Climate Capsule Week of June 8, 2009

Highlight of the Week

Climate and Energy Bill: June Momentum in Congress

Action on the American Clean Energy & Security Act is heating up as Congress returned from recess and got busy with talks among the leadership. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has given the committees with jurisdiction over parts of the global warming bill a deadline of June 19th to complete work with the goal of having a full House vote before the Independence Day recess that begins on June 27th.  

The Speaker said Ways and Means and Agriculture are the main committees in which the climate and energy legislation may be considered, and that she met with Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) and Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN), and is optimistic that Congress will move forward soon.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee recently approved the American Clean Energy and Security Act by a 33 to 25 bipartisan vote. The legislation will establish a new energy policy in the U.S. that avoids continuing dependence on foreign oil and builds a new, domestic clean technology manufacturing base to supply the wind, solar, and other renewable energy. 

“Diverse constituents from across this country—from hunters and anglers to people of faith—have called on Congress to tackle the climate crisis that threatens our natural resources and health,” said Joseph Mendelson, director of global warming policy at National Wildlife Federation.

Contact: Tony Iallonaro at 202-797-6612 or iallonardot@nwf.org.

House Gets To Work On Appropriations Bill For Environmental Agencies

House appropriators will soon mark up a spending bill for environmental agencies that is expected to increase funding for the U.S. EPA, Interior Department, and Forest Service.

Democratic members of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee indicated last week that they were happy with the president's request to ramp up the agencies' funding.

The Obama administration's proposed fiscal year 2010 budget includes substantially higher funding for EPA air and climate programs. The White House requested $249 million for clean air and climate change research and development, a $13 million increase from fiscal 2009.

Testifying before the panel last month, Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar stressed budget initiatives on climate change adaptation and research and on clean and renewable energy as well the creation of a 21^st Century Youth Conservation Corps and protection of "treasured landscapes" across the country.

Obama's budget targets Forest Service funding toward priorities like land conservation and climate change mitigation while creating a separate contingency fund for combating the megafires that have repeatedly exhausted the agency's budget over the last decade, E&E Daily reports.

Happening This Week

Thursday, June 11: Hearing to review pending climate legislation, House Committee on Agriculture, 2:00 PM, 1300 Longworth

Friday, June 12: Hearing on future of transmission, House

Energy and Commerce Committee, 9:30 AM, 2123 Rayburn.

Quote:

“We’re going to have to make some tough decisions and take concrete actions if we are going to deal with a potentially cataclysmic disaster.”

—Remarks on climate change by President Obama, with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Dresden, Germany.

Economic Message of the Week
Wood As The New Coal: Some Countries Implementing New Process

As the nation moves toward a clean energy future, wood is becoming a hot commodity. Power companies are burning more trees, Bloomberg reports, because the renewable fuel can be cheaper than coal and ignited without needing permits to release carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas blamed for global warming.

Vattenfall AB of Sweden, Germany’s RWE AG and American Electric Power Inc. of Ohio, the biggest coal-burner in the country, have switched a few plants over to wood with more planned. So far that hasn’t driven up paper prices or strained forests, which absorb carbon dioxide in photosynthesis.

“Wood is very quickly becoming a very important part of the energy mix and in a few years will be a global commodity much like oil,” said Heinrich Unland, chief executive officer of Novus Energy GmbH. The German company runs a wood-power plant north of Hamburg that supplies heat to a Total SA refinery.

Using biomass for power and heat—mainly from poplar, willow and pine trees—grew by 25 percent during the past two decades, according to the International Energy Agency, the Paris-based adviser to 28 oil-consuming nations such as the United States.

Chips of wood stumps and branches, heated 750 degrees Fahrenheit at the Novus furnace, are as efficient as coal and cheaper: European Union rules don’t require carbon-dioxide permits because the trees absorbed a like amount of the gas before harvest, making them carbon-neutral.

Midwestern Governors Support Greenhouse Emissions Accord

An advisory group appointed by Midwestern governors released its recommendations Monday on a policy to limit greenhouse gas emissions in the region.

The group—comprised of Midwestern utilities, oil companies, manufacturers, environmental and conservation groups and state government—proposed emission cuts from all major greenhouse gas sources by 20 percent below 2005 levels by the year 2020, and 80 percent below 2005 levels by 2050.

“These recommendations demonstrate that the Midwest shares Congress’ desire to take serious action on climate and economic recovery and should help inform the national debate over clean energy and climate policy,” said Zoe Lipman, National Wildlife Federation’s regional senior manager for global warming.

“Job creation and the associated economic benefits of transitioning to new energy and transportation technologies is an urgent matter for the region—as is protecting the Great Lakes and the region from the impacts of climate change,” Lipman added.