Japan may get new Leadership

Cross-Posted from: here

There’s an article in the Washington Post today about how Japan’s Prime Minister is dissolving parliament and calling elections on August 30. There’s a real possibility that Japan’s current Liberal Democratic Party will lose to the Japanese Democratic Party. Why is this relevant? Well, one of the biggest dissapointments in international negotiations so far has been Japan’s unfortunate emissions target of 8% below 1990 levels and only 2% lower than their Kyoto target.

This begs the question, would a new party in control of Japan lead to a stronger stance on emissions targets, and help move talks forward? The answer appears to be…yes! On paper anyways. You never know what happens once a party actually gets into power. However, compared to what Japan’s current leadership is committing to, I can’t imagine the replacement government could be much worse. Now I realize that the US, China, and India are much bigger hindrances to a strong treaty in Copenhagen. However, Japan is the world’s second largest economy, and a developed country. A bold move by Japan could help ease the deadlock, and commit much needed funds to international adaptation and clean energy efforts. China and Japan also have some ill will to each other, so Japan stepping up on their obligations could be meaningful. I’m posting a couple excerpts on the positions of the Japanese Democratic Party below. I’m also no expert on Japanese politics, so if anyone knows more than me, please chime in.

“Japan’s main opposition party will adopt bolder greenhouse gas cuts than the government by using the global emissions market and increasing green jobs if it wins an upcoming election, the party’s head of green policy said on Wednesday.”

“The country’s 2020 target to cut emissions by 15 percent below 2005 levels Aso announced in June provoked widespread criticism for being too weak and barely tougher than Japan’s current Kyoto target, which it has struggled to meet.”

“Tetsuro Fukuyama, also the Democrats’ deputy policy chief, said the party’s 2020 target to cut emissions by 25 percent below 1990 levels would impose regulations to curb emissions and incentives for energy conservation, increased use of renewable energy and development of green technology.”

“The minus 15 percent target versus 2005 is equivalent to a cut of only 8 percent below 1990 levels.

“It just doesn’t go far enough,” Fukuyama said. “How can they dare to persuade China and India with that number?”

How to Get a Strong Senate Climate Bill, Part 1: Collect Letters

At a meeting with Senator Cardin, the Senator’s chief energy policy adviser issued Maryland climate activists some very specific marching orders:

“If you want a stronger climate bill, we need to hear from you. Send us your input.”

Glad to oblige, I took this message back to the grassroots with a further caveat: The Senator’s office had received in the neighborhood of nine-hundred letters from opponents of the bill, compared to only six- or seven-hundred from supporters. Not missing a beat, climate activists across the state took up the Senator’s challenge and sprung into action, determined to close the gap with the “cap and tax” crowd.

The action that unfolded was truly inspiring. From Baltimore, to Silver Spring, to Hyattsville, and Columbia activist teams descended upon an array of local festivals, farmers markets, street corners and even movie lines to amass enough letters to make up the deficit. They hit their goal in less than a week, pulling in around two-hundred and fifty handwritten letters specifically asking the Senator to ensure the Senate bill went much further than the House ACES bill to ensure that polluters and not the public bear the costs of fixing the climate crisis. This focus on pocketbook protection was particularly timely considering that the Senator is currently helping to draft the version of the bill dealing with that very issue.

cardin-letters-002Today, I dropped by Capitol Hill with two of Maryland’s top letter collecting champs, Danny Berchenko and Susan Stewart to make sure Senator Cardin received the big dose of grassroots support he was looking for. Echoing an earlier letter delivery to Congressman Sarbanes, we bound up the giant stacks of letters with some bright green ribbon and handed them over to Senator Cardin’s staff with the promise that there were plenty more on the way.

That’s right; our letter writing campaign is far from over. The “cap-and-tax” crowd isn’t going to stop making its voice heard and neither can we. We’ve got to outpace those naysayers over the coming weeks, and make sure Senator Cardin continues to hear the drumbeat for a stronger climate bill. We’re aiming to collect one-thousand letters by the end of August when the Environment and Public Works Committee starts to mark up the Senate climate bill. But we can’t do it without you. Help us win the letter writing race and capitalize on the amazing opportunity we have to work with our Senator to create a stronger climate bill. Please contact me today (email: keith@chesapeakeclimate.org) to get plugged into a letter collecting team in your area. Also be sure to check out the Maryland campaign resources page for our helpful letter writing guide, sample letter writing points and our new grassroots Senate Action toolkit packed full of information on all the exciting ways you can engage with this historic campaign.

Dendron, Va. chooses its own future.

Dendron, Virginia, has more than its share of challenges. The community of around 300, located in the southern corner of Surry County, struggles with an outdated municipal water system, crumbling sidewalks and no major businesses within the town.

Prior to the Great Depression, Dendron had been a company town of more than 3,000, fueled by the lumber industry’s presence there. Private business thrived in a town that revolved around the processing and export of timber across the country. Despite its character as an industrial one-trick-pony, the town of Dendron had something to stand for, and an industry to be proud of.

Today’s Dendron little resembles that historic vision of the 1900’s boomtown. Largely forgotten by the industry that once supported a thriving community, and facing serious municipal and community problems, such as an unexpected $10,000 water bill, you’d think the small town would take anything at this point to give it an economic boost.

The Old Dominion Electric Cooperative assumed this to be true when executives within the cooperative approached Dendronites with a plan for a new 1,500-megawatt coal-fired power plant, the second largest of its kind in Virginia. ODEC presented the Cypress Creek project with the promise of new jobs, tax revenue, and the idea that one major industry would bring others to the cash-strapped community. Despite local environmental effects and immediate hazards to human health, ODEC worked to assure Dendron residents that they stood to benefit from such a plant’s construction. ODEC also assumed that they’d buy into it without any major hiccups.

The cooperative, which has endlessly dispelled misinformation concerning the proposed plant (see “Hope for Surry Shines through smog”, 3 June), encountered a major hiccup Monday evening. As the Dendron Town Council met for its third meeting to deliberate the adoption of an ordinance that would allow the coal-friendly county board of supervisors to assume the community’s zoning rights, tensions

Mark Warner hosts energy summit at Hampton University.

This was written by fellow CCAN intern, Jes Kidder. Great job!Warner's Summit at HU
Mark Warner’s VA Summit on Energy Opportunities was held on Friday, July 10 at Hampton University. HU’s president, Dr. William Harvey, started off the summit by talking about how green and sustainable HU is becoming. In fact, one of the first things I noticed once we stepped onto the campus was that the police there drive Toyota Priuses. Maybe one reason I found this so intriguing is that the police on my college campus drive Ford Explorers. My favorite part, however, was how he completely avoided the word “coal”. He would say how they were replacing their existing steam plant system with geothermal because the steam was loaded with tons of greenhouse pollutants, yet never related coal to causing the pollutants. Of course, with all of this talk about becoming green, I found it ironic that there were no recycling bins, considering it’s a pretty simple step to take to become more sustainable. They had plastic plates and utensils, but nothing but a trashcan to put them in. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why HU scored a D+ on their environmental report card last year. Though that’s not to say that I don’t applaud their efforts; it always makes me happy when someone is trying to become more sustainable.

The first out of 3 panels was about weatherization. The panelists included people from the Department of Energy, the VA Department of Housing, the SE Tidewater Opportunity Project, and Rebuilding Together. The main source of discussion was the $37 million, out of $94 million, that was just given to Virginia’s Weatherization Assistance Program through the Recovery Act. Money given to the program will increase twofold, which allows for a 54% increase in the number of houses that can apply for weatherization. All panelists mentioned how their department or organization will be able to assist those who qualify and how this will help not only the people but also the environment.

CCAN's Chelsea Harnish poses with Sen. Mark Warner.We missed the second panel on stimulus funds for state and local governments because we were presenting our Put a Cap on It poster to Senator Mark Warner. The three of us from the Richmond CCAN team, along with around 20 others from Sierra Club, VA League of Conservation Voters, and other environmental organizations met with him. The main topic was the Climate Bill that is being drafted by the Senate. Warner seemed interested in what we had to say; he even offered us a few suggestions that could help us get his and Senator Webb’s approval on strengthening and passing the Climate Bill. Warner said that environmental issues were a priority to him and something he thinks needs to be taken care of. He seemed impressed with our poster, which included over a thousand pictures of VA residents who want a science-based cap on carbon emissions (he seemed even more pleased when he learned it was his to keep). Overall, he spent a good 10 minutes speaking with us, and it felt like he really cared about what we had to say.

The final panel was on the smart grid. This diverse group of panelist included people from the Department of Energy, Old Dominion Electric Cooperatives, Dominion’s Alternative Energy Solutions, Aker Wade, and the Navy Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic. The Recovery Act allotted $4.5 billion for the smart grid, and each panelist talked about how their organization is planning on spending the portion of the money that was granted to them. There were good ideas being shared, such as making industrial fast charging batteries for electric cars and storing and transporting energy created from renewables. I was surprised and impressed that even the lady from Dominion had good plans on how to use the money. She talked about the smart grid in Charlottesville, and Dominion’s plan on making it state-wide in the next 4 years; however, the man from ODEC did not share any ideas. He spent his time complaining how ODEC did not have the time to fill out the application for the stimulus money, so they hardly have any money at all and are unable to really do anything. I found this interesting since they want to build another coal-fired power plant. I’m no expert but I’m pretty sure you need money for that.

On the whole, the summit was a great way to learn about what sustainable ideas and practices are going on at the federal, state, and local levels across the state. It also gave us the chance to tell Warner face-to-face what we thought of the Climate Bill and what more needs to be done.

Navigating a Minefield Part 2

Cross-posted from: here

In my first post on the coming climate legislation battle in the Senate, I focused on a myriad of suggestions on how both the politicians pushing legislation as well as environmental activists and organizations could work to get a stronger bill. Despite the monumental challenge of getting to 60 votes in the Senate, as I said in the first post which I won’t repeat in depth here, there are advantages in terms of how to increase the pressure on Senators that we didn’t have in the House. However that isn’t the focus of this post. This post basically shows that absent a much stronger and smarter mobilization in the Senate, there will need to be wheeling and dealing done by President Obama, Barbara Boxer and Harry Reid, along with top Democrats.

As a disclaimer I will say that the “pick your poison” scenario I lay out at the end is not one that I would like to see. It is simply a look at what it’s going to take to get 60. Another disclaimer is this is a long post, so bring a snack. Continue reading

Calling all Climate Superheroes

In the recent House climate vote, the Maryland Congressional delegation broke largely in favor of protecting our climate. Seven out of eight of our Congressional representatives or about 90 percent of the delegation stood up for climate and clean energy action by voting yes on the American Clean Energy and Security Act. That statistic puts Maryland among the top ten states in terms of percentage of the state Congressional delegation that voted yes on the bill.

Besides begging the question why peak-oil-Cassandra Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD-06) decided to vote against the best chance our country has had in years to break our dependence on oil, this vote stands as a testament to the Maryland Congressional delegation’s appreciation of the severity of the threat that climate change poses to Maryland.

Marylanders should count themselves lucky to have leaders that are so plugged in. As we at CCAN are always quick to point out, Maryland is the third most vulnerable state in the country to sea level rise, and few states are more in need of federal leaders who understand the need for federal climate action.

This fact is underscored by a recent study which shows that the forecast for climate impacts on Maryland is direr than previously predicted.

According to the EPA study, Coastal Sensitivity to Sea-level Rise: A Focus on the Mid-Atlantic Region, there is growing evidence that sea level rise in Mid Atlantic states like Maryland is accelerating, and that the combination of rising seas and stronger storms could result in unforeseen tipping points for vulnerable wetlands and islands.

Preventing this dire forecast from unfolding will require bold action from the federal government, so it’s heartening that our leaders are acting in their constituents’ best interests. However, as I wrote in a post last week, and Mike Tidwell emphasized in a recent letter, while the ACES bill is a baby step in the right direction, the solutions it offers fall far short of what is truly required to slow climate change and protect the Bay.

We need a stronger bill from the Senate, and that means we need our Maryland Senators to not just match but better the level of leadership exhibited by Maryland’s Congressional delegation. The time for climate heroes has passed; now’s the time for climate superheroes. Of course our elected officials’ legislative muscle is only ever as strong as our voices. So get on the phone to Senators Mikulski and Cardin today to help pump them up!

Chesapeake Bay: Speak of the Devil

Cross-Posted from: here

**These views are my own and not CCAN**

I have a column out today about how despite the fact that every elected official in Maryland talks about the need for saving the Chesapeake Bay, the policies we have been passing(and not passing) are contradictory. A lot of these issues such as highway construction over mass transit and unchecked growth are interconnected with our dependency on fossil fuels and our contribution to global warming. This is one of my harsher columns, but called for in my opinion. Sources are at the bottom.

