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 10th 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.
