This week, Senators Kerry and Leiberman unveiled The American Power Act – 987 pages of draft climate and energy legislation.
Our country desperately needs bold clean energy and climate legislation that transitions America to 100% real clean energy, creates good green jobs, and immediately and drastically reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
Unfortunately, dirty energy corporations (notably Big Oil and King Coal) have spent obscene amounts of money on lobbying and campaign contributions to influence climate and energy policy and keep us dangerously addicted to dirty energy like coal, oil, and nuclear.
All sorts of dirty energy corporations (like Duke, Shell Oil and Florida Power and Light) have endorsed this bill because of all the polluter giveways and subsidizes.
Which is why we at Greenwash of the Week invited Darth Vader himself to weigh in on the bill.
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Yaaah for RAN calling out the BS climate bill and craven liberal NGOs like EDF for trading away our future to the likes of Shell and Duke. And they wonder why groups like Rising Tide call them out.
Also Darth Vader’s new look rocks!
So how do you expect to get legislation that reduces emission by 17% by 2020, 85% by 2050, or more, through the US Senate? And how do you expect there to be progress in international negotiations without a credible legislative commitment from the US that it will bring down its emissions?
As much as I don’t agree with slandering the bill entirely, I’m stoked you guys are doing this and pushing for a science based solution.
Cheers to people with different opinions and using different tactics respecting each other!
I agree there are some good parts to this bill. The transportation parts I find particularly exciting. However unfortunately the cornerstones of the American Power Act are problematic.
Peter, i agree we need an internationally credible climate bill, but if it’s credibility we’re looking for we’re not going to get it with this. I can’t imagine the global community categorizing this legislation as anything near credible (or scientifically necessary for that matter).
Not sure if I’m a cynic or realist in thinking that credibility is one of the least accurate ways to describe a bill in which Duke Energy CEO Jim Roger’s is the first non-governmental speaker at the bills unveiling, or Shell being one of the first to put out a Press Release supporting the APA.
Here’s a collection of support from the likes of Dow, Edison Energy, Shell, Florida Power & Light, and Westinghouse Electric Co, with a sprinkling of NRDC and EDF in there too.
http://www.elp.com/index/display/article-display/8419404455/articles/electric-light-power/policy-and_regulation/2010/05/Industry_reactions_on_Kerry_Lieberman_American_Power_Act.html
I think the 350 team makes a good argument in what a “credible” climate bill would look like.
Response to the new US Climate Legislation: http://j.mp/bU9qM9
Hey! Thanks for watching the video. And for commenting. I have devoted the last several years of my life to fighting for bold climate and energy policy both here in the US and internationally. There are some good bits in the bill for sure, but it still is not science-based and appears to have had large sections written by the dirty energy lobby. There are massive subsidizes and giveaways for the dirtiest, most polluting, and dangerous industries and that’s not right. And I for one, am not content, to sit back and let corporations continue their takeover of Washington. Yes, we need to immediately and dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Yes, we need to create millions of good, clean energy jobs. Yes, we need to transition America immediately away from dirty, dangerous energy like coal, oil, and nuclear, and towards 100% real, clean, safe energy. And yes, the US MUST become a leader in global climate negotiations. And I will continue to fight like hell for these things. And I will continue to make videos (and take serious action) to fight back against the strangehold that Big Oil, King Coal, and the rest of them have on our democracy and our chance for a REAL clean energy future.
Yea, this bill isn’t great. But its the one that we have a chance of passing.
The reasons for fighting for strengthen and pass are that this may be our last shot at creating a climate chnage framework and putting a fixed price on carbon for the next 2-3 years. We need to show businesses and investors that the price on carbon is here to stay and they will begin prioritizing their investments accordingly.
While our movement should definitely be calling out this bill for being FAR short of what science says we need, we should also be politically pragmatic as we are building towards true victory that will reduce our pollution to safe levels.
In solidarity,
Gabe