Author: CCAN Supporter

From the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Mike Tidwell, director
Compiled and edited by Ted Glick, CCAN Policy Director

July 2, 2010

The Chesapeake Climate Action Network has launched a weekly policy update about efforts to advance “cap and dividend” legislation in the U.S. Congress. The fight for this climate policy is currently being led on Capitol Hill by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME). Last December these Senators introduced the Carbon Limits and Energy for America’s Renewal Act, or CLEAR Act, S-2877. Learn more at http://www.supportclearact.org.

Week of June 28-July 2: Two U.S. Senators, Jeff Merkley (D-Ore) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), spoke positively about the CLEAR Act as Senate Democrats and the White House struggle to come up with offshore drilling/energy/climate legislation that can pass in the Senate. A key, bi-partisan, White House meeting helped to focus national attention on the issue but still left many questions about what, specifically, the Senate Democratic leadership will be putting forward after they return from their July 4th, weeklong recess.

In This Issue

1. Senator Jeff Merkley: “You can’t run up the white flag until you have the fight”
2. Senator Ben Cardin: CLEAR Act “straight-forward approach” is “an advantage”
3. Washington Post reports on June 29 White House bi-partisan climate meeting
4. CQ Today:  Collins Open to Continuing Climate Change Change
5. CongressDaily AM: ‘Cap-And Dividend’ Bill Will Get A Push At White House

 

#1  Senator Jeff Merkley: “You can’t run up the white flag until you have the fight”

“Susan Collins [R-Maine], working with Maria Cantwell [D-Wash.], has injected a significant idea into the debate. It says, ‘Yes, let’s put a price on carbon, but let’s not create regional disparities.’ So the funds that are paid on carbon stay in the state where they are generated. States that put more in get more back; their families get more back. That is the CLEAR bill. It’s getting more attention. Maria did a presentation to the caucus last week, and the fact that she and Susan were there today — it just keeps getting brought up. People realize the resistance to the framework in Kerry-Lieberman. They’re looking for other ways to get this done. There are many ways to skin a cat.”

http://www.grist.org/article/2010-06-29-merkley-you-cant-run-up-the-white-flag-until-you-have-the-fight/

#2  Senator Ben Cardin: CLEAR Act “straight-forward approach” is “an advantage”

“[Senator Cardin] said an alternative carbon-pricing plan from Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) that avoids setting up a massive new carbon market could be something to build upon.
‘You’re better off having a comprehensive bill that takes a pretty simplistic approach,’ Cardin said. Cantwell and Collins ‘take a very straight-forward approach — there’s not really specific provisions in her bill and I think that’s an advantage, quite frankly.’”

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/105949-white-house-seeks-to-thread-the-needle-on-energy-with-tuesday-meeting

#3  Washington Post reports on June 29 White House bi-partisan climate meeting

“Collins, who has authored her own climate bill with Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), said she could support a price on carbon only if revenue from pollution allowances was returned to consumers. She added, ‘It’s going to be very difficult’ to find any bill that can muster 60 votes, the number needed to avoid a filibuster in the Senate. ‘The White House meeting underscored to me how many diverse views there are on how to proceed with any clean-energy bill.’”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/29/AR2010062902586.html 

#4  CQ Today:  Collins Open to Continuing Climate Change Chat

“Collins said she would like to continue a chat she had with Obama on March 9, the last time he convened a bipartisan group of lawmakers to discuss global warming. Then, the White House and Democratic leaders were focused on Graham as a possible cosponsor of a bill being developed by Democrat John Kerry of Massachusetts and independent Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut. But Graham has since dropped out of the Kerry-Lieberman talks, and Democrats know that some Republican support will be needed to pass climate change legislation in the Senate.”

http://chesapeakeclimate.org/detail/news.cfm?news_id=1296

#5  CongressDaily AM: ‘Cap-And Dividend’ Bill Will Get A Push At White House

“Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., plan to tout their ‘cap-and-dividend’ climate bill when they and several other senators meet today with President Obama. It’s the only official bipartisan energy and climate legislation in the Senate. ‘I’m going to tell the president I believe the cap-and-trade approach is dead and that he should take a fresh look at the bill Maria and I have introduced,’ Collins said.

http://chesapeakeclimate.org/detail/news.cfm?news_id=1297

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CCAN encourages readers of the Cap and Dividend Policy Update to distribute it to others who might be interested. We welcome input on the contents of this publication and ideas for what could be included. Send to Ted Glick at ted@chesapeakeclimate.org. To find out more about CCAN go to http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org.

From the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Mike Tidwell, director
Compiled and edited by Ted Glick, CCAN Policy Director

June 18, 2010

The Chesapeake Climate Action Network has launched a weekly policy update about efforts to advance “cap and dividend” legislation in the U.S. Congress. The fight for this climate policy is currently being led on Capitol Hill by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME). Last December these Senators introduced the Carbon Limits and Energy for America’s Renewal Act, or CLEAR Act, S-2877. Learn more at http://www.supportclearact.org.

Week of June 12-18:  This was the week that the CLEAR Act emerged within the Senate as one of the main legislative options for addressing the climate crisis. Senator Cantwell presented the case for the CLEAR Act within a Senate Democratic caucus on Thursday, and the next day the Washington Post carried an op-ed by her and co-sponsor Senator Susan Collins. The Congressional Research Service released an analysis of three energy/climate bills, including the CLEAR Act. And President Obama included Senators Cantwell and Collins among the group invited to a meeting at the White House next Wednesday.

In This Issue:

Cantwell and Collins op-ed in Washington Post

“There has been much talk recently about whether Republicans and Democrats in Washington can produce a bipartisan clean-energy and jobs bill. The answer is: We already have. We are leading a bipartisan effort to put a lid on carbon pollution and in so doing unleash a massive investment in clean-energy technology. If we can tackle this issue in a predictable, transparent and free-market way, we can create millions of high-paying jobs while limiting the worst effects of climate change and reducing both our dependence on foreign oil and the risk of another oil spill.”

For the full article go to: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/17/AR2010061704564_pf.html

New YouTube video on CLEAR Act released

The CLEAR Act co-sponsors released a two minute video this week that simply and clearly explains how the CLEAR Act would work. It is posted on youtube.com:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIuI4fInZUA&feature=player_embedded

Democrats Meet in Caucus; More to Come

In an article in The Hill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) “declined to commit to including climate change provisions in the chamber’s upcoming energy bill and said discussions are ongoing. Reid emerged from a meeting with the Democratic Caucus that addressed the package Reid hopes to bring to the floor this summer. Another caucus meeting on the subject will occur next week, he said.

“Cantwell countered [John Kerry’s presentation] with a separate video presentation about her plan at the meeting. Cantwell and the plan’s backers say it’s a much simpler and more effective version of sprawling cap-and-trade plans. The Cantwell-Collins plan limits carbon from ‘upstream’ sectors that produce or import fossil fuels, like mining and oil companies.”

For the full article go to: http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/103933-reid-wont-commit-to-carbon-provisions-in-energy-bill-says-caucus-will-meet-again-next-week-

E&E News: Senate Democrats leave energy meeting without road map

At Thursday’s Senate Democratic Caucus meeting “Senator Cantwell presented a separate two-minute video that begins with a slap at the Kerry-Lieberman proposal. ‘Unlike lengthy legislation that can be complicated to understand, the CLEAR Act addresses climate change simply, in just 39 pages,’ a narrator says, as a table breaks under the weight of legislation comprising a large stack of papers, then stands erect with the slim Cantwell bill on top. Noting that she was outnumbered 3-to-1 by people speaking for the Kerry-Lieberman proposal, Cantwell described herself as the ‘rag-tag team’ but said she may be able to convince other lawmakers to support her ‘simple,’ bipartisan proposal.”

Praise for CLEAR

At the Senate Democratic Caucus Senator Cantwell released a one-pager listing favorable comments about the CLEAR Act from a mix of newspapers and organizations:

http://chesapeakeclimate.org/detail/news.cfm?news_id=1288

White House energy/climate legislation meeting next week includes Cantwell and Collins

Congress Daily reported that “the list of invited senators for next week’s meeting with Obama appears to mirror those who were invited to sit down with Obama to discuss legislative priorities in March. Others attending [in addition to Lindsay Graham, Richard Lugar and Lisa Murkowski] are Kerry, Lieberman, Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman, Senate Commerce Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller, and Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Judd Gregg, R-N.H. A spokesman for Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she was again invited but has a conflict. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, on which Collins is ranking member, has a markup scheduled for that time, as well as a hearing on the Minerals Management Service. ‘So some schedule reworking is going on right now,’ he said.”

