kelpiewilson

On Energy and Climate: Lead or Get Out of the Way

By Kelpie Wilson
t r u t h o u t | Environment Editor
Thursday 20 December 2007

Last weekend at the UN climate change conference in Bali, after the US had blocked almost every way forward, the delegate from Papua New Guinea finally had enough. He addressed the US representative, saying, "If for some reason you are not willing to lead, leave it to the rest of us. Please - get out of the way."

When the assembly erupted into thunderous applause, the US negotiator, Paula Dobriansky, must have finally realized how isolated the US had become. Faint and flustered, she caved, and agreed to at least allow the global negotiations to move on to the next stage.

Back home, "lead or get out of the way" is a message the lame-duck Bush administration and some of its legislative dinosaurs are likely to be hearing more frequently as the clock ticks forward to 2009.

An editorial in The Salt Lake Tribune on Tuesday, titled "Move aside: 2009 can't come soon enough for environment," said:

"We expect Mr. Bush will blithely pass on to the next president a nation moving pell-mell toward drought, rising seas and unpredictably severe weather patterns. We urge the new president, whoever that may be, to put America in the lead on emission reduction to help head off that scenario. The most productive thing this president is likely to do is to get out of the way."

Unfortunately, the president shows no signs of complying with that wish. The latest Bush blockage came on Wednesday, when, just hours after signing the new energy bill into law, Bush's EPA administrator, Stephen L. Johnson, announced that he would deny California's application to enforce its own, more stringent auto emissions standards for carbon dioxide.

The Widening Chasm on Energy

The Widening Chasm on Energy
By Kelpie Wilson
t r u t h o u t | Environment Editor
Tuesday 11 December 2007

Last Thursday, the US House of Representatives passed, by a 235-181 vote, the Energy Independence and Security Act. This new energy bill includes measures that would increase car fuel mileage, restore taxes on Big Oil to pay for investments in solar, wind and energy efficiency, and mandate that electric utilities generate 15 percent of their power using renewable energy.

On Friday, the same bill passed the Senate by 53 votes in favor to 42 opposed. Republicans then threatened to filibuster, raising the bar for passage to 60 votes. The Senate will work on revisions and is expected to bring a modified bill to the floor sometime this week, but giant corporations are working overtime to trash as much of the renewable energy substance as they can.

The renewable electricity mandate and the oil tax package are the two provisions attracting the most opposition, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell calling them "twin millstones ... around its neck."

Greens Take Heart at Final Energy Bill

By Kelpie Wilson
t r u t h o u t | Report
Thursday 06 December 2007

When the Democrats took the helm of Congress last January, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed to make energy independence a top priority. Democrats will "energize America," she said, and get the country off of imported oil.

Last summer, both houses of Congress passed energy bills oriented toward increasing energy efficiency and boosting renewable power and biofuels. But there were major differences between the House and Senate versions: The House version had no Corporate Average Fuel Economy program (CAFE) car mileage mandate due to Michigan Rep. John Dingell, (an auto industry champion), and the Senate version had no Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) due to strong opposition from Senate Republicans. Green-leaning energy advocates and environmentalists wanted both mandates in a final bill.

The Democratic leadership had a job in front of them to reconcile these two versions and get a final bill to the floor, especially since Senate Republicans refused to appoint a conference committee. But it appears they have finally done it. And not only that, it is a bill many greens think is worth supporting.

Just a few weeks ago, the chances of Democrats bringing a strong bill to a vote looked slim. Before Thanksgiving, Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that to smooth the way toward passing a bill by Christmas, they would drop the RES. Advocates for renewable energy reacted strongly, calling the move a "lump of coal" in their Christmas stocking.