From the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Mike Tidwell, director
Compiled and edited by Ted Glick, CCAN Policy Director
August 4, 2010
The Chesapeake Climate Action Network has launched a weekly policy update about efforts to advance “cap and dividend” legislation in the U.S. Congress. The fight for this climate policy is currently being led on Capitol Hill by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME). Last December these Senators introduced the Carbon Limits and Energy for America’s Renewal Act, or CLEAR Act, S-2877. Learn more at http://www.supportclearact.org.
To view past Cap and Dividend Policy Updates go to: http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/template/page.cfm?id=548
Since July 22nd: It’s now history: there will be no effort to pass legislation in the Senate on energy policy or preventing future oil spills until, maybe, sometime in September. Two weeks ago Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that the legislation he would be introducing would not include either a cap on greenhouse gas emissions of any kind or a Renewable Energy Standard. As climate and environmental groups gear up to vocally and visibly express concern and anger when Senators and House members are back home in August and September, support for a cap and dividend approach to climate legislation continues to grow. Among those who have come out in support in the last week are David Jenkins of Republicans for Environmental Protection, Jonathan Alter of Newsweek and Joe Klein of Time Magazine. And Bill McKibben’s latest column on the climate crisis puts it all within the bigger context.
In This Issue:
1. Lee Wasserman in NY Times: Four ways to kill a climate bill.
2. David Jenkins on FrumForum: Reid and Obama fail to lead
3. Jonathan Alter in NY Times: Replace ‘cap and trade’ with ‘cap and rebate’
4. Joe Klein in Time Magazine: There will be an energy bill. . . soon
5. Bill McKibben: Hot as hell and not going to take it anymore
6. Phil Sizemore on Daily Kos: High time to look for an alternative
——————————————————–
1. Lee Wasserman in NY Times: Four ways to kill a climate bill
“If President Obama and Congress had announced that no financial reform legislation would pass unless Goldman Sachs agreed to the bill, we would conclude our leaders had been standing in the Washington sun too long. Yet when it came to addressing climate change, that is precisely the course the president and Congress took. Lacking support from those most responsible for the problem, they have given up on passing a major climate bill this year.”
For the full article go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/opinion/26wasserman.html?_r=1&ref=global&pagewanted=print
2. David Jenkins on FrumForum: Reid and Obama fail to lead
“Another Republican, Senator Susan Collins of Maine, is co-sponsor of a bipartisan cap-and-dividend climate bill with Maria Cantwell (D-WA). Neither of these bills had clear support from President Obama and Senator Reid. Neither Obama nor Reid has said much of anything about the Collins-Cantwell bill, the only bipartisan bill in the hopper. Instead of getting behind a specific bill, Obama and Reid spoke in generalities and stood on the sideline with their fingers in the air trying to gauge which way the wind was blowing. Reid would tell bill sponsors that he would allow a vote on their proposal only if they brought him 60 votes. What kind of leadership is that?”
For the full article go to: http://www.frumforum.com/the-dems-climate-change-fail
3. Jonathan Alter in NY Times: Replace ‘cap and trade’ with ‘cap and rebate’
“President Obama shouldn’t — and won’t — be content to rest on his big victories on health care and financial regulation. But ‘putting points on the board’ (his preferred basketball metaphor for politics) requires harder thinking on how to frame the debate around every issue. He could replace ‘cap and trade’ with ‘cap and rebate’ — a crowd pleaser that would put thousands of dollars into the average American’s pocket, often offsetting higher energy prices.”
For the full article go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/18/opinion/18obama.html?pagewanted=5&ref=contributors
4. Joe Klein in Time Magazine: There will be an energy bill. . . soon
“’Putting a price on carbon is the only alternative,’ says Senator Maria Cantwell, who has offered a bill–with Maine Republican Susan Collins as co-sponsor–that would force the 2000 top polluters to participate in an auction to purchase the right to spew; 75% of the income would be returned as a ‘dividend’ to taxpayers, the other 25% would go to alternative energy. ‘There’s no question that we will have a bill before the EPA regulations kick in.’”
For the full article go to: http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/07/23/there-will-be-an-energy-bill-soon/
5. Bill McKibben: Hot as hell and not going to take it anymore
“We need a stiff price on carbon, set by the scientific understanding that we can’t still be burning black rocks a couple of decades hence. That undoubtedly means upending the future business plans of Exxon and BP, Peabody Coal and Duke Energy, not to speak of everyone else who’s made a fortune by treating the atmosphere as an open sewer for the byproducts of their main business. Instead they should pay through the nose for that sewer, and here’s the crucial thing: most of the money raised in the process should be returned directly to American pockets. The monthly check sent to Americans would help fortify us against the rise in energy costs, and we’d still be getting the price signal at the pump to stop driving that SUV and start insulating the house.”
For the full article go to: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175281/tomgram%3A_bill_mckibben%2C_a_wilted_senate_on_a_heating_planet/
6. Phil Sizemore on Daily Kos: High time to look for an alternative
“For those of us who would settle for a weaker bill that accomplishes something, but are alarmed by the continual paring back of the climate provisions in Senate bills, it seems high time to look at alternative methods of reaching our goal. Many, like Al Gore, favor a carbon tax. Personally, my eye has been caught by a novel approach offered by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME).”
For the full article go to: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/8/2/889790/-Benefits-of-a-Cap-and-Dividend-System
—
CCAN encourages readers of the Cap and Dividend Policy Update to distribute it to others who might be interested. We welcome input on the contents of this publication and ideas for what could be included. Send to Ted Glick at ted@chesapeakeclimate.org. To find out more about CCAN go to http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org.