For the full article go to: http://chesapeakeclimate.org/detail/news.cfm?news_id=1285

FCNL urges Senators to support comprehensive climate legislation with cap and consumer protection

In a letter sent to US Senators, the Friends Committee on National Legislation listed the main reasons why the Senators should support the CLEAR Act:  “Setting a stable price on carbon–Returning 75 percent of the carbon revenue to consumers, which keeps the majority of the public financially unharmed–100 percent auction that avoids picking industry winners and losers–Restricting secondary markets and speculation–Limiting regulated entities to a few thousand “upstream” producers–Eliminating carbon offsets from the carbon cap system, and instead funding competitive agriculture and forestry emission reduction projects through carbon revenues.”

For the full letter go to: http://chesapeakeclimate.org/detail/news.cfm?news_id=1286

Congressional Research Service releases comparison of three main Senate bills

“This [14 page] memorandum provides a short summary and comparison of three legislative proposals that may receive attention in the Senate. While all three proposals fall within the broad category of energy and climate change policy, the specifics of the three proposals vary significantly, and their approaches vary in many ways. S. 1462, the American Clean Energy Leadership Act (ACELA) of 2009, S. 2877, the Carbon Limits and Energy for America’s Renewal (CLEAR) Act and a discussion draft of the American Power Act (APA).

For the full document go to: http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/doc/CRS%20Senate%20Energy-Climate%20Comparison%20June%2016.pdf

Senator Cantwell Defends the Clean Air Act on Senate Floor

On June 10^th Senator Cantwell spoke on the Senate floor about why she was voting against the proposed Murkowski resolution to strip the EPA of its power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions:  http://cantwell.senate.gov/news/record.cfm?id=325600

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CCAN encourages readers of the Cap and Dividend Policy Update to distribute it to others who might be interested. We welcome input on the contents of this publication and ideas for what could be included. Send to Ted Glick at ted@chesapeakeclimate.org. To find out more about CCAN go to http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org.

From the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Mike Tidwell, director
Compiled and edited by Ted Glick, CCAN Policy Director

June 7, 2010

The Chesapeake Climate Action Network has launched a weekly policy update about efforts to advance “cap and dividend” legislation in the U.S. Congress. The fight for this climate policy is currently being led on Capitol Hill by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME), S. 2877. Last December these Senators introduced the Carbon Limits and Energy for America’s Renewal Act, or CLEAR Act. Learn more at http://www.supportclearact.org.

Week of May 30-June 6:  As the Senate prepares for an important vote on June 10^th on the seriously flawed Murkowski proposal, the continuing BP oil blowout disaster has clearly had an impact on Capitol Hill and in the White House. Obama and Harry Reid strengthened their public language last week about the importance of passing climate legislation, as George Lakoff called upon Obama to support the CLEAR Act. On the other side of the country, another California town endorsed the CLEAR Act and newspapers in Seattle and Flathead, Mt. carried stories that include expressed support for the bill. And a just-released MIT study analyzes the “distributional impact” of Waxman-Markey, the Kerry-Boxer bill and the CLEAR Act.

In This Issue:

1. George Lakoff calls upon Obama to support the CLEAR Act
2. Obama declares he will find the votes for a clean-energy bill
3. Reid pushes to move energy bill in July
4. Seattle “moms in tennis shoes on it day in and day out”
5. Flathead, Montana residents press their Senators on climate change bill
6. Fifth Sonoma County, Ca. town endorses CLEAR Act
7. MIT study analyzes “distributional implications of alternative U.S. GHG control measures”

#1  George Lakoff calls upon Obama to support the CLEAR Act

In an article, “Obama’s Missing Moral Narrative,” posted on Truthout.org, George Lakoff, professor of linguistics and a prominent political analyst, called upon Obama to “support the Cantwell-Collins CLEAR ACT, which will actually cut gasoline consumption radically by 2050 and carbon emissions by 80% by 2050, while stimulating the economy by providing significant financial dividends to all adult citizens, eliminating government imposition on business, and making those who profit from selling polluting fuel pay to clean it up and develop alternative energy. CLEAR is far superior to cap-and-trade alternatives.”

For the full article, go to: http://www.truthout.org/obamas-missing-moral-narrative59968

#2  Obama declares he will find the votes for a clean-energy bill

During a major speech on June 2^nd in Pittsburgh, President Obama, “seizing on a disastrous oil spill to advance a cause, called on Congress to roll back billions of dollars in tax breaks for oil and pass a clean-energy bill that he says would help the nation end its dependence on fossil fuels. Obama predicted that he would find the political support for legislation that would dramatically alter the way Americans fuel their homes and cars, including placing a price on carbon pollution, even though such legislation is politically divisive and remains bogged down in the Senate. ’The votes may not be there right now, but I intend to find them in the coming months,’ Obama told an audience at Carnegie Mellon University. ‘I will continue to make the case for a clean energy future wherever and whenever I can, and I will work with anyone to get this done. And we will get it done.’”

For the full Associated Press article go to: http://www.ohio.com/news/break_news/95441379.html

#3  Reid pushes to move energy bill in July

On the day after Obama’s Pittsburgh speech, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid “alerted Senate committee chairmen that he plans to move comprehensive energy legislation in July. Reid asked the chairmen to recommend legislation to deal with the Gulf oil spill before July 4 so that leaders can include those ideas in the comprehensive energy package. Reid has said he would meet with his committee chairmen next week to discuss how to proceed on energy reform. He has said he would then convene a meeting of the entire caucus during the week of June 14 to talk about it.”

For the full article go to: http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/101307-reid-pushes-to-move-energy-bill-in-july

#4  Seattle “moms in tennis shoes on it day in and day out”

In a letter published in the West Seattle Herald, Beth Doglio and Terri Glaberson explain that “we are two moms in tennis shoes beating the pavement to reduce our community’s carbon footprint with a fierce determination to leave a healthier planet for our children. Whether it be working to encourage other moms to find less energy intensive ways to cart kids around, run a household or pass polices aimed at curbing global warming, we’re on it day in and day out. The debate in the US Senate is finally in full swing about the policy we need – a cap on carbon. Senator Cantwell has introduced the CLEAR Act and Senator Kerry has introduced the American Power Act. For our children’s sake, we’re counting on our Senators Murray and Cantwell to continue their relentless work in pressing their colleagues to pass a comprehensive climate bill this year.”

For the full letter go to:  http://www.westseattleherald.com/2010/06/01/letters-editor/beating-pavement

#5 Flathead, Montana residents press their Senators on climate change bill

In an article in the May 23rd Flathead Beacon about local residents traveling to Washington to lobby their Senators, Kyla Wiens is quoted in support of the cap-and-dividend approach: “the Montana Environmental Information Center [does not] see the Kerry-Lieberman bill as the best climate change legislation in Congress at present. ‘We definitely agree with the goals in the bill, which is to reduce carbon emissions,’ Kyla Wiens, who tracks federal climate bills for MEIC, said. ‘Beyond that, we don’t like the way that it’s structured. ’The MEIC has long favored a ‘cap-and-dividend’ approach, where a price is set on carbon emissions and all proceeds go back to the public.”

For the full article go to:  http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/in_d.c._flathead_residents_press_senators_on_climate_change_bill/17798/

#6  Fifth Sonoma County, Ca. town endorses CLEAR Act

On June 2^nd the town council of Windsor, Ca. unanimously decided to endorse the CLEAR Act. This made them the fifth city in Sonoma County to do so. To see a picture of the Windsor council and the other councils, go to: http://www.carbonshare.org/localactions.html.

#7  MIT study analyzes “distributional implications of alternative U.S. GHG control measures”

A just released, 48 page study by the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change looks at the impacts of “recently proposed legislation includ[ing] the Waxman-Markey House bill, the similar Kerry-Boxer bill in the Senate that has been replaced by a Kerr
y-Lieberman draft bill, and the Cantwell-Collins Senate bill that takes a different approach to revenue allocation. We consider allocation schemes motivated by these recent proposals applied to a comprehensive national cap and trade system.”

For the full study go to:  http://globalchange.mit.edu/files/document/MITJPSPGC_Rpt185.pdf

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CCAN encourages readers of the Cap and Dividend Policy Update to distribute it to others who might be interested. We welcome input on the contents of this publication and ideas for what could be included. Send to Ted Glick at ted@chesapeakeclimate.org. To find out more about CCAN go to http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org.

 

From the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Mike Tidwell, director
Compiled and edited by Ted Glick, CCAN Policy Director

June 11, 2010

The Chesapeake Climate Action Network has launched a weekly policy update about efforts to advance “cap and dividend” legislation in the U.S. Congress. The fight for this climate policy is currently being led on Capitol Hill by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME). Last December these Senators introduced the Carbon Limits and Energy for America’s Renewal Act, or CLEAR Act, S-2877. Learn more at http://www.supportclearact.org.

Week of June 7-11:  The Senate returned to D.C. this week and jumped into the debate over climate policy via a debate and vote on Thursday on Senator Murkowski’s proposal to remove the EPA’s power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. At the beginning of the week a letter to the Energy Information Administration was publicly released, signed by a bi-partisan group of five Senators, including Murkowski and two other Republicans. It called upon the EIA to analyze the CLEAR Act. Prior to and after the vote on the Murkowski proposal, leading Democrats and Republicans in the Senate and the White House made statements about what they saw as the prospects for climate legislation, what it should look like and how and when it could be passed.

In This Issue:

1. Washington Post: Move to curb EPA action on emissions is premature
2. Senator Collins votes to remove EPA powers while reaffirming support for CLEAR Act
3. Bangor (Me.) Daily News: Climate leadership needed
4. Climate Wire/NY Times:  Murky Path for Climate Bill
5. Some optimism on climate legislation after Murkowski vote
6. National Journal: Five Senators call upon EIA to analyze CLEAR Act
7. CQ Today: Cap-and-dividend model for climate bill re-emerges
8. New York Times: Policy and politics collide on the presidential path
9. E&E Daily:  Key moments ahead as Reid maps a floor strategy

#1  Washington Post: Move to curb EPA action on emissions is premature

In a June 10^th editorial, the Washington Post editorialized: “Ms. Murkowski says that she wants Congress to design a more efficient emissions-reduction policy. We agree. And the next logical step is to insist that Congress pass a bill that establishes a price on carbon and rebates the proceeds to consumers, which would be cheaper and more predictable than EPA regulation alone.”

For the full article go to: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/09/AR2010060905348.html

#2  Senator Collins votes to remove EPA powers while reaffirming support for CLEAR Act

In a statement released on the day she voted to take away the power of the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases, Senator Susan Collins reaffirmed her support for the CLEAR Act: “A better way forward is for Congress to finally tackle this issue and pass comprehensive clean energy legislation.  In December, I introduced the bipartisan Carbon Limits and Energy for American Renewal (CLEAR) Act with Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA).  Our legislation would set up a mechanism for selling “carbon shares” to the few thousand fossil fuel producers and importers through monthly auctions.  Under our legislation, 75 percent of the auction revenue would be returned to every citizen of the United States through rebate checks.  The average family of four in Maine would stand to gain almost $400 each year.  This bill represents the right approach, a thoughtful approach, to spur the development of green energy and the creation of green energy jobs.”

For her full statement go to: http://chesapeakeclimate.org/detail/news.cfm?news_id=1278

#3  Bangor (Me.) Daily News: Climate leadership needed

In an editorial on June 10^th, the Bangor Daily News called for Senators Collins and Snowe to give needed leadership for federal climate legislation: “Sen. Collins has worked with Democrat Maria Cantwell of Washington to draft a bill that would cap emissions and rebate some of the funds raised by selling emissions credits back to consumers to help blunt an expected rise in energy costs. . . Senators must get behind whichever [legislation] has the best chance of moving forward, with the expectation that it will be amended and improved when debate starts. The bottom line is that effective legislation must cap emissions and put a price on carbon emissions, thereby using a market-type system to spur solutions — conservation being the cheapest. Sens. Snowe and Collins can tip the balance, encouraging others to follow their lead.”

For the full editorial go to: http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/145477.html

#4  Climate Wire/NY Times:  Murky Path for Climate Bill    

A June 11^th article in Climate Wire analyzed where things stand in the Senate after the Murkowski vote: “’It would be overly simplistic to say this vote is a mirror of a future [climate bill] vote,’ said Dylan Voorhees, clean energy director for Natural Resources Council of Maine. He noted that Collins and Snowe believe it’s Congress’s role to pass a bill. ‘I think it will increase expectations and hopes that they are going to step into the ring and help pass a comprehensive climate bill this session,’ Voorhees said. Collins careened away from her conservative colleagues, some of whom questioned the scientific findings around climate change. Instead, she went to the floor to promote a ‘cap and dividend’ bill she authored with Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).”

For the full article go to: http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/06/11/11climatewire-effort-to-block-epa-fails-revealing-murky-pa-31482.html?scp=1&sq=Effort%20to%20Block%20EPA%20Fails&st=cse

#5  Some optimism on climate legislation after Murkowski vote

An article in E&E Daily after the Murkowski vote gave an overview of where a number of key Senators stand going forward: “A handful of moderate Senate Republicans also insisted that while they voted with Murkowski, they too would welcome legislation. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), for example, plugged a proposal she co-wrote with Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) that would set up an alternative approach for pricing carbon emissions. Clean Air Watch President Frank O’Donnell said the Republicans’ vote on the climate bill is not necessarily a signal that they would oppose a climate bill. ‘It’s going to depend on the specifics of the legislation,’ he said. ‘Of those three [Snowe, Collins and Brown], the only one that’s stepped out on this issue in a positive way is Collins.’”

For the full article go to: http://chesapeakeclimate.org/detail/news.cfm?news_id=1283

#6  National Journal: Five Senators call upon EIA to analyze CLEAR Act

In a June 3^rd letter to the Energy Information Administration, five Senators asked this federal agency to “analyze a cap-and-dividend bill sponsored by Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Susan Collins, R-Maine. In their June 3 letter to EIA Administrator Richard Newell, five senators asked the agency for help in ‘determining the most efficient and effective policies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting consumers from associated energy price increases, minimizing both regional disparities and carbon leakage, increasing the diversity and resiliency of our nation’s energy mix, and reducing our use of foreign sources of energy.’ Cantwell and Collins both signed the letter, as well as Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, committee ranking member Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio.”

For the full article go to: http://energytopic.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/senators-want-analysis-on-cant.php

#7  CQ Today: Cap-and-dividend model for climate bill re-emerges

CQ also reported on this letter to the EIA” “The chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, New Mexico Democrat Jeff Bingaman, and the panel’s ranking Republican, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, were among five senators who signed a letter, released Monday, that asked the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to analyze so-called cap-and-dividend legislation … In addition to Bingaman, Murkowski and the two sponsors, the June 3 letter asking for an EIA analysis was signed by Ohio Republican George V. Voinovich – a moderate who has expressed reservations about the Kerry-Lieberman package but has said that he wants to address climate change. His interest could provide a significant boost to the Cantwell-Collins efforts.”

For the full article go to: http://chesapeakeclimate.org/detail/news.cfm?news_id=1276

#8  New York Times: Policy and politics collide on the presidential path

An article by John Harwood analyzed the prospects for climate legislation: “Obama advisers insist comprehensive legislation this year, if a long shot, is not yet a lost cause. Rahm Emanuel, the chief of staff, cited potential ingredients: the Kerry-Lieberman bill; Mr. Lugar’s plan; a proposal by Senator Jeff Bingaman, Democrat of New Mexico, to increase utilities’ use of renewable energy; a plan by Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, and Maria Cantwell, Democrat of Washington, to tie carbon curbs to consumer rebates. ‘There’s enough in each,’ Mr. Emanuel said, to assemble ‘a serious and comprehensive energy bill. And you can do it this year.’”

For the full article go to: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/hfo-policy-and-politics-collide-on-the-presidents-path/

#9  E&E Daily:  Key moments ahead as Reid maps a floor strategy

In a June 7^th story in E&E Daily, Darren Samuelsohn gave an overview of how plans are shaping up over the next two months in the Senate, including these perspectives: “Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) are still holding firm on their calls for the Senate to consider their bill (S. 2877) for pricing carbon emissions. ‘At various points, more than 60 senators have said they support a market-based approach to climate,’ said David Hunter, a former Collins aide who now works as the U.S. director of the International Emissions Trading Association. ‘The challenge is getting 60 senators to agree on the same market-based approach to climate.’

Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters, said Obama and Reid need to immediately take hold of the drafting pen. ‘It’s not the Cantwell-Collins bill. It’s not the Kerry-Lieberman bill. It’s some new bill that they all should be a part of,’ he said. ‘It’s Leader Reid’s bill, as have been a lot of the big bills that have passed in the last year and a half. It’ll be different than either of those bills; it’ll include pieces probably of all of them. And that’s the bill that needs to move forward.’”

For the full article go to: http://chesapeakeclimate.org/detail/news.cfm?news_id=1275

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CCAN encourages readers of the Cap and Dividend Policy Update to distribute it to others who might be interested. We welcome input on the contents of this publication and ideas for what could be included. Send to Ted Glick at ted@chesapeakeclimate.org. To find out more about CCAN go to http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org.

From the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Mike Tidwell, director
Compiled and edited by Ted Glick, CCAN Policy Director
May 28, 2010

The Chesapeake Climate Action Network has launched a weekly policy update about efforts to advance “cap and dividend” legislation in the U.S. Congress. The fight for this climate policy is currently being led on Capitol Hill by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME), S. 2877. Last December these Senators introduced the Carbon Limits and Energy for America’s Renewal Act, or CLEAR Act. Learn more at http://www.supportclearact.org.

Week of May 24-28: The BP oil blowout and all that is happening in the Gulf because it is having some impact on the prospects for the Senate and President Obama to get serious about trying to pass climate legislation when the Senate returns from its week-long recess on June 7^th. An important vote, one which will give some sense of the relative strength of the different sides on climate legislation, will take place on June 10^th on Senator Lisa Murkowki’s (R-Alaska) resolution to strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its power to regulate all greenhouse gas emissions. Also happening during that week will be key climate-related meetings of the Democratic Party Senate Caucus and the Senate leadership. Support for the CLEAR Act out in the country, meanwhile, continues to grow.

In This Issue:

1. Meg Power: Why the CLEAR Act is Fair to Low- and Moderate-Income Households
2. A Comparison of Obama, Waxman-Markey, Kerry-Lieberman and the CLEAR Act
3. Why FCNL Endorsed the CLEAR Act
4. Fourth California Town Endorses CLEAR Act
5. New Mexico Councilman Publishes Op Ed in Silver City Sun-News

 

#1  Meg Power: Why the CLEAR Act is Fair to Low- and Moderate-Income Households

In a just-completed article, Meg Power, Senior Policy Advisor for the National Community Action Foundation, explains why consumer groups are supporting the CLEAR Act:  “Four national organizations that represent the concerns of low- and moderate-income energy consumers developed principles in 2008 by which climate change legislation should be measured. Two of the four, Public Citizen and the National Community Action Foundation, have since endorsed the CLEAR Act. A look at the key principle and the criteria that measure its achievement in relation to the CLEAR Act make it evident that the CLEAR Act offers America’s most vulnerable households a fair deal.”

For the full article go to: http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/blog/?p=3257

#2  A Comparison of Obama, Waxman-Markey, Kerry-Lieberman and the CLEAR Act

Devin Helfrich of the Friends Committee on National Legislation has put together a chart comparing the main elements of the primary proposals for federal climate legislation.

To access it go to: http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/doc/Comparison%20-%20FCNL%20-%20Obama_ACES_KL_CLEAR_5-24-10_short.pdf

#3  Why FCNL Endorsed the CLEAR Act

The statement below is the full statement of FCNL as to why they endorsed the CLEAR Act:

http://www.fcnl.org/energy/pdfs/Cantwell-Collins_Introduce_Worthy_Climate_bill_FCNL.pdf

#4  Fourth California Town Endorses CLEAR Act

Joining three other California towns who have already done so, the town of Cotati, Ca. this week unanimously endorsed the CLEAR Act, Mike Sandler of the Climate Protection Campaign reports. Next week the town council of Windsor will make a decision. To see a picture of the Cotati council, as well as the other three councils, go to:  http://www.carbonshare.org/localactions.html.

#5  New Mexico Councilman Publishes Op Ed in Silver City Sun-News

The Silver City Sun-News in New Mexico published an op-ed on May 24^th by Jamie Silver, town council member. Silver advocated for the CLEAR Act as the best option for federal legislation: “The cap and dividend would provide families with approximately $1,000 to insulate their homes, buy bicycles or energy efficient appliances, start a garden in the front yard, etc. Since a reduction in carbon footprint is explicitly tied to making money, the dividend approach is most likely to meet and exceed legislative goals for carbon reductions while increasing the multiplier effect of New Mexico household incomes. Simply put, cap legislation, particularly cap and dividend, is good for our economy, good for New Mexicans, and good for the planet.”

For the full article go to:  http://www.scsun-news.com/ci_15151686

CCAN encourages readers of the Cap and Dividend Policy Update to distribute it to others who might be interested. We welcome input on the contents of this publication and ideas for what could be included. Send to Ted Glick at ted@chesapeakeclimate.org. To find out more about CCAN go to http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org.