It’s Getting Hot In Here

Tom Friedman’s piece in yesterday’s New York Times gets a few things right: Waxman-Markey (ACES) is disappointingly weak thanks to the GOP’s unwillingness to find solutions, we must strengthen and pass it through the Senate, “We The People” owe it to the future to rise up like never before to make this happen.
But he narrows “We The People” to mean We The Young People.

I’ve got news for you Mr. Friedman – young people are rising up like never before to make this happen. We’ve been to DC twice and stormed Capitol Hill with young lobbyists to counter dirty energies hired hacks. We’ve held hundreds of events engaging members of Congress with their constituencies to call for action. We’ve flooded their offices with phone calls and letters. And we’re just getting started.

The youth climate movement deserves at least some of the credit for the passage of ACES – the bill barely made it through, and the youth movement has been pushing on it hard via campaigns like Power Shift and Focus the Nation’s nationwide clean energy town hall.

You say we should get off of facebook and into legislators’ faces, out of the chat rooms and into the cloak rooms. Check and check. We’re in their faces, we’re in the cloakrooms, we’re doing every last thing we can. And by the way, we use the internet to organize real on the ground action – that’s called innovation, something you’re supposed to be a fan of.

Now we’re turning up the heat even further to push Senators to strengthen this bill and make it something we can be proud of. My question to you, Mr. Friedman: When is your generation going to rise up the way we have? You owe it to us, to your kids, and to ours.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 passed the House of Representatives Friday afternoon, with only one vote to spare. We owe Chairmen Waxman and Markey their fair due for getting this done – molding a bill that reduces US emissions 83% below 2005 levels by 2050 and that 217 other members of the house will actually vote for  is impressive. Its passage is groundbreaking. But the bill itself isn’t.

As soon as we’re done congratulating Mr. Waxman, Mr. Markey and the other 217 representatives on the “yes” side, we owe it to ourselves and future generations to light a fire under them, the rest of the House, the Senate and President Obama.

ACES isn’t good enough. It isn’t smart enough. And gosh darn it, people who fully understand the science and economics of climate and energy don’t like it. But that’s the sorry state of the US Congress today – even with a handsome Democratic majority, legislators are still more concerned with dirty industry’s short-term profits than they are with the long-term feasibility of our modern economy. This bill compromises our economy and our environment for political necessity. To the credit of Chairmen Waxman and Markey, the slim margin of passage tells me they compromised almost exactly as much as was needed to get this done, and not a bit more. Continue reading ‘ACES in the House: a Job, Well, Done.’

Congressman DeFazio & Candidate Obama

Cross-posted from Focus the Nation

After listening to Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) speak today on all the reasons the Waxman-Markey cap and trade plan (ACES) is deeply flawed and that advocates for greenhouse gas reductions should be working to kill it, not pass it, I find myself almost convinced.

I’m only almost convinced because I fear the two alternatives to cap and trade – a carbon tax or Clean Water Act-style regulation – may be political nonstarters.

Congressman DeFazio (and many others) claims that carbon trading will be subject to all the same financial corruption responsible for our current economic crisis and that offsets provisions remove any incentive for real behavior change. He has co-sponsored Jim McDermott’s bill that would impose a Clean Water Act-style regulator system on global warming pollution, and hinted that a carbon tax would be better than cap and trade.

At the end of the Congressman’s speech today, I asked him this: “Waxman-Markey, even in its present severely weakened form, is going to have a tough time passing the full house. What are the chances of Congressman McDermott’s bill, Congressman Larson’s carbon tax, or even Congressman Inglis’ revenue-neutral carbon tax bill of passing the house, and how important is it to the success of an international climate treaty that the US pass something soon?” Continue reading ‘Would Obama Do It?’

Cross-posted from Focus the Nation

Democrats in the House Energy and Commerce Committee have been very busy lately. They’ve been busy, that is, making ACES into what may become a completely worthless bill, in an effort to buy the votes of industrial state moderates in Congress.

A particularly painful example of this is the “cash for clunkers” arrangement that will spend as much as $4.5 billion in taxpayer money to subsidize the purchase of marginally more efficient new vehicles for up to one million drivers. This program creates perverse incentives, does not create cost effective emissions reductions, and is in effect a multi-billion dollar redistribution of taxpayer money to car manufacturers and new car buyers. The new cars don’t even have to be fuel efficient by any reasonable standards.

In the most glaringly awful example of this arrangement’s ridiculousness, someone trading in a large light duty truck for one that gets one mile per gallon better fuel economy (YES, ONLY ONE MPG!), is eligible for a $3,500 voucher toward their new vehicle purchase (YES, THAT’S THREE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS!).

This is ludicrous. Continue reading ‘“Cash for Clunkers” No Good in Present Form’

Guest post from Congresswoman Doris Matsui. Cross-posted from www.focusthenation.org.

As a member of the House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee, I just wanted to take a moment out of the hearings we are holding today to discuss the comprehensive climate change bill, and give you a quick update about what is happening here in Washington.

In the last few days alone, more action has been taken on climate change than in the entire eight years of the Bush presidency. On Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the findings of their scientific review, which recognized that global warming threatens both public health and public welfare, and that greenhouse gas emissions are influencing everything from crop failures to more intense heat waves that we are seeing in my hometown of Sacramento.

Yesterday, we started hearings in the Energy and Commerce Committee on the comprehensive climate legislation put forth by Chairmen Henry Waxman and Edward Markey. When passed, the American Clean Energy and Security Act will allow our children and grandchildren to live in a country that is more sustainable, more economically viable, and more efficient than the country we live in today. Continue reading ‘Earth Day Update on Climate Bill Hearings from Congresswoman Doris Matsui’

As the House Energy & Commerce Committee prepares to vote on a comprehensive clean energy plan, the League of Conservation Voters launched a pre-emptive campaign against Rep. Roy Blunt for his stated opposition to the bill, which would build an American clean energy economy.

The nonpartisan campaign is built around a hard-hitting TV ad, “Believe,” which urges people to call on Rep. Blunt to believe in America and our history as a “can-do” nation again.

“Rep Blunt is siding with Big Oil and saying no to millions of new clean energy jobs, and no to making America a global leader on energy. Why does he seem to have so little faith in American ingenuity and know-how?” said Gene Karpinski, President of the League of Conservation Voters.

Meanwhile in Blunt’s district, Lindsey Berger of Missouri State University headed up an effort to bring Missourians from across the state together for a solutions-oriented forum on energy solutions, one of 103 similar events co-sponsored by Focus the Nation, which 50 members of the House of Representatives and 20 Senators participated in. “It’s usually our leaders who call town halls on pressing issues,” said Lindsey Berger, an organizer at Missouri State University. “This time we’re inviting them to our Town Halls because our generation knows we don’t have time to wait to build a clean energy future.” Continue reading ‘LCV: Does Roy Blunt Believe in America?’

Guest post from Mark Kimbrell

Tonight the citizens of New Orleans, Focus the Nation, The Gulf Restoration Network, the Louisiana Sierra Club, The Alliance for Affordable Energy and the students of Loyola University teamed up for an empowering town hall on clean energy with their elected officials and most importantly Congressman Joseph Cao.  It was an incredibly well executed event and has helped set the tone for the 2009 Focus the Nation campaign.  

Congressman Cao and a panel consisting of New Orleans City Council Member Shelley Midura, Louisiana Senator JP Morrell, Monique Harden of Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, John Barry of Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority East and best selling author of The Rising Tide, and Dr. Sarah Mack, an environmental and public health specialist, fielded questions from facilitators and the Loyola audience.  The event was viewed and commented on by a national audience as Focus the Nation live streamed it on our website.  Continue reading ‘Focus the Nation comes to Climate Change’s Ground Zero: New Orleans’

An address from Todd Stern, Special Envoy on Climate Change, for the Nationwide Town Hall on the Clean Energy Future:

Our deepest thanks to Jeff Gustafson, SustainUS and the US State Department for making this happen.

Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) joined students from Drexel University, community members and business leaders for a discussion on tackling climate change and seizing the opportunities of the new energy economy this Monday in Philadelphia.

The event kicked off a series of 103 town hall-style forums, part of a nationwide Town Hall on the clean energy future sponsored by Focus the Nation, a clean energy youth empowerment group based in Portland, OR.

The Philadelphia town hall even featured presentations from Audrey Zibelman, CEO of Viridity Energy, a cutting edge carbon and energy management firm, representatives of the Philadelphia department of sustainability, Senator Specter and others. Afterwards, a select group of participants, students and community members from the Philadelphia area, had a closed-door meeting with one of Specter’s advisers on energy and environment issues, James Decker, to continue a conversation about clean energy solutions.

Senator Specter may be the most crucial swing vote in the Senate as Congressional leaders gear up for a national debate on climate and clean energy legislation this year. As Newsweek recently noted:

“His colleagues may wince, but for reasons of math Specter now finds himself the most sought-after, and sucked-up-to, member of the Senate. He could wind up casting the deciding vote on major issues, including health-care and energy reform. Here’s why: Senate rules say the Democrats need 60 votes to keep Republicans from filibustering. Even if Al Franken is (finally) seated, they’re one maddening vote shy. They’ll need a Republican defector, not an easy thing to get. On big votes, leaders bully members into standing with the party, and senators, fearing retaliation, usually comply.”

“Sen. Specter’s participation in the launch of this national discussion epitomizes the opportunity America has to redefine the kind of leadership it will take to keep our country at the forefront of building the clean energy future,” said Garett Brennan, executive director of Focus the Nation. “This is our window to shift our economy from crisis to opportunity. Legislators need to hear that serious investment in green jobs and affordable clean energy isn’t bold to their constituents at all. It’s common sense. It’s what they want and it’s what our economy needs.” Continue reading ‘Senator Specter Kicks Off Nationwide Town Hall on Clean Energy Future, Cong. Cao Event Streams Live Today’

April 13, 2009 – Young leaders organized by Focus the Nation are holding an unprecedented 103 Town Halls across the country beginning today and throughout this week’s Congressional recess to engage Congressional representatives, mayors and other elected officials in accelerating America’s transition to a clean energy future.

50 members of Congress have confirmed their participation in the Nationwide Town Hall on America’s Clean Energy Future, along with dozens of city and state elected leaders. The events are being held during the Congressional spring recess to allow maximum participation.

Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania is kicking off the week today, at a 2 p.m. appearance at a Philadelphia Town Hall at Drexel University [Event details: http://www.focusthenation.org]. Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut is confirmed for Apr. 16 at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain.

The majority of the Town Halls, including one with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, will take place on Apr. 18. A full map and list of local events and details is available at www.focusthenation.org/map.

“Sen. Specter’s participation in the launch of this national discussion epitomizes the opportunity America has to redefine the kind of leadership it will take to keep our country at the forefront of building the clean energy future,” said Garett Brennan, executive director of Focus the Nation. “This is our window to shift our economy from crisis to opportunity. Legislators need to hear that serious investment in green jobs and affordable clean energy isn’t bold to their constituents at all. It’s common sense. It’s what they want and it’s what our economy needs.” Continue reading ‘Youth to Engage Members of Congress, Local Officials in 103 Town Halls Nationwide to Build Clean Energy Future’