Breaking News: 39 mpg standard by 2016!

Cross-posted from: here

The first blog post I made on here(minus the intro) was about how the Bush Administration was using the lowest standard possible under the 2007 bill called the Energy Independence and Security Act that raised CAFE standards to a minimum of 35 mpg by 2020. I testified before the National Highway Traffic and Safety Admin(NHTSA), about how they were making a big mistake. For a time it looked like this was what the government was going to pursue, but news recently just broke that the CAFE standard is going to be 39 mpg by 2016, which is a sizable shift. I’m very pleased with this. A few notable excerpts are below.

“The Obama administration will issue new national emissions and mileage requirements for cars and light trucks to resolve a long-running conflict among the states, the federal government and auto manufacturers, industry officials said Monday.”

“But Mr. Obama is planning to go further, putting in place new fuel economy rules that will combine the standards of California’s emissions law with the corporate average fuel economy program administered by the Department of Transportation. The effect will be a single national mileage rule that matches California’s strictest-in-the-nation standard. Under the new standard, the national fleet mileage rule for cars would be roughly 39 miles a gallon in 2016. Light trucks would have to meet a fleet average of slightly more than 26.2 miles a gallon by 2016.”

“This is a very big deal,” said Daniel Becker of the Safe Climate Campaign, a group that has pushed for tougher mileage and emissions standards with the goal of curbing the heat-trapping gases that have been linked to global warming. “This is the single biggest step the American government has ever taken to cut greenhouse-gas emissions.”

Our Chinese Envoy

Cross-posted from: here

Our relationship with China moving forward is going to be extremely crucial when it comes to forging a new global climate treaty. The Chinese and the US are by far the worlds two largest polluters, together responsible for somewheres around 50% of global warming emissions. Any global treaty that doesn’t involve both the US and China is an empty treaty. This stalemate has been the tale of global efforts to tackle climate change. The US won’t act unless China will act. China won’t act since the US won’t act, and it’s still a developing country using coal to industrialize. China says the US needs to act as well, and that there needs to be compensation for adaptation and technology transfer needed. It’s a situation where these two carbon behemoths need to sit down and hammer out an agreement between themselves. I’m aware there are a number of summits between the two countries going on this year, leading up to the final forging of a new treaty in Copenhagen in December.

The personnel that President Obama is appointing to negotiate with China on the climate issue are some of the most important appointments of his administration. We now are about to have our ambassador to China. It’s the Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, who also happens to be a Republican. I’ve written before about how not all Republicans are bad on environmental and energy issues, just most of them. Jon Huntsman appears to be one of the Republicans who gets it. Huntsman added his state to an ambitious regional greenhouse gas initiative effort in the West to reduce emissions 15% below 2005 levels by 2020. If you want to get an even better idea of Huntsman’s entire body of work when it comes to energy, check out his priorities on energy security. The additional thing that impressively stands out to me is a renewable electricity standard that will get Utah 20% of it’s power from renewables by 2025.

I find it fittingly ironic that with all the partisanship in DC, all the bickering on tv with conservative talk show hosts, and a climate debate that has consistently seen Democrats on one side, and Republicans on the other….our best chance of achieving a global climate treaty this year may come down to a Republican Governor from Utah. I don’t know if that offends the environmentalists or the Republicans more, but I think it’s a good thing. This shouldn’t be a bipartisan issue, and Jon Huntsman’s record is testament to that.

Here’s the article: here

Will the EPA regulate greenhouse gases? It's up to YOU!

Here’s some background. Two years ago, on April 2, 2007, in Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. 497 (2007), the Supreme Court found that greenhouse gases are air pollutants covered by the Clean Air Act. Then, last month, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) announced its finding that global warming pollution endangers our public health and welfare.

This is excellent (if somewhat old) news. However – and here’s the big surprise – industry and the usual host of global warming deniers are already lining up to block the EPA actually taking any action. Big polluting companies have spent tens of millions of dollars on lobbying efforts in Washington D.C., and they will fight hard to weaken any rules that result from the endangerment finding. We know they will fight hard to preserve the failed status quo and block any progress on fighting global warming and clean energy production.

