Climate Politics

New surveys suggest changing views on biofuels

Biofuel policy has made it to the polls. Yesterday, the National Center for Public Policy Research, a nonprofit, non-partisan educational foundation based in Washington, D.C., released the results of a survey (PDF) conducted at the beginning of this month which claims to have found that most Americans -- "including those in the Farm Belt" -- want Congress to reduce or eliminate the mandated use of corn ethanol.

In response to the key question, "What do you think Congress should do now?" with respect to the Renewable Fuels Standard (which last December raised the minimum volume of biofuels used in the United States from 7.5 billion gallons a year in 2012 to 36 billion gallons a year by 2022, of which 15 billion gallons is expected to be supplied by "conventional biofuel" -- ethanol derived from corn starch -- by 2015), 42 percent of the participants in the survey thought that that the mandate should be eliminated to reduce ethanol production and use. Of the rest:

• 25 percent wanted the mandate to be partly eliminated to reduce ethanol production and use;
• 16 percent wanted it left unchanged;
• Six percent wanted it partly expanded to increase ethanol production and use;
• and 2 percent wanted it significantly expanded to increase ethanol production and use.

Nine percent were undecided, didn't know what to answer, or refused to answer.

Even among people living in the Farm Belt, 25 percent percent said they wanted the ethanol mandate repealed entirely, and another 30 percent wanted it scaled back.

The silver-lining of Lieberman-Warner’s demise

The demise of the Lieberman-Warner climate bill may not be a bad thing if it spurs environmentalists and politicians to ask: Is this the best way to cap carbon?

Let's be clear what Lieberman-Warner was. Yes, it contained a carbon cap. But mostly it was about spending or giving away trillions of dollars. It was, as Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) put it, "the mother and father of all earmarks," and every lobbyist in town was at the trough.

Words of wisdom from 40 years ago

Robert F. Kennedy, 1968:

We will find neither national purpose nor personal satisfaction in a mere continuation of economic progress, in an endless amassing of worldly goods. We cannot measure national spirit by the Dow Jones Average, nor national achievement by the Gross National Product. For the Gross National Product includes air pollution, and ambulances to clear our highways from carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and jails for the people who break them. The Gross National Product includes the destruction of the redwoods and the death of Lake Superior. It grows with the production of napalm and missiles and nuclear warheads ... It includes ... the broadcasting of television programs which glorify violence to sell goods to our children. And if the Gross National Product includes all this, there is much that it does not comprehend. It does not allow for the health of our families, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It is indifferent to the decency of our factories and the safety of our streets alike. It does not include the beauty of our poetry, or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials ... the Gross National Product measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile, and it can tell us everything about America -- except whether we are proud to be Americans.

Hat tip: The Oil Drum. Read their entire post. Do it now.

House ponders investment in multilateral clean tech fund; greens argue it isn’t all that green

Last week, the House Finance Committee’s Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, and Technology (the HFCSDIMPTT for short) held a hearing about whether the United States should invest in a multilateral fund to support the deployment of clean energy technology in the developing world. There’s been talk of World Bank investment in clean […]

Wait, they’re not the same?!

In the Boston Globe, Carol Browner and Bob Sussman construct a short and powerful critique of McCain’s climate/energy positions, tacking against the kind of foolishness that has addled the brains of the folks over at the L.A. Times.

It’s long past time to assign responsibility for stymied climate legislation

In an otherwise insightful piece on the failure of the Lieberman-Warner bill, Eric Pooley says this: It would have taken a truly great floor debate to begin resolving some of those difficult areas — a half dozen thorny deal-breakers (how to contain costs, what to do about China) that need to be figured out before […]

A ‘sense of the House’ resolution to adopt 350 ppm as America’s official climate target

This may seem hokey, but I'm so far beyond frustrated with the legislators of this country that I've gone and written my own piece of climate change legislation. My bill is simple. Once you get past all the "whereas" and so forth, it simply calls for the United States to aim toward stabilizing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations at 350 ppm and to lead international negotiations on the successor to the Kyoto Protocol toward the same goal.

 

Obama VP possibility heads establishment energy advocacy group

Apparently a new name has popped up on the Obama VP short list: Ret. Gen. James Jones, highly regarded and highly decorated Marine from Missouri. He was NATO Supreme Allied Commander from 2003-2006, when Wiki says he “declined an opportunity to succeed General John P. Abizaid as Commander of U.S. Central Command, and stepped down […]

Renewables industry fears for future if Senate doesn’t extend tax credits

The Senate once again failed to pass tax-credit extensions for renewable energy on Tuesday, and folks in the industry are starting to get worried. Companies working in wind, solar, and other renewables rely on the tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of the year. Trade organizations that represent renewable-energy firms on […]

Senators ignore the warning signs

Originally posted at the Think Progress Wonk Room.

Recently, the United States Senate has taken several votes on building a green economy that moves away from fossil fuel dependence, creates new green industry, and addresses global warming. Each time, a minority of senators blocked the way. On Friday, 38 senators filibustered mandatory greenhouse-gas reduction legislation (S. 3036). This morning, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) joined 41 Republicans to filibuster the Consumer-First Energy Act (S. 3044), which would have given consumers relief by placing a windfall tax on oil companies. Then 44 Republican senators blocked consideration of the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act (H.R. 6049) to extend renewable energy and other tax incentives.

Meanwhile, the signs of the looming climate crisis abound. Extreme weather of all kinds -- freak snowstorms, extended droughts, heat waves, flash floods -- are causing havoc around the nation, and conservative neglect is leaving us unprepared and unable to rebuild: