million per year for wildlife. Lead Sponsors: Olver and Gilchrest
Senate:
- Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act of 2007 (S. 309): Reduces global warming pollution 15% by 2020 and about 80% by 2050. Some money may go to protect wildlife from global warming. Lead Sponsors: Sanders and Boxer
- Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act of 2007 (S.280): Reduces global warming pollution 15% by 2020 and nearly 70% by 2050. Expected to generate well over $500 million per year for wildlife. Lead Sponsors: Lieberman and McCain
Nobel Physicist Chosen To Be Energy Secretary. Browner, Two Others to Get Climate Posts. By Steven Mufson and Philip Rucker. Washington Post, December 11, 2008. -- "President-elect Barack Obama has chosen Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who heads the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, to be the next energy secretary, and he has picked veteran regulators from diverse backgrounds to fill three other key jobs on his environmental and climate-change team, Democratic sources said yesterday."
**Obama meets Gore on climate change, but things are still bad. [includes video] Los Angeles Times, December 9, 2008.
**Obama Team Set on Environment. By John M. Broder. Published December 10, 2008, New York Times. -- "Washington — President-elect Barack Obama has selected his top energy and environmental advisers, including a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, presidential transition officials said Wednesday. Collectively, they will have the task of carrying out Mr. Obama’s stated intent to curb global warming emissions drastically while fashioning a more efficient national energy system. And they will be able to work with strong allies in Congress who are interested in developing climate-change legislation, despite fierce economic headwinds that will amplify objections from manufacturers and energy producers. The officials said Mr. Obama would name Steven Chu, the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, as his energy secretary, and Nancy Sutley, deputy mayor of Los Angeles for energy and environment, as head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Mr. Obama also appears ready to name Carol M. Browner, the E.P.A. administrator under President Bill Clinton, as the top White House official on climate and energy policy and Lisa P. Jackson, who until recently was New Jersey’s commissioner of environmental protection, as the head of the E.P.A."
**Operation Climate Vote (Environmental Defense Action Fund). The Time has come for Congress to Act. Global warming is the most serious environmental threat facing the planet today. Congress needs to mark up and vote on legislation that caps and reduces America's global warming pollution before the holiday recess. Send an email today. Urge Congress to act. Site includes U.S. Senate and House Updates.
Pelosi will re-establish climate-change panel. Politico, November 21, 2008. -- "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) plans to renew her select committee to address global warming next year, ending speculation that she would terminate the panel to clear the way for the next chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. 'It is my intention to put forth a renewal of that committee in the new Congress,' the speaker told reporters on Friday. Pelosi established the committee to move forward on climate change legislation during her first year as speaker."
Policy Solutions for 2008 Presidential Candidates (Union of Concerned Scientists). November 13, 2007. "The 2008 presidential election presents an important opportunity to educate the people who want to lead America--highlighting critical issues affecting our health, safety, and environment. The Union of Concerned Scientists is urging all candidates to .... Implement an economy-wide cap on global warming pollution that grows more stringent over time to achieve an 80 percent reduction in U.S. emissions by mid-century...."
President-Elect Barack Obama Names Environmental Team as Climate Change Conference Wraps Up in Poland. [Audio/Video] Democracy Now, December 16, 2008. -- "President-elect Barack Obama has unveiled his nominees for top climate change and energy positions in his administration. Nobel-winning physicist Steven Chu has been tapped to serve as Energy Secretary. Lisa Jackson, chief of staff to New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, will head the Environmental Protection Agency. Former EPA head Carol Browner will run a newly created White House council to oversee environmental issues. And Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Nancy Sutley will head the White House Council on Environmental Quality. At a news conference in Chicago Monday, Obama highlighted his plans to encourage innovation to address the US dependency on foreign oil."
**President-elect Obama promises “new chapter” on climate change. [Video] November 18, 2008 , CHANGE.GOV. -- "More than 600 climate change leaders from across the country and around the world convened in Los Angeles today for the opening sessions of the Global Climate Summit, a 2-day event arranged by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to break gridlock on the issue ahead of next month's United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland. In a short video addressed to the Summit's attendees, President-elect Obama emphasized his enthusiasm for the Poznan Conference and promised that his administration would mark a 'new chapter in American leadership on climate change.'"
President changes his stance. Bush takes aim at greenhouse gases. Published April 16, 2008, Columbia Daily Tribune. Washington (Associated Press) - "Revising his position on global warming, President George W. Bush was expected to propose today a new target for stopping the growth of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2025. The president also was to call for putting the brakes on greenhouse gas emissions from electric power plants within 10 to 15 years, said a senior administration official familiar with the afternoon speech Bush was to deliver in the Rose Garden...."Presidential Candidates Weigh In on Climate Change (NPR)
*President Obama’s Big Climate Challenge. By Bill McKibben, Yale Environment 360, November 6, 2008. -- "As he assumes the presidency, Barack Obama must make climate-change legislation and investment in green energy top priorities. And he must be ready to take bold — and politically unpopular — action to address global warming. And so our eight-year interlude from reality draws to a close, and the job of cleaning up begins. The trouble is, we’re not just cleaning up after a failed presidency. We’re cleaning up after a two-century binge. Barack Obama has won an historic victory, and with it the right to take office under the most difficult circumstances since Franklin D. Roosevelt. Maybe more difficult, because while both FDR and Obama had financial meltdowns to deal with, Obama also faces the meltdown meltdown — the rapid disintegration of the planet's climate system that threatens to challenge the very foundations of our civilization."
**Presidential Candidates’ Positions on Science Issues. By William J. Broad. Published September 15, 2008, New York Times. -- "Both presidential candidates have now issued answers to a series of questions about science policy, Senator Barack Obama having done so in late August and Senator John McCain on Monday. Their responses show clear areas of agreement on such apple-pie issues as ocean health, as well as sharp contrasts, as when Mr. Obama stresses the role of government and Mr. McCain that of business in addressing some of the nation’s main challenges. What follows is a digest of their answers, as posted by Science Debate 2008. The private group, in an effort endorsed by leading scientific organizations, has worked since November to get candidates to articulate positions on science policy. The full answers are at www.sciencedebate2008.com.
Project Hot Seat – Stop Global Warming (Greenpeace). "Don’t just sit there, do something! Congress has a choice: They can stop global warming and ignite an energy revolution or they can keep doing nothing to stop the coming climate disaster…. Our mission is simple: Push Congress to become champions to stop global warming. Don't let Congress play with fire. Click on your state below and find out how to get involved in your community...."
Report Says 2 Global Programs To Curb Emissions Fall Short. By Juliet Eilperin, washingtonpost.com . December 6, 2008. -- "The Government Accountability Office, in a report issued as negotiators convened the latest round of U.N. climate talks in Poland, has concluded that two key international programs aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions are not getting the job done...."
Republicans Have Handed Democrats a Winning Election Issue. ByDavid Morris, AlterNet. Posted August 20, 2008. -- "But so far, Democrats have been refusing to accept the gift. The Republicans keep handing the Democrats a winning election issue. And the Democrats keeping refusing to accept the gift. I hope the beginning of the formal election campaign knocks some sense into them. The gift is the Republicans' continued opposition to extending renewable energy incentives. Eight times since the fall of 2007, a Republican-threatened filibuster has thwarted a vote on extending these incentives. They will expire at the end of this year -- and with that expiration, many believe the solar and wind industries will come to a grinding halt."
Senate Drops Climate Legislation. U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 110 th Congress - 2 nd Session. June 6, 2008. Vote Summary on the Question: On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Boxer Amdt. No. 4825). How Senators voted.
*Send a letter to your Congressional representative or the editor of your local newspapers (SaveOurEnvironment.org)
*Special Report: The Presidential Election. The Candidates State Their Positions. (National Wildlife Magazine, October/November 2008. -- First question to John McCain and Barack Obama: "National Wildlife Federation members love spending time in America’s great outdoors, and they are seeing major climate impacts in our forests, rivers, coastal areas and other landscapes. Both you and your opponent have spoken of the need for action to address global warming. As president, what steps will you take through executive action, and what kind of legislation will you seek, to confront global warming?"....
Tax breaks big and small sweeten financial bailout. By Jim Abrams. October 4, 2008. Washington (Associated Press) — "Millions of taxpayers, thousands of businesses and groups as diverse as solar power developers and natural disaster victims will see tax relief with the House vote Friday to approve and send to the president a $700 billion financial rescue plan. The tax relief package attached to the rescue bill promotes renewable energy development and extends dozens of tax breaks from the critical research and development tax credit to breaks for such narrowly focused groups as motor sports racetrack owners, film producers and bicycle commuters. The renewable energy part of the package alone, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, will 'create and save half-a-million good-paying jobs in America immediately.' Virtually all of the tax breaks already exist. But many of them expired Jan. 1 for use in the current tax year, and the others would have expired three months from now."
Tell the 2008 Presidential Candidates Your Ideas for Moving Forward on Climate and Energy. (Care2 Petitionsite).
Ten Senators to Watch on Global Warming. Updated May 2, 2008, Environmental Defense Action Fund. - "The Senate is Poised to Vote on Landmark Global Warming Legislation. Here are Ten Senators to Watch. The Senate is scheduled to debate and vote on landmark global warming legislation during the first week of June. Will the Senate seize this historic opportunity and begin to solve the global warming crisis?"
Top Energy Scientists Call for $30 Bi Annual Investment in Clean Energy. (Breakthrough Institute). "Yesterday a group of more than three dozen leading energy scientists, including three Nobel Prize winners, called on Congress and presidential candidates to invest $30 billion each year in clean energy."
**Urge Congress to Pass a Strong Clean Energy Bill! "Congress is poised to pass a bill with a fuel economy standard of 35 mpg and a renewable electricity standard of 15%. This is our chance for an energy bill that finally addresses our addiction to fossil fuels. Sign the petition and tell Congress to keep the energy bill strong."
*US Government Releases 2007 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report. DESMOGBLOG.COM, December 3, 2008. -- "The US Department of Energy (DOE) has released its 2007 Greenhouse Gas Emissions report today, outlining the the latest trends in US energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. You can go here to download a full copy of the DOE's "Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 2007" (PDF) report.
**Watch presidential candidates discuss climate and energy. Sponsored by GRIST Environmental News & Commentary. On Saturday, November 17, 2007. "Grist sponsored the first-ever presidential candidate forum focusing on the issues of energy policy and climate change. Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Dennis Kucinich spoke about their green platforms. (All Democratic and Republican presidential candidates were invited to attend)."
Water Laws May Be Used to Fight Warming. By Andrew C. Revkin, New York Times, November 13, 2008. -- "Environmental groups have sought to force the federal government to restrict carbon dioxide emissions using the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act (because of threats to polar bears from global warming) and other federal laws, and now they are poised to add the Clean Water Act to the list. The Center for Biological Diversity says it is prepared to sue the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to use the water law to respond to the threat of ocean acidification. This is the drop in seawater pH as the oceans absorb an estimated 22 million tons of carbon dioxide from the 80 million tons emitted each day by human activities. The result is a buildup of carbonic acid, which is lowering the pH of seawater. That trend toward acid conditions could threaten corals and plankton with shells containing calcium, biologists have warned."
Waxman's win signals shift in Congress on climate and energy policy. Posted by Kate Sheppard, November 20, 2008, Grist. -- "House Democrats unceremoniously dethroned John Dingell (D-Mich.) as chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee , installing Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) in his stead -- a move that will have resounding implications for climate and energy policy going forward and demonstrates growing strength among the party's more liberal wing, especially when it comes to climate policy."
*We Need a Global Carbon Tax. The cap-and-trade approach won't stop global warming. By Ralph Nader and Toby Heaps. Wall Street Journal , December 3, 2008. -- "If President Barack Obama wants to stop the descent toward dangerous global climate change, and avoid the trade anarchy that current approaches to this problem will invite, he should take Al Gore's proposal for a carbon tax and make it global. A tax on CO2 emissions -- not a cap-and-trade system -- offers the best prospect of meaningfully engaging China and the U.S., while avoiding the prospect of unhinged environmental protectionism."
Windfalls in Lieberman-Warner Global Warming Bill: Quantifying the Fossil Fuel and Potential Nuclear Industry Giveaways. (Friends of the Earth) February 2008. -"In mid October, Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Warner (R-Va.) introduced America’s Climate Security Act of 2007. Although some positive changes have been made since the October introduction of the legislation, this bill continues to give up to a trillion dollars to the fossil fuel industry. This report explains one of the significant pitfalls of this cap and trade legislation, pertaining to the distribution and allocation of pollution permits and the spending of auction revenue."