So here’s the deal. As part of the EPA’s endangerment findings, they are holding a public comment period. This is our opportunity to stand up and make our voices heard loud a clear. We need a clean energy economy to tackle global warming and create good, green jobs, and we need it now.

The really cool part is that one of the two public hearings are happening in Arlington, VA! This is your opportunity to show your support for the EPA moving forward in regulating global warming pollution.

Details:
When: Monday, May 18th. 9 AM – 8 PM
Where:Environmental Protection Agency
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Clean Energy and the Majority Leader

6:30 PM on a rainy Monday night, and I’m at the University of MD, College Park, waiting with anticipation for the town hall meeting with House of Representatives Majority Leader, the Honorable Steny Hoyer, to begin. The room is packed with students and community members alike, from across the 5th district, some having driven up to College Park from as far as St. Mary’s County to hear what their Congressman has to say, and show their overwhelming support for strong global warming legislation being passed by Congress in 2009.

Overall, the event was a great success.

My personal favorite moment was when a student stood up, and asked the Congressman if he would support a moratorium on all new coal-fired power plants. The entire room burst into applause. Of course, Mr. Hoyer does not support a coal moratorium (maybe because he is the 3rd highest political recipient of utility money? this could be unrelated), but it was great to see 250 of his constituents showing their support for getting off dirty coal.

What was your highlight from the evening? Comment below! (if you couldn’t make it, you can watch it on our blog here – then comment away!)

**Thank you to Matt Stern for his beautiful photos of the evening!**

Don't Worry, "We've Got 41 Years"

“This is 2009. We’ve got 41 years in this deal, and we shouldn’t be so worried about the first 10 years.”

—Congressman Mike Doyle, Environment and Energy Daily, May 7, 2009

I had no plans yesterday morning as I woke up and turned on my computer to spend the afternoon in the D.C. office of Congressman Mike Doyle. But then I read this line in an article on the status of efforts to cobble together a piece of climate legislation in the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

I remember my physical reaction as I read these words, my head shaking back and forth, some trembling and an upwelling of deep, livid anger. “This is the last straw,” I remember thinking.

And involuntarily in my head, I began singing the words to the Bob Dylan song, Masters of War.

I discovered Bob Dylan and Masters of War in the summer of 1968. I was 18 years old, home from college after my freshman year at Grinnell College. I was working on the Presidential campaign of Bobby Kennedy. I had begun doing so after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4th. Then on June 6th, Kennedy was assassinated. All summer, as I worked on the maintenance staff of a local college, the words to Masters of War kept going through my head over and over as I despaired over the state of the world, the state of my country.

“You’ve thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain’t worth the blood
That runs in your veins.”

And that’s why I went to Mike Doyle’s office at 2 pm yesterday and told Pat Cavanaugh, his energy staff person, that I was a long-time climate activist on the 18th day of a hunger strike (www.fastingforourfuture.org) for strong climate legislation and that I wasn’t leaving until I met with Doyle.

I’ve done sit-ins before. I and two other people did one in 2002 in New Jersey when I was a Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate. We sat in the offices of one of my opponents, Frank Lautenberg, to protest his refusal to allow myself and other “third party” candidates to be part of any debates. After nine hours, we won, and about a week later a nationally-televised C-Span debate was held that included all six candidates who had qualified for this particular race.

And in December of 2007, at the tail end of the long climate emergency fast I did that fall, 20 of us occupied the Capitol Hill office of Senator Mitch McConnell after he led the Senate Republicans in their stripping out of anything and everything having to do with renewable energy from a House-passed energy bill. Two of us, my wife Jane Califf and I, were arrested after spending the day in McConnell’s office because we refused to willingly leave at 6 pm when the office was closed.

But as I sat in Doyle’s office, no one with me, none of the press people who I called showing up to find out what was happening, thinking about what was going to happen at 6 pm, wondering if I had been too impulsive, wondering what would happen if I was arrested–because I was very clear that it was either talk with Doyle or that–wondering, wondering. . . after two hours of sitting, into the office comes Mike Doyle.

I’d never met the guy, so at first I didn’t know it had happened when he arrived. But when he sat down across from me and said something like, “I’m Mike Doyle, what’s up,” I knew it was game time. And for the next half hour I had the most intense, in-your-face, no-holds-barred discussion with an elected official I have ever had.

Doyle’s no dummy, and I have to acknowledge that he’s a strong debater. I didn’t get him to change his mind about the efforts that he and Rick Boucher have been leading to weaken the “discussion draft” of climate legislation Henry Waxman introduced on March 31st. The way Doyle described it, he was doing the bidding of Waxman, carrying water for him by going to the blue dog Democrats to find out what was necessary in order to get a bill out of committee. He also said his main thing was the 15% free emissions permits for steel, cement, aluminum and other energy-intensive industries during a 10-15 year transition period. But when I asked him why he was then supporting the idea that 40% of the permits would be given free to coal companies/utilities (local distribution companies), the best answer he could give was something like this, a very revealing answer:

“If you return money directly to the American people for them to use to pay for higher energy costs in the transition period, they’ll spend it on things like flat screen TV’s. By giving free emissions permits to utilities they can then pass on the savings directly to consumers.”

I wasn’t and am not convinced. Giving money to profit-making coal companies like Duke Power and Peabody is going to end up helping consumers? Please. All it will do is delay the urgently-needed shift from fossil fuels to renewables and efficiency.

By the end of our half-hour discussion, the decibel level had been dialed down several notches, we were agreeing that we wished President Obama was giving much stronger leadership on this issue, and he was telling me that there was some interest among Energy and Commerce committee members in what was being discussed within Ways and Means (carbon tax and/or cap and dividend approaches). As we shook hands and parted company, I thanked him for being willing to talk and he commended me for being a gentleman.

Sometimes you just have to act upon what you feel is right. And it is right to feel outrage over the power that corporate polluters in both parties have over our political process. It’s time to blow the whistle and shine the spotlight on those liars and deceivers.

Md. Climate Bill Sends Urgent Message to Congress: ACT NOW!

This morning, Governor O’Malley signed into law legislation to combat global warming and create green jobs in Maryland. The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act, SB 278/HB 315, mandates the strongest economy-wide reduction in global warming pollution of any climate bill in the country.

“This is a landmark moment for Maryland and sends an urgent message to the federal government,” said Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “Maryland has done all it can do, now it’s time for Congress to enact a nationwide cap on carbon.”

The bill requires the state to cut greenhouse gas emissions 25% below 2006 levels by 2020 and directs the Maryland Department of the Environment to craft a plan and a timeline to achieve that goal. With this bill, Maryland joins six states in enacting a legally binding goal for emissions reductions. Maryland’s short term target is the strongest of all the states with legislative commitments to reduce pollution.

Governor O’Malley’s signing of the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act today was the culmination of years of sustained efforts from dedicated citizens, business leaders, environmental groups, and religious and health organizations.

The diverse coalition that formed to raise awareness of Maryland’s climate bill — called the Alliance for Global Warming Solutions — included the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Environment Maryland, the Maryland Student Climate Coalition, the Chesapeake Sustainable Business Alliance, Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Lutheran Office on Public Policy, Maryland League of Conservation Voters, the Maryland chapter of the Sierra Club, and other groups.

The bill signed today is similar to last year’s Global Warming Solutions Act, which did not make it out of the 2008 General Assembly session. The bill that eventually passed was a result of a series of facilitated talks between stakeholders. Leaders within the Maryland climate movement spent several months participating in talks to work out an effective, fair agreement with union and business leaders.

ACES Update – Polluters want a free pass

I’m sure this doesn’t come as a shock, but the biggest climate bill out there, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, is under attack in a major way. Surprise! Polluters – utilities, coal companies, heavy industry, oil companies… – all want to get permits to continue to spew global warming pollution into the air for FREE! This is all in the name of “cost containment,” which is not at all the same thing as pocketbook protection.

Now, I know that this is a bad idea. If you read the CCAN blog, you probably know that this is a bad idea.

Column: Need for Climate Bill

Before the clock strikes midnight
Before the clock strikes midnight

Here is my column today on why now is the perfect time to pass a climate change bill to help the economy. Enjoy!

Cross-Posted from: here

Clean energy: Make the case before it’s too late

MATT DERNOGA

Issue date: 5/5/09 Section: Opinion

I’ve found over the years that timing is not the strong suit of environmentalists. There’s a joke that whenever there’s a global warming rally, it’s probably going to snow. Just a couple of weeks ago, Earth Day became rain day. The earth has been playing coy, saying, “If you want to save me, you’re going to have to work for it.”

When it comes to clean energy, the economy has been dragging its feet as well. Right when we get a Congress and president capable of passing a strong climate change bill, the economy is jumping off a cliff with a bungee cord made of defaulted bank notes. You can always depend on detractors of regulating carbon emissions, such as the oil, coal, gas and utility companies, to insist this just isn’t the right time. We can’t be burdened by job losses and higher energy prices during a severe recession. By sheer coincidence, I’m sure, opponents use the same argument when the economy is thriving.

This is interesting, considering our policy of not putting a price on pollution in the name of saving manufacturing. From 2000-2008, the U.S. workforce saw a loss of over 4 million manufacturing jobs. Auto companies kicked and screamed at fuel-economy standards for decades, only to witness Japanese carmakers with more fuel-efficient cars come in and take their jobs. Electricity prices rose sharply in many parts of the country without carbon regulation. Oil companies benefited from billions of dollars in tax breaks while claiming regulation would hurt American families at the pump – kind of like what happened last summer with obscene gas prices and no viable substitutes.

We would do well to observe these trends and recognize there needs to be a different way of producing energy in this country. Our economy needs to be transformed and retooled for the global markets of the 21st century. Energy needs to be affordable, abundant and clean. The green provisions of the stimulus bill were a nice spark. We need a lightning bolt. We need a strong climate bill to rescue the economy, and now is the perfect time.

Manufacturing has caught on to this opportunity. Turns out wind turbines are made of steel. Labor groups, such as the United Steelworkers and the Communications Workers of America have teamed up with environmental groups to form the Blue Green Alliance. By investing $100 billion generated from a climate bill into retrofitting buildings, mass transit, a smart eletric grid, wind and solar power and advanced biofuels, 2 million jobs can be created in the next two years.

The reality is the only burden special interest groups are concerned about is their own balance sheets. The question isn’t whether we can afford to pass a climate bill. It’s whether we can afford not to. The truth is, regulating carbon will put our fast-emerging industries at an advantage over foreign competitors.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) is coming to the campus May 11 at 6:30 p.m. in the Baltimore Room in Stamp Student Union for a Clean Energy Town Hall Meeting. There’s a climate bill with a serious chance of passing, which will start getting marked up in the Energy and Commerce Committee the same day. How’s that for timing? This is your chance to weigh in. Don’t miss it for the world.

Matt Dernoga is a junior government and politics major and the political liason for UMD for Clean Energy, one of the groups hosting Rep. Hoyer. He can be reached at mdernoga@umd.edu.


Is a Coal Plant in Surry County a Bad Idea? CCAN Asks Terry McAuliffe

terry_rallyThis morning the Chesapeake Climate Action Network successfully caught the attention of Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe at a rally he hosted at the 17th Street Farmer’s Market in Richmond, Virginia. Richmond Town Councilman Marty Jewel kicked off the morning, and former President Bill Clinton introduced Mr. McAuliffe. The theme of the rally was “New Energy for New Jobs,” and the candidate’s speech centered repowering the commonwealth and creating new jobs for Virginians. CCAN wanted to ask Mr. McAuliffe about his position on a recently proposed coal fired power plant for Surry County, a Hampton Roads community. Well, we got his attention!

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