Some big news here - Clean Energy Watch is now being combined with the Sierra Club's other major blog - The Compass. From now on you'll be able to read all of our excellent and insightful posts (yes, I'm biased) on energy and global warming issues over at www.sierraclub.org/compass.
This page will remain up for people to peruse the archives, but all new posts will be over at The Compass. Enjoy!
Now it's not just the enviros screaming from the left...Wall Street is also starting to see the light! Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley announced yesterday their intention to require power plants to demonstrate they can turn a profit after congress puts a price on carbon emissions.
Of course I wouldn't want to discredit Wall Street by claiming they are becoming a bunch of Birkenstock-wearing hippies or anything of the sort. This is even better: their decision is strictly financial. Recognizing the all-but-certain global warming legislation heading down the pipeline, coal-fired power plants, the dirtiest source of power and a primary contributor to global warming, are looking a whole lot pricier and proving to be a risky investment for the future.
Of course, these banks could potentially continue to fund coal plants that practice carbon capture and storage, but despite such a (cough) oversight, this announcement is yet another indication of a change in the winds. Can you hear it?
All hail Maria Cantwell (and some others like Olympia Snowe and yes, Charles Grassley) they siezed the opportunity on Wednesday to get the Finance Committee to adopt a package of investment and production tax incentives for wind and solar into the much ballyhooed stimulus package. She flagged the Production Tax Credit and the Investment Tax Credit (PTC and ITC)as having a "verifiable record of stimulating capital outlays and promoting job growth" and thus argued for their adoption into the broader stimulus package.
And she's right, AWEA, the wind guys, released a study that demonstrated that aggregate investment in wind energy in 2007 totaled $9 Billion dollars. We should support these growing clean energy industries of the future. They provide green job and help us cut carbon emissions. For me, working on tax policy is a new gig, but I readily recognize that providing the appropriate incentives to these renewable industries is the quickest, surest way to bring wind, solar and geothermal to market. Hey, instead of heaping subsidies on oil and gas drilling operations to boost domestic production, let's help these green industries be the way of the future in the US.
Though these key renewable tax incentives may not survivie the fighting over the senate version of the stimulus package--the debate has been valuable. Key Republican voices have lent their support to the Cantwell /Snowe effort--Dole, Specter, Allard and Sununu!?! Keeping their support will be critical to winning passage of a stand alone energy tax package which we will be pushing for hard.
The Economist has an interesting short piece today on the U.S. Dept. of Energy's pull-out from the FutureGen "clean" coal project in Illinois. The DOE announced their position Wednesday citing the cost increase of the project. The coal companies are furious about the decision, but we're hoping that more people see that the increasing costs of coal are making it less and less appealing as an energy source. Not to mention the excessive carbon emissions and air pollution coal-fired power plants have - there is no such thing as clean coal.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made a bold statement about coal on Monday - one that we can get behind. From the article:
"I think the coal companies should be up front with the American people that coal is one of the things that is ruining our world," the Nevada Democrat said in a teleconference with reporters in advance of President Bush's State of the Union address Monday evening.
Way to tell them, Harry!
President Bush gave his final State of the Union address last night, and as expected, his section on energy included the usual dirty suspects. You can read the entire transcript here, but I'll highlight some parts on this blog.
"To build a future of energy security, we must trust in the creative genius of American researchers and entrepreneurs and empower them to pioneer a new generation of clean energy technology. Our security, our prosperity, and our environment all require reducing our dependence on oil..."
Ah, he starts off his section on energy with such promise....but it doesn't last for more than two sentences because he then highlights coal and nuclear power - both of which are not part of a clean and safe energy future for this country:
"Together we should take the next steps: Let us fund new technologies that can generate coal power while capturing carbon emissions. Let us increase the use of renewable power and emissions-free nuclear power..."
No no no no!
"Let us continue investing in advanced battery technology and renewable fuels to power the cars and trucks of the future..."
Hmm, there's some potential.
"And let us complete an international agreement that has the potential to slow, stop, and eventually reverse the growth of greenhouse gases..."
That would be called the Kyoto Protocol, something the world discussed recently in Bali but the U.S. continued to block and try to weaken. And then we hit this gem:
"The United States is committed to strengthening our energy security and confronting global climate change. And the best way to meet these goals is for America to continue leading the way toward the development of cleaner and more energy-efficient technology."
We can agree with that, if coal and nukes aren't included. The Sierra Club's National Campaign Director Debbie Sease released her reaction to the State of the Union on Monday. Here it is in its entirety:
At President Bush’s final State of the Union Address, it is unfortunately clear that his environmental legacy is one of favors, fraud and failure.
Favors, because the heart of the administration’s energy and environmental policies has been to benefit the tightly-connected polluting fossil-fuel industries. Fraud, because President Bush has masked these destructive policies with euphemism, conducted back-room deals in secret, and made every attempt to silence scientists and other critics of their actions. And finally, failure, because after seven years with this administration, America still faces the same energy and environmental challenges we faced in 2001--with the only difference now being that we have less time to act.
Unfortunately we expect only more of the same from this year’s State of the Union. President Bush has occasionally mentioned energy and global warming in his State of the Union addresses, but the actions that have followed have always been weak at best and catastrophically dangerous at worst.
At this point we have no reason to believe that we’ll see any major shift in how the Bush administration approaches environmental policy in its final year. We do expect to see a string of last-minute regulations designed to give corporate allies one last bite at the apple.
However it is not too late for President Bush to salvage his legacy. He could choose to put America on the path to a clean energy economy that would create jobs while curbing global warming. He could listen to what science is telling us and work to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent by 2050, or about 2 percent a year. He could engage the world on this challenge, instead of sidestepping negotiations in favor of his fruitless "major emitters summits." He could work with Congress to pass a renewable electricity standard and incentives for a clean energy economy. And he could make sure his agencies base their rules on science instead of politics and favors.
Unfortunately, given the Bush administration’s previous record, it may well be up to the next president to realize the opportunities afforded by a sound energy and environmental policy.
Background on Bush Legacy:
The Bush administration’s signature environmental policies include the Healthy Forest Initiative, Clear Skies and the related moves to gut the New Source Review provision of the Clean Air Act, the weakening of the Clean Water Act, putting wetlands and headwaters at risk, and of course a back-room-hatched energy policy focused on increasing our oil addiction and doing virtually nothing to increase our use of clean energy or curb global warming.
A recent example that perfectly characterizes the Bush administration legacy happened just earlier this month. Interior Department's Minerals Management Service announced that it would open the polar bear's home in the Chukchi Sea to oil drilling in February while at almost the same time Interior Department's Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it would wait for an additional month to announce its decision on whether or not to list the polar bear as threatened. The delay gives the Interior Department just enough time to move forward with the oil lease sale without having to address the impacts on a threatened species.
President Bush’s most lasting legacy may end up being his failure to do anything to curb global warming. To give some credit, President Bush did finally sign an energy bill last year that included an increase of fuel economy standards. But the President has had the authority to raise those standards administratively yet did virtually nothing.
When it comes to directly regulating carbon dioxide, a major contributor to global warming, the administration has continued to drag its feet--even in the face of direction from the Supreme Court. And the Bush administration even refuses to allow states like California to move forward with their own clean car law which tries to compensate for the federal government’s failure to act.
In fact, if there is one positive story to Bush’s environmental legacy, it is that environmental champions at the state and local level have met the challenge and taken advantage of the opportunities that the Bush administration continues to ignore--that a new energy economy not only protects the environment and fights global warming, but it also create jobs and savings. From mayors who have switched to LED traffic lights, to states that have passed renewable electricity standards, Americans are starting to enjoy the benefits of clean energy.
Last Thursday, Senator Boxer introduced a bill ordering EPA to reverse its denial of California's request for a waiver to implement clean car standards. Seventeen senators cosponsored the bill (S. 2555) including Senators Clinton and Obama.
Administrator Johnson's denial of the waiver countered advice from his very own legal and technical staff. Countless technical and economic studies have concluded that the California clean car standards (a.k.a. Pavley) which would have reduced global warming pollution by 30% by 2016, are not only feasible, but potentially beneficial for the auto industry.
Many opportunities exist for courts, congress, or the next president to overturn Administrator Johnson's denial of the waiver. Fortunately, this bill along with its impressive list of cosponsors demonstrates that such momentum has already begun.
Senator Boxer certainly knows what's good for the heath and welfare of American constituents, and seventeen other senators now do, too.
We're touting our awesome new map which highlights the status of coal-fired power plants across the U.S. - those with the designations as "Victory!" - "Active" - "Uncertain" - "Upcoming" - "Progressing" - "No Status."
Using the power of Google Earth and our information, it's a great interactive tool to discover where these dirty power plants are! Check it out.
Here's a release out today from the Sierra Club's Kristina Johnson:
In Norway this week, hundreds of scientists and experts gathered for the release of a long-awaited report on the impacts of oil and gas drilling in the Arctic. The report, commissioned by the eight-nation Arctic Council and published by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, warns that Arctic waters are especially vulnerable to oil spills.
But insiders say that scientists' policy recommendations in the report were censored and blocked by the Bush administration. The censored recommendations, uncovered by the UK's Independent newspaper, called for more scrutiny and assessment of environmental impacts before drilling sensitive areas like the Chukchi Sea, which is scheduled to open to drilling on February 6.
Among other things, drilling poses enormous threat to the Chukchi Sea's polar bears, who could easily be wiped out by a large spill. The seismic blasts, boat traffic, and pollution associated with offshore drilling would add to the stresses on polar bears and other marine mammals.
But the Bush administration is not about to let polar bears stand in the way of more drilling—and more profit—for Big Oil. Earlier this month, the Interior Department announced that it would delay its decision whether or not to list the polar bear as "threatened" for one month, which allows enough time for the lease sale in the Chukchi Sea on February 6. Once the Chukchi opens to drilling, it will become much more difficult to protect bears, even if they are listed. And ultimately, oil drilling adds to the carbon pollution that is melting the polar bear's Arctic home.
One hundred and fifty scientists contributed to the Arctic oil and gas report, but the Bush administration doesn't want the world to hear their recommendations. This is not just another example of politics trumping science—it's a harbinger of what we can expect to see in the final days of the Bush administration: A reckless push to drill anything and everything, regardless of the consequences.
From today's NY Times - "U.S. Given Poor Marks on the Environment." It's not a huge surprise that European countries are beating the pants off us when it comes to reducing greenhouse gases and being good environmental stewards. From the article:
The United States, with a score of 81.0...“is slipping down,” both because of low scores on three different analyses of greenhouse gas emissions and a pervasive problem with smog. The country’s performance on a new indicator that measures regional smog...“is at the bottom of the world right now.”
If this makes you angry, tell your representatives to take some action!
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