The US House of Representatives passed HR 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, sometimes referred to as the Waxman-Markey Bill, or ACES, by a vote of 219-212. A majority in the House of Representatives in 218 votes.
While I wish I could say this vote went along party lines, it did not. 8 Republicans (none from Texas) voted for the bill, while an amazing 44 Democrats voted against President Obama, the environment, and green jobs (including three from Texas).
These Dems should be whipped and whipped hard. The consensus in the enviro community was that this bill was watered down and wouldn't meet the promise of a truly great energy and climate bill. But it would be the best we could get. The closeness of the vote shows that every compromise literally had to be made to get any climate bill passed.
As for our Texas delegation, we have good news and bad news. (more after bump)
NPR did a great story this morning on how this Climate Change bill has been watered down by the onslaught of lobbyists. Renewal energy targets have been reduced from 25% to 15%, and 85% of the pollution credits are actually given away upfront. For more information about Texas Climate Emergency Campaign, call them at 512/852-8776 or e-mail them at texasclimate@gmail.com. Their website is www.texasclimateemergency.org.
All Texas Congressional telephone numbers are at the end.
We are entering the final weeks of our campaign to provide security for future generations by avoiding the worst of coming climate chaos. House Speaker Pelosi has said that all the committees have to finish their work by Friday, June 19th, and on the week of June 22nd the Waxman-Markey (American Clean Energy and Security Act) (H.R. 2454) bill will go to the House for a vote.
However, the bill has been significantly weakened since it was first introduced in March. You can help make sure that the first climate bill to move through the House of Representatives actually takes meaningful steps to curb climate change. As written, the Waxman-Markey bill includes compromises that threaten to undermine the primary goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Waxman-Markey helps coal and oil industries instead of protecting consumers and the environment. Lawmakers have conducted closed-door negotiations with polluters, resulting in a bill that accommodates the financial interests of big energy corporations while squandering an opportunity to curb the coming climate chaos and doing little to help working families. Texas Climate Emergency Campaign is working with 1Sky, Friends of the Earth, Move On, Public Citizen, Greenpeace, and other groups in trying to strengthen this bill. Please ask your representative (numbers below) to work to improve the bill in three key ways:
1. Hold Polluters Accountable: By eliminating provisions that allow polluters to continue polluting at current levels for over a decade & by restoring authority to the EPA to mandate cleaner technology for power plants.
2. Ensure More Clean Energy for America: By increasing the renewable energy and energy efficiency standards. Require power companies to produce more clean energy than currently mandated. Wind and solar create more than twice as many jobs as coal and oil.
3. Create More Clean Energy Jobs for America: Limit giveaways to polluting industries, like Big Oil and Dirty Coal, and instead bolster green job development and protection of vulnerable communities.
LOCAL Washington D.C.
Henry Cuellar 956.725.0639 202.225.1640
Chet Edwards 254.752.9600 202.225.6105
Charlie Gonzalez 210.472.6195 202.225.3236
Al Green 713.383.9234 202.225.7508
Gene Green 281.999.5879 202.225.1688
Ruben Hinojosa 956.682.5545 202.225.2531
Eddie Bernice Johnson 214.922.8885 202.225.8885
Sheila Jackson Lee 713.655.0050 202.225.3816
Solomon Oritz 361.883.5868 202.225.7742
Silvestre Reyes 915.434.4400 202.225.4831
Ciro Rodriguez 210.922.1874 202.225.4511
(If anyone from Congresaman Gonzalez' office wants to respond to this, e-mail me at phillip@burntorangereport.com. We'll absolutely honor the "right to respond" policy here to learn more about why he has taken the stance he has on this measure. - promoted by Phillip Martin)
According to a Bloomberg article this morning, San Antonio Representative Charlie Gonzalez has joined
a group of Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee (who) want to give utilities free permits for all their existing carbon emissions, according to people familiar with a plan sent to the committee's chairman.
The article continues:
Representative Rick Boucher of Virginia sent the four-page list of recommendations to Henry Waxman, the committee's chairman and the author of draft climate-change legislation that some of his fellow Democrats are seeking to temper, said the people, who declined to be identified before the plan is made public. Courtney Lamie, Boucher's spokeswoman, didn't respond to e-mail and phone messages.
Waxman's measure would establish a cap-and-trade system of pollution credits designed to cut carbon dioxide 20 percent from 2005 levels by 2020. He needs to win the support of Boucher and the other Democrats pushing for changes in his plan because no Republicans are likely to vote for it, Representative Gene Green, a Texas Democrat, said yesterday.
"It's all about the consumer," said Representative Charles Gonzalez of Texas, whose San Antonio-area district has oil and gas operations. "It's also the economic interests of a member's district or region."
Charlie Gonzalez just doesn't have his facts straight on this one. If you're really concerned about consumers, giving away pollution credits for free is about the worst way you can write this bill. Giving away allowances would force customers to pay for industry and utilities' right to pollute without even cutting carbon emissions. There is a right and a very wrong way to write a good climate change bill, and Charlie is supporting the wrong way.
EPA's most recent analysis say that giving away pollution credits is "highly regressive", meaning it hurts low-income families the most. At best, this is a bailout and a free ride for the polluters. At worst it will create windfall profits for huge energy companies at the expense of every lower and middle income family in Texas. However, an auction fixes these problems. EPA continues:
"Assuming that the bulk of the revenues from the program are returned to households, the cap-and-trade policy has a relatively modest impact on U.S. consumers. . . . Returning the revenues in this fashion could make the median household, and those living at lower ends of the income distribution, better off than they would be without the program"
A good climate change bill will create billions of dollars of revenue by charging large polluters for the dangerous pollutants they've been emitting for decades. This money could then be returned to taxpayers, particularly low-income households, to protect them from any price increases that energy industries may try to pass through to consumers. Another portion of the money could also be used to pursue aggressive energy efficiency programs, so that citizens can save even more money by using less electricity. Every dollar spent on energy efficiency will then also help reinvigorate local economy by putting people back to work doing energy audits and retrofitting inefficient homes.
Congressman Charlie Gonzalez needs to hear that what consumers really need is energy efficiency, renewable energy, lower electric bills and less pollution - not more industry giveaways. So far, it looks like he's only heard from the lobbyists for the big polluters. We've heard that Congressman Gonzalez will cast a deciding vote on whether Texans will be given the tools to forge a new, green economy, or left unprotected from the worst effects of extreme weather and high energy prices.
Congressman Charlie Gonzalez is the swing vote on this issue. Please pick up the phone and call him. The phone number for his DC office is (202) 225-3236 and his office in San Antonio is (210) 472-6195. You can also email his office from his website.
***UPDATE*****
Looks like Charlie Gonzalez will actually be in San Antonio bright and early Saturday morning for the King William Parade. We'll be taking this opportunity to some pressure on the Congressman to support strong cap and trade legislation. If you'd like to participate, join us between 8 and 9 AM at the San Antonio Peace Center to pick up a sign, banner, or sign-on letter. For more information, visit Texas Vox.
When I am in a debate with those on the right who want to Deny, Delay and Do Nothing about Global Climate Change
When they spew “There is no proof…” “All scientists don’t agree..” “I don’t believe mankind can have any impact on the Climate” “Climate Change is a Natural Process” or other misleading talking points
I give them this quote:
"Even if there's just a one percent chance of the unimaginable coming due, act as if it is a certainty. It's not about analysis, it’s about our response. Justified or not, fact-based or not, our response is what matters."
For most, they react That’s a stupid reason How Idiotic to take unjustified actions and waste our money based on contrived evidence without facts to support the necessity
I merely reply
If that reason was good enough for VP Cheney to justify sinking billions of dollars and the lives of thousands of American Troops into the black hole of Iraq, to preserve, protect and defend His homeland
Then it should be good enough to justify actions that will
Bright and early yesterday morning, US Representative Lloyd Doggett, State Senator Rodney Ellis, State Representative Mark Strama, and environmental and civil rights advocate Van Jones stood together to tout the Alliance for a Clean Texas' Texas Energy Future: Clean Jobs, Green Power Conference.
Rodney Ellis opened up the press conference, stating that this year's legislative session looks to be a very green session. He also mentioned, as he has before, that the legislature is at a crucial moment in terms of climate change action. If the legislature doesn't act this year, the federal government will likely pass and begin implementing comprehensive global warming legislation before the state legislature will have a chance to meet again. If Texas is not prepared for this kind of drastic policy change, we may not have a chance to address these issues again until 2011.
Senator Ellis then gave the mic over to the group he termed the "Dapper Three" (swoon!).
Congressman Doggett yesterday introduced a proposal for legislation known as the Climate MATTERS Act, a response to the effects of global warming we are feeling every day now. Austin Mayor Will Winn hosted the event in the City Council chambers and was joined by leaders of the environmental and business community in welcoming Rep. Doggett.
Most of the bill sounds legitimate, including a strong 80% in CO2 emissions by 2050, science-based review of progress, auctioning of carbon credits and returning the money to the people and investments in efficiency and renewable energy. It also includes a provision to enact a carbon tariff on any country who does not join the next UN sponsored follow-up to the Kyoto Protocol, due to expire next year.
Full review of Doggett's bill, along with his press release and remarks after the bump. Please also vote in the poll if you favor action on global warming.
"this post does not reflect the views of anyone or any other organization other than Citizen Andy, and even then not all the time."
As if we need any more ammunition. I have a few quotes that just sound more ridiculous when you read them the third fourth and fifth times.
1. Cornyn really believes in taking care of our environment:
It is vital that we be the best possible stewards of the environment. Fortunately, improved technology has enabled us to take advantage of America's own abundant natural resources in an environmentally sensitive way. Yet the U.S. remains the only country in the world that refuses to develop many of its natural resources.
Drill, Drill, Drill - ANWR, ANWR, ANWR - What is environmentally sensitive about that? What about wind and solar power? How do you feel about that?
2. Cornyn really cares about lowering gas prices:
Gas prices are now hovering near $4 per gallon. High fuel costs are causing disruption in our society, prompting layoffs in some industries. Yet Congress is doing virtually nothing to address the problem. In fact, it's talking about ways to make the problem worse.
Did you vote for or against the windfall profits tax on oil companies? Do you take contributions from all five of these companies every cycle? Do you know that you are in the U.S. Senate.
3. The Climate Change Bill would have cost 300k jobs :
But earlier this month, the Senate actually considered a massive climate tax bill that headed in the exact opposite direction. This massive $6.7 trillion Rube Goldberg scheme proposed by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., would undermine our economy and likely lead to $10 per gallon gasoline. It could well eliminate some 330,000 Texas jobs, sending them to places with limited regulation like China and India.
What have you done to keep jobs going overseas? Did you ever figure out how this would cost Texas 330k Jobs? Does the figure go up every time you think about it? Do you know there are eventually going to be green jobs created?
I'm not sure I can take any more of this. I know that I am giving a small donation tonight. Can anyone match me? This guy gets more and more ridiculous. Does he know that the windfall profits tax would have also created incentives for development of alternative energy?
Today on campus, Dr. Victor H. Reis, a senior adviser in the Department of Energy, will be speaking on "Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Power and Climate Change: Options and Opportunities for the Next Administration." He is working on the transition plan that the Secretary of Energy will present to the next U.S. President regarding the future of the Department of Energy.
Here is the abstract:
On November 4 2008 the next President will be elected. On January 20, 2009 the the next President of the United States will take office and the next administration will face a series of issues related to the domestic and international nuclear enterprise. During the past year a small group at the Department of Energy has been analyzing these issues with a view toward providing the Presidential and Department of Energy transition team an objective perspective on how the U.S .nuclear enterprise - nuclear weapons, nuclear power, nuclear materials, taken together, can play a pivotal role in current and future U.S. national security, economic well being, and the environment (including climate change). This talk will review the results of this effort so far, and will elicit comments and suggestions from the attendees.
Given the necessity of a new energy policy has given me interest in nuclear energy. As Democrats who fight for a new energy policy, I believe we owe it to ourselves to give Nuclear power some consideration. So I'll be there. I'll write up on the event for those who don't make it.
The talk will be in the Wheeler Lecture Hall, Robert Lee Moore building (RLM) room 4.102 at 4:15 pm.
There will be a "Meet the Speaker" session on the 5th floor of RLM at 3:45 pm in the Kodosky Reading Room.
