Climate Capsule Week of June 22, 2009

Highlight of the Week

House Primed for Floor Vote on Energy Bill

The American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) is primed for a House floor vote by the end of the week. Congressional momentum on the vital bill comes in the wake of a landmark inter-agency report on global warming and its immediate and future consequences.

The legislation, which was recently approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, will establish a new energy policy in the United States that avoids continuing dependence on foreign oil and establishes a new domestic clean technology manufacturing base to supply wind, solar, and other renewable energy.

The necessity of the bill was highlighted last week, when the U.S. Global Change Research Program released a sweeping analysis of the impacts already happening due to unchecked global warming. Among them: increased downpours, hotter temperatures, and rising sea levels.

According to Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of National Wildlife Federation, the findings act as a broad call to arms for concerned citizens and legislators.

“If we had an enemy threatening public health, damaging our water supplies, limiting our water and food supplies, and wreaking havoc on our coastal communities, there is no question we would demand our very best effort to fight back this enemy," Schweiger said. "Like Paul Revere, this report is shouting that the enemy is at our doorstep. The enemy is climate change."

NOAA head Jane Lubchenco called the report "a game-changer" for its confirmation that the effects of global warming are neither minor nor remote. White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John Holdren echoed the need for immediate action, adding "one has to hope it will influence how people think about particular legislative proposals."

The National Wildlife Federation's just-released ACES Toolbox analyzes the bill in terms of what is needed to build the clean energy economy and confront the climate crisis.

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

Happening This Week

Tuesday, June 23:

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson joins Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper for tour of Highlands Gardens Village, a smart growth development community, 01:45 PM (MT), 38th Avenue and Tennyson Street, Denver, CO

Wednesday, June 24:

Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke holds town hall meeting at United Solar Ovonic manufacturing plant, 09:30 AM, 3800 Lapeer Road, Auburn Hills, MI

Wednesday, June 24:

Markup of energy legislation, House Committee on

Science and Technology, 10:00 AM, 2318 Rayburn

Wednesday, June 24:

Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis tours the Sharp Solar facility and discusses green jobs, 10:30 AM (CT), Sharp Plaza Boulevard, Memphis, TN

Thursday, June 25:

Markup of Energy and Water Development spending bill,

House Appropriations Committee, 09:00 AM, 2362-B Rayburn

Thursday, June 25:

Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan attends Green Building and Energy Efficient Development Conference, 02:00 PM, Washington Plaza Hotel, Federal Room, 10 Thomas Circle NW

Thursday, June 25:

Department of Energy Secretary Stephen Chu discusses Recovery Act funding for clean energy projects during Edison Electric Institute Annual Convention, 02:45 PM (PT), San Francisco Marriot, 55 Fourth Street,

San Francisco, CA

Thursday, June 25:

Reception for Kingdom of Sweden's Sustainability Georgetown initiative, House of Sweden, 4:00 PM

Saturday, June 27:

Symposium, Confronting the Challenge of Climate Change, National Museum of the American Indian, 2:00 PM

Quote:

"One has to hope it will influence how people think about particular legislative proposals."

— White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John Holdren, confirming the need for new energy legislation following the release of a major report on the impact of global warming.

Economic Message of the Week
Clean Energy Economy Should Boost Employment Rates and Create Blue Collar Jobs

With lawmakers moving forward on a bold new piece of climate legislation in the House, a green job boom seems to be on the horizon.

A report released last week finds that investing in a clean energy economy should help alleviate a soaring unemployment rate and improve job prospects across a wide range of sectors and experience levels.

The Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (PERI) report focuses on job creation and the investment opportunities that stand to emerge in a clean energy economy.

The report concluded that blue collar workers would be among the biggest beneficiaries of a nationwide clean energy boost. Workers with "relatively low educational credentials" stand to gain the most. An estimated 870,000 of the predicted 1.7 million (net increase) jobs arising from the move to a clean energy economy will be accessible to workers with high school degrees or less.

In addition to generating new opportunities for blue collar workers, a clean energy economy is projected to bring about a drop in the overall unemployment rate and a raise in per capita earnings for current low-income workers.

The total bounty of a clean energy economy is projected to include a 300 percent improvement in job opportunities over those found in fossil fuel fields and a significant reduction in day-to-day living costs for members of low-income households.

Baptist Ministers Push for Energy Bill Passage

The American Clean Energy and Security Act has 140 new proponents: Baptist leaders from 26 states and the District of Columbia.

The ministers, members of the Baptist Center for Ethics, recently signed a letter urging passage of the bill, citing "the moral demands to care for the earth and its poorest inhabitants." Signers included leaders in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Robert Parham, executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics, previously endorsed the bill in an editorial on the BCE Web site. In it, he reminded readers that their faith "calls (them) to care for creation and the poor in the concrete, not in the abstract":

"Protecting the environment protects the marginalized. One realistic step toward protecting both is supporting the House climate bill."

Carbon Clock Ticks Off Toll of Business-As-Usual

New Yorkers now need only crane their necks for a reminder of the need for new energy practices in America.

Deutsche Bank recently unveiled a seven-story 'carbon clock' in Manhattan to keep a ton-by-ton tally of the amount of carbon dioxide being pumped into the atmosphere.

The counter, devised by MIT scientists, reflects the growing need for emission reform: the spinning numbers show that carbon is being added to the atmosphere at a rate of about 800 tons per second.

Senate Moves to Protect America's Waters

Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and the members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted to restore Clean Water Act protections for all of the nation’s lakes, streams, and wetlands last week, earning the praise of the National Wildlife Federation and conservationists nationwide.

“America’s waters are closer to again having the comprehensive Clean Water Act protections that Congress intended,” said Jan Goldman-Carter, Wetlands and Water Resources Counsel, National Wildlife Federation. “This bill restores critical protections for our nation’s increasingly-precious fresh water resources while respecting private property rights and continuing longstanding Clean Water Act exemptions for agriculture and forestry.”