Climate Politics

N.J. enviros deeply divided over record of Obama’s EPA nominee

Lisa Jackson. Depending on who you ask, Lisa Jackson is either the best or worst thing that ever happened to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, which she led from February 2006 to November 2008. For the most part, New Jersey’s biggest environmental groups praise her work on climate change and celebrate her nomination […]

Michigan governor on verge of important announcement on coal and clean energy?

For several years Michigan has been pursuing a dual-track energy strategy: more coal plants and more clean energy. But as forecasts show demand slacking, energy imports draining the budget, and power plant costs rising, the calculus may be shifting.

Keith Schneider reports that Gov. Jennifer Granholm is on the verge of a big announcement:

Senior Granholm administration officials declined to be specific about what they said would be a "major statement," but indicated the governor might support a moratorium on approving new coal plants while the state formulates CO2 regulations--something coal opponents around the state have pushed for with lawsuits, petitions to the governor, and a steady barrage of press and grassroots events for more than a year. Or, some officials said, the governor might announce an outright ban on new coal plants.

Putting Rust Belt states in the vanguard of the clean energy shift is a powerful thing, symbolically, politically, and economically. Let's hope Granholm goes big.

Obama's radio address, 03 Jan 2008: renewable energy, no transit

Obama's radio address, on the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan," mentions doubling renewable energy and energy efficiency renovations; it does not mention public transit. Lots of bipartisan talk, in the runup to the great kickoff of Jan. 20.

Bill Richardson removes himself from consideration for commerce secretary

Bill Richardson has withdrawn his name from consideration for the post of commerce secretary. The New Mexico governor says he is concerned that a grand jury investigation into a company that has done business with his state might delay the confirmation process.

Obama tapped Richardson to head the Commerce Department last month, to the delight of enviros who praised his strong record on climate and energy issues.

"Let me say unequivocally that I and my Administration have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact," he said in a statement. "But I have concluded that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process."

Obama said in a statement that he is accepting the decision "with deep regret." "Governor Richardson is an outstanding public servant and would have brought to the job of Commerce Secretary and our economic team great insights accumulated through an extraordinary career in federal and state office," said Obama.

"It is a measure of his willingness to put the nation first that he has removed himself as a candidate for the Cabinet in order to avoid any delay in filling this important economic post at this critical time," Obama continued. "Although we must move quickly to fill the void left by Governor Richardson's decision, I look forward to his future service to our country and in my administration."

Obama made no mention of possible new nominees for the post.

Markey to replace Boucher as chair of Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee?

Congressional Quarterly Online reported last week:

The two senior House Democrats with jurisdiction over energy and telecommunications policies could swap gavels in the 111th Congress, with potentially dramatic implications for the shape of climate change legislation expected next year.

Since 2007, Rick Boucher of Virginia, the Energy and Commerce Committee's fourth-ranking Democrat, has led the Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee, which has taken the lead role in crafting legislation to address global warming.

But Boucher said in an interview Tuesday that he expects Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, No. 3 among committee Democrats in seniority, to bid for the subcommittee chairmanship. Boucher said he would "respect that decision" and stake his own claim for chairmanship of Markey's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet.

"I'm awaiting his decision," Boucher said. Markey has not yet made up his mind, a spokesman said.

This would be almost as big a deal as Waxman defeating Dingell for committee chair. Just as Dingell-Boucher co-authored a House climate bill last session, one would expect that if this change occurs, Waxman and Markey would co-author a House Bill in this session. And it certainly wouldn't be as lame (see "Q: Does Dingell-Boucher have meaningful auctioning of CO2 permits before 2026?").

The story continues:

The Obama's climate dream team, new sea-level rise, less arctic ice volume, and more

What events, actions, and findings had the most positive or negative impact on the likelihood that the nation and the world will act in time to avoid catastrophic warming?

Since the No. 1 story is way too obvious to generate any drama, I will start there and then go back and count down from No. 10 to No. 2.

1. Team without rivals. A year ago, the head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Rajendra Pachauri, desperately warned, "If there's no action before 2012, that's too late. What we do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment." That means the next president and his cabinet, more than any other group, will determine my future and your future and our children's future, and perhaps the future of the next 50 generations to walk the earth. Fortunately, the American people rejected the old greenwasher and new denier nominated by the Drill, baby, Drill crowd -- and now we will be led by the greenest, most scientifically informed, radical pragmatists in the history of the Republic:

• Obama: "The science is beyond dispute ... Delay is no longer an option. Denial is no longer an acceptable response."
• Why Biden is such an important pick for those who care about the climate
• SOS trumps NSA (Hillary Clinton trumps Gen. Jones)
• Carol Browner to oversee energy and climate at the White House
• Top Five reasons Chu is a great energy pick -- No. 1: "It's not guaranteed we have a solution for coal"
• Obama picks a green jobs leader for labor secretary: Hilda Solis
• The first green secretary of commerce
• For NOAA head, Obama appoints yet another scientist who gets climate
• Obama's strongest message on climate yet: John Holdren to be named science adviser

Back to the countdown:

10. Gas pains. As NOAA reported, levels of methane rose sharply in 2007 for the first time since 1998. Methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, especially over the near term. And the tundra has as much carbon locked away in it as the atmosphere contains today. Scientific analysis suggests the rise in 2007 methane levels came from Arctic wetlands. The tundra melting is probably the most worrisome of all the climate-carbon-cycle amplifying feedbacks -- and it could easily take us to the unmitigated catastrophe of 1,000 ppm. Though you should also worry that the methane might be coming from the underwater permafrost, which is also thawing and releasing methane. Or from the drying of the Northern peatlands (bogs, moors, and mires). If methane rises again in 2008 -- and NASA reported another brutally hot year for the Siberian tundra -- then that will probably be among the top three global warming stories of 2008.

9. The thrilla in vanilla. OK, it wasn't Ali-Frazier, but Henry Waxman's smackdown of John Dingell for chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee was high drama with high consequences. Finally, we have a champion of serious action and strong regulation, someone who gets the dire nature of global warming, in charge of the crucial committee for climate and energy.

8. Ice, ice maybe not. Everywhere scientists look, ice is disappearing:

Is Ken Salazar 'too nice' to head Interior?

The New York Times editorial page thinks Ken Salazar is too nice to head the Department of Interior:

 

The word on Ken Salazar ... is that he is friendly, approachable, a good listener, a genial compromiser and a skillful broker of deals. That is also the rap on Ken Salazar.

What the Interior Department needs right now is someone willing to bust heads when necessary and draw the line against the powerful commercial groups -- developers, ranchers, oil and gas companies, the off-road vehicle industry -- that have long treated the department as a public extension of their private interests.

Conservationists and pretty much everyone else exhausted by the Bush administration's ideological rigidity and deference to commercial interests have welcomed Mr. Salazar's appointment. The Colorado Democrat has a solid voting record on issues involving wilderness and wildlife protection and can be expected to bring a strong conservation ethic to the top of the department.

Yet that will not be nearly enough to reform and reinvigorate the department. The Interior Department is an unusually balkanized agency, with eight separate divisions charged with managing 500 million acres of public land in a way that balances private and public claims. It is essential that Mr. Salazar find the right people to run each of these fiefs, and find ways to make them work intelligently and harmoniously in the nation's interest.

Colorado gov. taps Denver schools chief to fill Salazar's seat

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter has asked Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet to take over the Senate seat being vacated by Ken Salazar, President-elect Obama's pick to run the Interior Department. An official announcement from Ritter is expected tomorrow, according to several media reports.

From Bennet's official bio:

He worked for six years prior to his tenure at the City of Denver as Managing Director for the Anschutz Investment Company in Denver, where he had direct responsibility for the investment of over $500 million. He led the reorganizations of four distressed companies including Forcenergy (which later merged with Denver-based Forest Oil), Regal Cinemas, United Artists and Edwards Theaters, which together required the restructuring of over $3 billion in debt. Bennet also managed, on behalf of Anschutz, the consolidation of the three theater chains into Regal Entertainment Group, the largest motion picture exhibitor in the world. Prior to moving to Denver, Bennet served as Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General in the Clinton Administration.

Bennet earned his bachelor's degree in history with honors from Wesleyan University and his law degree from Yale Law School, where he was the Editor-in-Chief of The Yale Law Journal.

Bennet served as the chief of staff to Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper for two years before being tapped to take over as superintendent in 2005. He is also a former Coro Foundation Public Affairs fellow, served as a personal assistant to Ohio Governor Richard F. Celeste, and clerked for Judge Francis D. Murnaghan on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. He worked for a brief time at the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in Washington, D.C.

Read more on Bennet from the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News.

Why the No New Coal Plants movement should be awarded the Virgin Earth Challenge prize

Dear Mr. Branson:

On Feb. 9, 2007, you and Al Gore announced the Virgin Earth Challenge at a London press conference:

The Virgin Earth Challenge is a prize of $25 million for whoever can demonstrate to the judges' satisfaction a commercially viable design which results in the removal of anthropogenic, atmospheric greenhouse gases so as to contribute materially to the stability of Earth's climate.

It was announced that the panel of judges would consist of Richard Branson, Al Gore, Crispin Tickell, James Hansen, James Lovelock, and Tim Flannery.

I'm sure that when you dreamed up the prize, you were probably thinking about how to motivate the proverbial garage inventor or moonlighting chemist to come up with a new planet-rescuing technology in the narrow sense of the term -- perhaps some sort of chemical reagent, gene-tweaked algae, or super-absorbent biochar that could suck carbon dioxide molecules out of the atmosphere.

But it's time to do some out-of-the-box thinking on climate change, starting with what sort of technological solutions we're willing to take seriously. Let's start with the idea of technology itself.

Wikipedia's definition is as good as any:

A strict definition is elusive; "technology" can refer to material objects of use to humanity, such as machines, hardware or utensils, but can also encompass broader themes, including systems, methods of organization, and techniques.

Let me propose a technology that I take very seriously, even if people like Rudolph Giuliani don't: grassroots community organizing.

The "community organizer" that Giuliani and Sarah Palin mocked at the Republican Convention in September is now about to be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. Indeed, even seasoned politicos admitted to being fairly dazzled by the ground game displayed by Obama in winning the election against far more experienced politicians.

That was community organizing on display. And yes, it really is a technology. In fact, in solving climate change, it may be the only technology that really matters.

Two years ago, at about the time you were announcing your Virgin Earth Challenge, a bureaucrat named Eric Schuster at the U.S. Department of Energy was releasing the latest of his "Tracking New Coal-Fired Power Plants" spreadsheets. The document showed 151 coal plants under development [PDF] across the country.

Vote for coal moratorium

Speaking of the enemy of the human race, perhaps you might find it worth your time to head over to Change.gov and vote to put a moratorium on coal on Obama's agenda.