Climate Politics

Sen. Bob Corker wants a carbon tax

"I wish we would just talk about a carbon tax, 100 percent of which would be returned to the American people. So there's no net dollars that would come out of the American people's pockets."

-- Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), addressing Al Gore during a Jan. 28 hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Colorado official with green chops is tapped for White House post

The Obama team circulated another list of hires at the White House on Wednesday. Apparently, the new president has scooped up Shaun McGrath, the green mayor of Boulder, Colo., as a deputy director of intergovernmental affairs.

McGrath began serving on the Boulder city council in November 2003 and was elected mayor in 2007. He has worked for the Western Governors' Association since 1995, where he is the program director for water and drought policy, climate change adaptation, and the Wildlife Corridors Initiative. He was previously a legislative assistant to Rep. Jim Slattery (D-Kansas), working on environmental issues, and the executive director of the Kansas Natural Resource Council.

Here's his official bio:

Prior to joining the White House, McGrath was Program Director for the Western Governors Association, an independent, non-profit organization representing the governors of the 19 western states and three U.S. flag islands in the Pacific, where he managed programs on wildlife corridors, sustainable water, renewable energy, and climate adaptation. McGrath is also the Mayor of Boulder, Colorado, a progressive city of 100,000, named the "smartest city in America" by Forbes magazine in 2006 and 2008. As Mayor, he led efforts to establish Boulder as the first smart-grid city in the country, pass a climate action plan for which voters approved country's first carbon tax, and become only the third city in the country to receive the platinum level "bicycle friendly community" award from the League of American Bicyclists.

As meaningful as his presidency is, Obama will not act fast enough on the climate crisis

Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lowered about our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.

-- William Shakespeare, King Richard the Third

To complain that President Barack Obama is not serious enough about climate strikes most U.S. environmentalists as strange, almost incomprehensible behavior. This is a time for celebration and new beginnings and any small doubts we harbor are easily assuaged by our confidence in the man who is president. Those who are not swept up in the new optimism seem small -- either nit-pickers of detail who miss the big picture (what did he mean by "harness the sun and the winds and the soil"?) or the Gloster's of our victory -- cramped and parsimonious in spirit, prone to petty grievance.

Our feelings now are in accord with our conduct over the last decade and more. We are always optimistic, it is our nature. When politicians send mixed signals we embrace the positive and accept the troubling as pragmatic, necessary concessions. When offered half a loaf we take it and proclaim ourselves full.

But this is no compromise to be swallowed, is it? After eight years in the wilderness, we look out onto a playing field dominated by President Obama, House Speaker Pelosi, Senator Boxer, and Congressman Markey, and we see immense promise. In Obama's majestic inaugural address we heard climate mentioned, then mentioned again, and again, and, "he gets it!" we thought. This is what we endured for, this is what we campaigned hard for, and the sweetness in the D.C. air is more glorious than we had imagined.

Except for three things:

1. The time-line for climate action has been cut to four years.
2. The Democratic plan of action is utterly inadequate.
3. Climate is a second-tier problem for President Obama.

Creating transit-oriented communities addresses many different issues

Last November, Seattle-area voters gave a resounding shout-out to mass transit. Building on that support, a new bill in Washington state focuses on sustainable development near transit stations. This "Creating Transit Communities" legislation calls for dense, walkable communities in transit hot-spots.

It would provide local jurisdictions with resources and incentives for sustainable growth and strengthen existing provisions about making low-income housing available near transit centers.

Think those are unrelated issues? No way, say bill supporters from Futurewise, Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, and Transportation Choices Coalition. "Our state may face no challenge greater than the threat of global warming and the lack of sufficient affordable housing," they argue in a recent Seattle P-I editorial, "and we can't solve either unless we solve both."

They go on to illuminate the connections:

Gore urges Congress to quickly pass stimulus package and climate bill

 

Speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, VP-turned-climate-guru Al Gore urged lawmakers to move quickly on both the economic-stimulus package and a cap-and-trade climate bill. His testimony -- which included an updated version of his Inconvenient Truth slide show, now with even scarier data -- was warmly received by Republicans as well as Democrats.

"I urge this Congress to quickly pass the entirety of President Obama's recovery package," Gore said. "The plan's unprecedented and critical investments in four key areas -- energy efficiency, renewables, a unified national energy grid, and the move to clean cars -- represent an important down payment and are long overdue." He said he favors the House version of the bill (passed Wednesday afternoon), which includes more funding for efficiency, renewable energy, and mass transit.

This was the first major hearing of the 111th Congress for the Foreign Relations Committee, whose new chair is Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.). By shining a spotlight on Gore and climate change at the hearing, Kerry sent a clear message about his priorities.

"Frankly, the science is screaming at us," Kerry said. He cited a recent study from the University of Pennsylvania, MIT, and the Heinz Center that found that even if the world aims for the highest goals currently on the table -- including Obama's call for an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2050 -- carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would still far exceed safe levels. "If every nation were to make good on its existing promises, we would still see atmospheric carbon dioxide levels well above 600 parts per million -- 50 percent above where we are now. ... And no one in the scientific community disputes that this would be catastrophic."

"Some may argue that we cannot afford to address this issue in the midst of an economic crisis," Kerry continued. "Those who pose that question have it fundamentally wrong. This is a moment of enormous opportunity for new technology, new jobs, and the greening and transformation of our economy."

Gore echoed that point, emphasizing that we can't wait to act on climate change, which is intertwined with other key national challenges. "We must face up to this urgent and unprecedented threat to the existence of our civilization at a time when our country must simultaneously solve two other worsening crises. Our economy is in its deepest recession since the 1930s. And our national security is endangered by a vicious terrorist network and the complex challenge of ending the war in Iraq honorably while winning the military and political struggle in Afghanistan," said Gore. "As we search for solutions to all three of these challenges, it is becoming clearer that they are linked by a common thread -- our dangerous over-reliance on carbon-based fuels."

House passes stimulus package with more than $100 billion in green spending

Without the support of a single Republican lawmaker, the House today approved the $819 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act by a vote of 244-188.

The package would allocate more than $100 billion in direct spending for various green projects, including money for clean energy and efficiency programs, a smart grid, weatherization of low- and moderate-income homes, retrofits on public buildings and public housing, clean water infrastructure, and environmental restoration.

The measure contains $14.6 billion for public transportation, $3 billion more than originally planned thanks to an amendment that mass transit supporters were able to add during debate. There's also $37.9 billion for energy efficiency and $27.8 billion for renewable energy. On top of those amounts, the Ways and Means Committee added $20 billion in renewable-energy and energy-efficiency tax credits and related financial incentives, and inserted language to make the investment tax credit passed last year refundable.

The bill now moves to the Senate, which probably won't vote on a package until next week. Appropriators have been hashing out how they'll distribute funds, and it's looking like green projects won't fare as well in the Senate version even though senators' package is $68 billion larger. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved $365.6 billion in spending, and the Senate Finance Committee passed $522 billion in tax measures, which include incentives for renewables. There's only $8.4 billion for mass transit in the Senate package, which is even less than a previous draft of the bill called for.

Salazar sends mixed signals on offshore drilling

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar indicated on Tuesday that he intends to scrap the Bush administration's leasing plan that would have opened the coasts to drilling, even as he said the Obama administration is open to some expanded development of offshore oil and gas fields.

The Bush administration's DOI issued a draft of a five-year leasing plan several days before leaving office, following on the expiration of the outer continental shelf moratorium last fall. But Salazar told the Associated Press that his department plans to work with Congress to craft "a plan that makes sense" for offshore oil and gas development in the context of a broader energy policy.

Though he didn't elaborate on areas that might be off-limits, Salazar advocated for some level of protection, which is an improvement, since currently there is nothing protecting the coasts. "There are places that are appropriate for exploration and development and there are places that are not," he said.

Today's Wall Street Journal chose to focus on Salazar's refusal to rule out trying to reinstitute the offshore drilling ban. Under the headline "Offshore Drilling on the Table" (sub. req'd.), the newspaper reported:

"Asked about the Bush administration's proposal to open certain areas of the East and West coasts to drilling and whether he saw any opportunities for expanded development of the nation's offshore areas, Mr. Salazar said: "When you look at the whole [outer continental shelf], it's a huge potential. And it has to be done carefully. We don't want to ruin the beaches of Florida and the coastlines of other places that are sensitive. On the other hand, there are places where it may be appropriate for us to have reconnaissance and exploration and even development. Those are questions that we are exploring and hopefully over the months ahead we'll have answers to these questions."

House debates adjustments to the stimulus package

The House is expected to pass the stimulus bill this evening, and they're currently debating amendments. There's already some good news for greens: They just approved a $3 billion increase in funding for mass transit.

The amendment, proposed by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), brings the total for public transit to $14.6 billion. It was cosponsored by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.), Rep. Michael McMahon (D-N.Y.), Rep. Keith Ellison (D, Minn.). Greater Greater Washington reports that Nadler said in his floor speech today that $1.5 billion of the funds will go to the transit capital formula program and $1.5 billion to the new starts program.

An amendment [PDF] from Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) to remove all funding for Amtrak from the bill failed.

In addition to the transit funding, the package has $37.9 billion for energy efficiency and $27.8 billion for renewable energy.

Rep. James Oberstar, the chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Comittee, is also pushing for an amendment that would mandate that funds for aviation, highway, rail, and transit come with a "use-it-or-lose-it" provisions, requiring that 50 percent of the funds be obligated within 90 days.

OpenCongress has a complete list of the amendments to be considered.

UPDATE: Oberstar's amendment passed.

Question of the day

Was Joel Kotkin always this loopy?

Taking a moment to appreciate Obama's words

In the wake of President Barack Obama's speech on Monday, the media -- including our own Kate and Sarah -- have scurried to report on the implications, ramifications, and other -ications of the emissions issue. Good stuff, and important. But could we take a step back for just a moment?

Consider what your president said: