No Lumps of Coal for the Environment

San Francisco -- Santa's not leaving lumps of coal in our environmental stockings this year. In fact, there are several delicious sugar plums. First, the EPA is moving forward to clean up the air and protect the climate.  The Agency settled a lawsuit (brought against the Bush administration by the Sierra Club and other groups) by agreeing to issue standards to limit carbon pollution from refineries and power plants, the two largest sources. According to EPA administrator Lisa Jackson, the standards "will help American companies attract private investment to the clean-energy upgrades that make our companies more competitive and create good jobs here at home."

The Bureau of Land Management has announced that it will overturn the Bush administration's blanket "No More Wilderness" policy and return to considering the wilderness qualities of the lands under its stewardship. That's especially good news for Roadless Areas that are at risk of oil and gas development.

Then there are several new studies showing that, for the first time, the rate of deforestation has dropped dramatically in the tropics. According to statistics compiled by governments, "tropical deforestation in the first decade of the 2000s was down 18% from the level of the 1990s, dropping from 11.33 million hectares per year in the 1990s to 9.34 million hectares per year in the 2000s. Furthermore, the rate dropped from the first 5 years of the decade to the second five years, principally due to a dramatic decline in Brazilian Amazon deforestation." And other studies back up the government reporting.

And, finally, the Senate may at last be waking up to the dangers of its "anyone can stop anything just by objecting" rules. With the exception of departing senator Christopher Dodd, every single Democratic senator signed a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid calling for Reid to reform the Senate rules when the new Congress convenes. The letter was circulated by senators Mark Warner and Carl Levin, two of the more centrist members of the Democratic Caucus, and took no position on specific reforms.

It seems unlikely that the number of senators who must vote to cut off final debate will be changed -- the support does not seem to be there for such a dramatic reform (badly though it is needed). But there does seem to be an emerging consensus among Democrats that filibusters should be permitted only once during a bill's consideration and that those who are doing the filibustering should have to actually hold the Senate floor. "There need to be changes to the rules to allow filibusters to be conducted by people who actually want to block legislation instead of people being able to quietly say 'I object' and go home," said Senator Claire McCaskill. (If you want to send a message about Senate reform to your own senators, you can do so here.)

Thank you, Santa -- and a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone.