No, it’s not a headline from The Onion…as Think Progress reports, Rep. John Beohner (R-OH) announced yesterday that the House GOP is creating the American Energy Solutions Group, meant to “work on crafting Republican solutions to lower energy prices for American families and small businesses.”
So just who is going to be part of this group? According to the press release, the group will be led by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), a vocal opponent of cap and trade, and will also include none other than Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), both notorious deniers of global warming. Shimkus, you’ll remember, likened cap and trade to “an assault on democracy” just last week.
Here’s hoping they come up with some real solutions, but something tells us they are going to have a tough time of it.
Wow…as Think Progress reports, yesterday during a hearing Rep. Shimkus, an outspoken opponent of the President’s green energy plan, said that proposed climate legislation in the budget represents “…the largest assault on democracy and freedom in this country that I’ve ever experienced.”
Check out the video below:
You can also read more about the GOP and climate skepticism here.
This blog post from Grist gives a good overview of how hearings went yesterday in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and mentions specifically moves on the part of conservatives in an attempt to counteract progressive voices:
“There were four separate panels on the climate bill on Wednesday, involving 21 witnesses. The fourth was added at the last minute to accommodate witnesses whom the minority members of the panel had requested, including representatives from conservative outposts like the Heritage Foundation, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the American Enterprise Institute. The hearings stretched on for more than 10 hours, and by the end, as few as four members of the committee were actually present to hear testimony.”
We need to keep applying pressure to our representatives to make clear to them why we need a clean energy economy now. Take action and make your voice heard!
The Wall Street Journal has a piece today about the first round of arguments in the climate change debate taking place in Congress. Most notably, the EPA presented new analysis of the bill put forward by Reps. Waxman and Markey on the House Energy Committee, stating that the plan would cost consumers far less than the nearly $3,000 a year per household that many opponents have referenced.
With so much at stake in the coming weeks, there has been much speculation about which problems will be tackled first (if at all) during this Congressional session. While Obama has laid out clear goals of fixing health care, tackling climate change, and improving higher education, it remains to be seen which issue Congress will make a priority.
Despite Rep. Henry Waxman’s promise to move a climate bill through the House by Memorial Day, The Wall Street Journalspeculates that health care will be addressed before climate change issues, which are more controversial:
“A growing number of Democratic lawmakers prefer health care, saying that has a far greater chance of producing consensus than climate change, inside the party and across party lines. And they argue that it would be a more tangible accomplishment to present to financially stressed voters heading into the 2010 midterm elections.”
Read the full article here, and keep checking back here to see how things unfold. In the meantime, call your Senator today and tell him/her which issues YOU think should be a priority.
Check out this new story from CQ Politics about where the administration stands on passing energy legislation this year, and then click here to find out how you can take action to support this legislation in the budget!
Here’s an excerpt:
When asked about resistance to the cap-and-trade proposal — those opposed have argued it will lead to a tax increase — Emanuel said, “When you have something of this magnitude, there’s going to be people that raise objections, because it’s a big change. Our goal is to get that done. We will see.
“You’re asking me right before the legislative process starts to make that prediction. I do think this, that even those who object to particulars know that we have to deal with this part of our energy policy and that the challenge now is, rather than to criticize and rather than say no, rather than to say never, is to provide ideas. And that has yet to happen from the other side.”
Yesterday, one of our favorite climate change deniers Michele Bachmann held a public forum at St. Cloud State University which featured Chris Horner, a conservative who has repeatedly referred to global warming as “hype.” Campus Progress helped organize student pushback at the event so that those in attendance would be able to hear the facts about climate change, and the benefits that cap-and-trade legislation would have on Minnesota’s economy. Needless to say, many were disappointed that the forum did nothing to address the other side of the climate change debate, and that instead of holding a public Q & A, the event organizers decided at the last minute to only field questions that were written down in advance and picked by a moderator.
Check out this article from the Minneapolis Star Tribune for more info about the event, and also, this article from the St. Cloud Times about the student reaction. One of the awesome students we worked with, Casey Wojtalewicz, is quoted:
“We wanted to advocate green jobs and renewable energy and hear solutions on that, and we didn’t really hear any,” said Casey Wojtalewicz, a St. John’s sophomore majoring in peace studies.
Wojtalewicz and others expressed their disapproval of Horner’s message by shouting for him to explain why he didn’t talk about potential benefits of a cap-and-trade law, like the creation of jobs in the renewable energy field.
From The New Republic’s Environment and Energy blog The Vine:
Swing Senators Still Optimistic About Cap-And-Trade Darren Samuelsohn of ClimateWire has a very helpful piece re-assessing the prospects for cap-and-trade legislation in the Senate. A carbon cap can’t go into the budget reconciliation bill this year, which means Republicans can filibuster, which means it’ll need 60 votes to pass. But climate legislation isn’t doomed yet. A bevy of swing Democrats, from Mary Landrieu to Carl Levin, still sound sanguine, as they watch the debate over the House energy and climate bill slowly unfurl. One crucial dynamic: If Waxman and Markey can drag along key conservative Dems in the House, that could help garner votes in the Senate, too:
Consider Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), a member of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. Ross also sits on the Energy and Commerce Committee, and his vote could be pivotal to the climate bill’s chances for success both in the House and with Arkansas’ senators, Pryor and Blanche Lincoln (D).
“I guarantee you if Mike Ross is OK with it, it goes a long way with me if he’s with it,” Pryor said. “I still have to make a judgement myself. But if he’s OK with it, it means a lot to me.”
Today’s New York Times has a story about the White House’s views on addressing climate change as part of an ongoing plan for economic recovery.
You can read the full article here. Here’s an excerpt:
“The carbon price signal created by a cap-and-trade system will encourage energy efficiency, the low-hanging fruit of greenhouse gas emissions reductions,” CEQ Chairwoman Nancy Sutley said during a carbon markets conference in Washington.
“More importantly, it will also encourage the development and deployment of the clean-energy technologies that will be critical to address climate change, enhance energy security and create jobs that can’t be outsourced.”
Funding our Future is a campaign to pass a progressive federal budget for 2010 and ensure that our nation.s key economic choices invest in our education, spark reform of our health care system, and address climate change through cap and trade and clean energy investments. Click here for more info.