Chesapeake Bay: Speake of the devil

MATT DERNOGA

Issue date: 7/9/09

Save the Bay! No really, I mean it. Back in 1987, federal and state officials set a target to finish restoring the Chesapeake Bay by 2000, whose value 20 years ago was pegged at $678 billion by University of Maryland economists. Inflation alone would push that value over a trillion dollars. Maybe we were counting on 2000 being the end of the world, but when computers failed to take over and clean the bay themselves, we were forced to set a target of 2010. Whoops. Continue reading

Glenn Nye's balancing act.

Congressman Glenn Nye (D-VA)Glenn Nye is experiencing an identity crisis.

As the American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R .2454) prepared to go to vote two weeks ago, Virginians remained in doubt as to how the Congressman from the Eastern Shore would vote. A Blue Dog Democrat at a sprightly 34 years of age, Nye represents a largely conservative constituency on the shore, and his voting record has so far reflected that demographic.

Nye opted to vote against ACES, citing worries for the impact on his constituency, particularly concerning potential rate increases for utilities. The bill, according to Nye, would impose “another tax on American families.”

I drew that quotation from a recent blog post by David Campbell, entitled “Nye: Two Faces on ACES.” Campbell, who had written the Congressman earlier this summer, asking for his support on the bill, received two separate responses from Nye’s office after its passage. One appears to be strongly in favor (and as the author notes, does not once mention that Nye voted, “no”), while the other laments a new tax on Americans, one that would be inefficient and wrong in today’s struggling economy. One bill, two letters

Supporters Demand Senate Restore Global Warming Authority to EPA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 7, 2009

Supporters Demand Senate Restore Global Warming Authority to EPA

WASHINGTON, July 7, 2009-As Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson testified before the Environment and Public Works Committee today, grassroots advocates turned out in force to demand restoration of the EPA’s authority to regulate global warming pollution from dirty coal plants.

“We’re asking the Senate to empower the EPA,” said Katherine McEachern, a recent Cornell University graduate who now works at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “I know our Senators are up to the task of tackling global warming, but it’s also imperative that they give the EPA back its authority to regulate these filthy coal plants.”

Last month the House of Representatives successfully passed H.R. 2454, a 1,400-page cap-and-trade bill that was the result of months of negotiations. In a highly controversial compromise, the House repealed the Clean Air Act provision that empowered the EPA to regulate carbon pollution from dirty coal plants.

Without this provision, the Obama Administration is powerless to stop hundreds of old, dirty coal plants from spewing global warming pollution into the air. Some of the biggest climate polluters on the planet could be let off the hook.

Even worse, the coal industry is trying to build at least 100 more dirty coal plants. For years, environmental and citizen groups have blocked these plants. Right now the Chesapeake Climate Action Network is fighting two proposed coal plants in Virginia alone. If this Clean Air Act provision is eliminated, local groups may be unable to stop another generation of dependence on dirty coal.

Today marked the beginning of a week-long series of hearings and high-level meetings aimed at producing a Senate complement to the House climate bill. Joining Administrator Jackson were Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar, and more.

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A New Day is Coming

Our group decided to move our presence into the Longworth House office building to find as many representatives as we could to show them we want green jobs and clean energy. Making our way through security and downstairs to the basement one of my fellow group members asked me what we should be doing. Beginning to answer her question I spotted my Representative, Dr. Steve Kagen, hurrying past me. I informed my group member to hold that thought and I went after my Representative.

On Friday June 26, 2009, I took part in a collaborative rally on Capitol Hill. The groups who sponsored the rally included the Energy Action Coalition, Avaaz Climate Action Factory, and the organization I intern for, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. The rally was sparked by the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which the House of Representatives were planning to vote on that evening.

Arriving at the site where the rally was being held, an image of PowerShift flashed before my eyes. The presence of green shirts and hard hats, Capitol Hill in the background, and the energy of people coming together to affect change. The only thing missing was weather I could handle. Being from Wisconsin, I like summer weather that has just a touch of cold. Since I’m in Washington, DC, the weather is unbearable for me. I decided to take refuge under a tree and watch the rally unfold before my eyes.

During the rally, the speakers spoke of the American Clean Energy and Security Act as a start towards what we want, but we need more from our elected officials. And that is something I agree with. We need a stronger bill. The rally came to a close and the speakers asked the crowd to stick around to make our presence felt through the halls of Congress. And our presence was felt. Continue reading