Political Climate News
"Cash for Clunkers" Replaces 700,000 Vehicles with More Efficient Models
The popular "Cash for Clunkers" program ended its brief run on August 25, and the program is estimated to have removed nearly 700,000 inefficient
vehicles from U.S. roads. Officially known as the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), the program achieved greater fuel economy gains than
originally expected, as consumers chose more fuel-efficient models than were required by the program. In fact, the average fuel economy of the
traded-in vehicles, which were crushed, was 15.8 miles per gallon (mpg), while the average fuel economy of the newly purchased vehicles was 24.9 mpg.
That's a fuel economy gain of 9.1 mpg, or 58%.
The latest polluter front group trying to kill the clean energy bill is overseen by a proud former shill for a man convicted on fraud and conspiracy charges
How many fake "citizen groups" fighting to destroy a livable climate and kill clean energy jobs can there be? First the coal lobby hired a top GOP voter-fraud company to run a massive "grassroots" effort to undermine climate and clean energy action. Then Big Oil started manufacturing 'Energy Citizen' rallies to oppose clean energy reform. Now comes a group operating under the auspices of Robert Bradley, a man who proudly shilled for Enron CEO Ken Lay who was convicted on fraud and conspiracy charges in 2006. Bradley may be the only ex-Enron staffer still bragging about the deceits of his former employer (see here).
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Obama's science adviser targeted by smear campaign
Conservative media outlets are waging an online defamation campaign against Presidential Science Advisor Jon Holdren, using out-of-context quotes and misinformation to portray him as hell-bent on pursuing population control through the use of forced abortions and mass sterilization.
Fox News reported that Holdren was bent on adopting a "planetary regime" of population control, while blogger Michelle Malkin called him a "wackjob" who entertains policies that would mandate "forced abortions, mass sterilizations, and poisoning the water supply to control the population." On February 27, FrontPage Magazine published an article decrying Holdren's "globalist, redistributionist, Malthusian views."
The attacks are widely off the mark. The evidence generally cited by critics is a 1977 textbook entitled "Ecoscience: Population, Resources, and Environment." The authors - Holdren is one of three - in a chapter detailing various coercive and non-coercive policies for "population control" ultimately come out strongly against such policies. They argue that the harm caused by their adoption "would, in our opinion, militate against the use of any such agent" of involuntary population control.
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U.S. Chamber of Commerce seeks trial on global warming
Reporting from Washington - The nation's largest business lobby wants to put the science of global warming on trial.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, trying to ward off potentially sweeping federal emissions regulations, is pushing the Environmental Protection Agency to hold a rare public hearing on the scientific evidence for man-made climate change.
Chamber officials say it would be "the Scopes monkey trial of the 21st century" -- complete with witnesses, cross-examinations and a judge who would rule, essentially, on whether humans are warming the planet to dangerous effect.
"It would be evolution versus creationism," said William Kovacs, the chamber's senior vice president for environment, technology and regulatory affairs. "It would be the science of climate change on trial."
The goal of the chamber, which represents 3 million large and small businesses, is to fend off potential emissions regulations by undercutting the scientific consensus over climate change. If the EPA denies the request, as expected, the chamber plans to take the fight to federal court.
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Bill Moyers on 9/11
China Racing Ahead of U.S. in the Drive to Go Solar
WUXI, China - President Obama wants to make the United States "the world's leading exporter of renewable energy," but in his seven months in office, it is China that has stepped on the gas in an effort to become the dominant player in green energy - especially in solar power, and even in the United States.
Chinese companies have already played a leading role in pushing down the price of solar panels by almost half over the last year. Shi Zhengrong, the chief executive and founder of China's biggest solar panel manufacturer, Suntech Power Holdings, said in an interview here that Suntech, to build market share, is selling solar panels on the American market for less than the cost of the materials, assembly and shipping.
Backed by lavish government support, the Chinese are preparing to build plants to assemble their products in the United States to bypass protectionist legislation. As Japanese automakers did decades ago, Chinese solar companies are encouraging their United States executives to join industry trade groups to tamp down anti-Chinese sentiment before it takes root.
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Saudi Blasts American Energy Policy
The question of American "energy independence" clearly rankles officials in Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest exporter of crude oil, who seem increasingly puzzled by the energy policy of the United States, the world's biggest oil consumer.
In a short and strongly-worded essay in Foreign Policy magazine, Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former ambassador to the United States and a nephew to King Abdullah, said that for American politicians, invoking energy independence "is now as essential as baby-kissing," and accuses them of "demagoguery."
All the talk about energy independence, Mr. al-Faisal said, is "political posturing at its worst - a concept that is unrealistic, misguided, and ultimately harmful to energy-producing and consuming countries alike."
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Oil companies undermining climate partnership
The United States Climate Action Partnership changed the national debate over warming. Executives from member companies such as DuPont, Ford Motor Co. and PG&E Corp. lobbied Congress to do something about greenhouse gases.
They joined forces with environmental groups that also were part of the partnership, groups such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Natural Resources Defense Council. Together, they helped lay the groundwork for the climate bill that the U.S. Senate will debate this fall.
But now this groundbreaking partnership may have been undercut by some of its own members.
Some of the oil companies that joined the partnership are taking part in an oil industry campaign against the climate change bill in Congress. The campaign features public rallies against the bill in places such as Houston and Greensboro, N.C., coordinated by the industry's main lobbying group, the American Petroleum Institute.
The rallies are designed to look like grassroots affairs. But an e-mail from the institute to oil company executives outlining the campaign and asking them to participate was leaked to Greenpeace, which released it to the public.
ConocoPhillips, a member of the climate change partnership, posted a note on its Web site encouraging people to go. BP, another partnership member, told employees about the rallies but did not encourage them to attend, according to a company spokesman.
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Enhancing our national security by reducing oil dependence and environmental damage
The United States has an historic opportunity to enhance its national security by reducing its dependence on oil. Policies to accomplish this goal, including more efficient fuel economy standards, investments in hybrid and electric vehicles, development of natural gas-fueled heavy duty vehicles, and production of advanced biofuels would also create jobs and reduce global warming pollution. This piece, by CAP's Christopher Beddor, Winny Chen, Rudy deLeon, Shiyong Park, and Daniel J. Weiss, was first posted here. It summarizes the findings of their 21-page report (pdf). Download Here
On June 26 the House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act, or ACESA. The bill would cap greenhouse gas emissions, boost investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy such as wind and solar, and jumpstart the transition to a clean-energy economy. These new investments in clean-energy technologies would slash global warming pollution and reduce foreign oil use while creating jobs and increasing our economic competitiveness with China and other nations.
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300 Groups Ask Senate for More Powerful Climate Bill
WASHINGTON, DC, August 26, 2009 (ENS) - A coalition of more than 300 groups, representing the faith, human-rights, social justice, and environmental communities, sent a letter to U.S. senators today demanding energy and climate legislation that is much stronger than the measure approved by the House of Representatives in June.
The coalition says that bill, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, HR 2454, known as the Waxman-Markey bill, contains "massive giveaways to polluting special interests and would fail to ensure a rapid transition to clean energy." The bill establishes a market-based cap-and-trade system for the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.
"We haven't yet seen the bold leadership from Congress that's required to solve the climate crisis," said Church World Service Director of Education and Advocacy Rajyashri Waghray. "We're sending this letter to demonstrate broad grassroots support for such leadership."
"We have to have a stronger climate bill than the watered-down version that passed the House," said San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society Conservation Chair Drew Feldmann.
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'China will sign' global treaty if U.S. passes climate bill, E.U. leader says
Much of the fate of the U.N. climate treaty talks now rests in the U.S. Senate, according to a leading E.U. official, who says China would "lose its last reason" not to support an international pact if the United States passes a cap-and-trade bill.
"I know for the American Senate it's absolutely crucial to know that China will sign the treaty," said Sweden's environment minister, Andreas Carlgren, whose country currently holds the European Union's rotating presidency. "I understand that. We fully support that. We have the same expectations."
"The difference is that we [Europeans] have done so many things already, and the Senate is still deciding on cap and trade," Carlgren said yesterday in an interview at the Swedish embassy. "If the Senate would pass it, there would be no reason for China not to sign up."
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A Convenient Remedy: Walkable Urban Neighborhoods
Watch this short movie to begin learning about the difference your choice of neighborhood can make in reducing your contributions to global warming -- and how it can help protect you from runaway gas prices.
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Utah governor says climate change debate not over
SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah Gov. Gary Herbert says he will host the first "legitimate" debate about whether humans contribute to global warming later this year, highlighting skepticism on the topic that is quickly coming to define his new administration.
Despite widespread acceptance in the worldwide scientific community and in the U.S. government, the Republican says the debate over humans' role in climate change is far from over.
"For anybody to say that the debate is over is to not be out in the marketplace and see that the debate is raging," Herbert told reporters following the taping of his monthly televised news conference Thursday.
Herbert has been governor for less than three weeks, previously serving as lieutenant governor. He succeeded Jon Huntsman, who has said he believes human-caused global warming is real. Huntsman, also a Republican, resigned to become U.S. ambassador to China and pledged to work with that country to address global warming by reducing carbon emissions.
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State Leaders Miss Opportunity for Baton Rouge-New Orleans Passenger Rail
When Hurricane Katrina broke New Orleans levees four years ago and forced many evacuees to Baton Rouge some 70 miles northwest, it brought out the long ignored truth that the two metropolitan centers ''are really just one economy,'' and that their connections ''should be strengthened and encouraged,'' writes the Baton Rouge Advocate Opinion page staff, pointing out that world-class planners in the post-hurricane Louisiana Speaks process saw a passenger rail as a ''no-brainer'' necessity for the region's reconstruction and long-term resilience, but the state was ''reluctant to shell out the money'' for upgraded tracks and the infrastructure.
While the federal American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) offered ''a way to get the upfront costs paid'' and the state Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD), strongly backed by the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, sought $300 million for that purpose, Republican Governor Bobby Jindall has been ''an outspoken critic'' of the stimulus package.
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