Call, call again!

It's just possible that Senators are going to show some backbone on climate legislation.  Here's an article from Grist giving evidence for hope.  Of course, there's nothing like us, their constituents, calling them and telling them we support strong climate legislation to help them develop backbone.  If you haven't called them yet, now is a great time, while they're enthusiastic, and before the fall elections when Republicans, few of whom have shown any interest in fighting climate change, may gain seats in the Senate.  Go here to find your Senator's contact info.  If you absolutely can't call, email, but calling is many times more effective than email.  See my last post for more details on Senate climate legislation.

If you're going on vacation, or even if you're not, remember that once you've selected the lowest-impact method of transportation possible, you can offset the rest.  Here's my blog post exploring the controversial world of carbon offsets.

Stay cool,
Bonney

Call Your Senators If You Haven't Already

Despite conflicting opinions in the blogosphere on the merits of the American Power Act (quite a macho bill title--are they compensating for something?), it does seem clear that it's time to pass climate legislation.  If Congress turns more Republican after the fall elections, and most pundits think it will, the chances of passing decent legislation shrink dramatically.  Here, on Grist, is another good discussion of the American Power Act and why it's an improvement over the Clean Air Act alone.  (Warning:  Fake graphic "gutting" photo.)  I haven't seen a good discussion of why the APA is either an improvement over the CLEAR Act or just more likely to get passed (I asked that question today in a comment here on the Grist post).  So my recommended strategy is still to call your Senators (find their numbers here) and urge them to pass the strongest climate legislation possible as quickly as possible.  You might also want to mention that you don't think big government subsidies for nuclear power are a good idea. New Mexico's Senator Jeff Bingaman in particular needs pressure, since he's been lobbying for passage of an energy bill without strong climate provisions.  Let us know your thoughts and what happens, and
Stay cool,
Bonney

The time is now to think, act, and share

Here's a sampling of comments about the new Senate climate bill introduced this week As you'll see, they vary from, "This is a horrible bill" to "This bill will do the job."  New Mexico's New Energy Economy group says, "The cap and trade bill introduced this week by Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman will provide expanded control and power to polluting industries and Wall Street."  They encourage people to call their Senators in support of the CLEAR Act, the cap and dividend bill that I wrote about in my April 2 post.  According to the Environmental Defense Fund, a call is worth 100 emails.  Click here to find your Senator's phone # and other contact info. If you won't call, email, because an email is worth an infinite amount of doing nothing.  (If you can, do both!).  Repower America, a site affiliated with Al Gore, says "This is the starting gun for the Senate to craft and pass the strongest possible climate and clean energy legislation," and urges us to contact our Senators by email here.  Here's a more in-depth analysis by Climate Progress.  Whatever you decide, please contact your Senators and urge them to pass some sort of energy and climate legislation as soon as possible.  Senators are waiting to see what the public says.  Climate change will not wait while we make up our minds. Let us know what you decide in the comments, and 
Stay cool,
Bonney

Emergency Action Alert--Please call Senators today

Please go to the Environmental Defense Fund's link here for details.  While I don't like this bill as well as the CLEAR bill (see my posts on the CLEAR bill  here and here), I think any bill we can get passed this year that reduces CO2 as much as possible by 2018 is much better than no bill, and it sounds like there is a need for action today.  So I'm going to tell my Senators just that.  Please call yours, too! 
Thanks, and
Stay cool,
Bonney

More on the CLEAR Act

I hope you'll find ways to celebrate Earth Day in your community.  In Santa Fe, here is a listing of fun possibilities (scroll down; they're on the left).  Feel free to post other events in any community in comments to this post.  Here are some interesting comments on the CLEAR Act, which I posted about last week, and comparisons to other national legislation to reduce greenhouse gases:  What people are saying about the CLEAR Act; World Resources Institute Analysis of the CLEAR Act and Other Climate and Energy Proposals; The Economist Endorses the CLEAR Act.  I'm intrigued with the idea of capping greenhouse gas emissions, auctioning off permits for the right to emit a steadily decreasing amount of carbon dioxide, and dividing up the proceeds among the American public (with 25% going to further emissions reductions and to help those most affected adjust to the disruptions of climate change). What do you think?  I'm going to start putting these blog posts on the Green Line, the Santa Fe New Mexican's green living website, as well as here.  If you know of other places on the web I can post, let me know, and
Stay cool,
Bonney

The CLEAR Act

In December, Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced the CLEAR Act, another promising bill to reduce climate change.  CLEAR stands for Carbon Limits and Energy for American Renewal. Its approach is called cap-and-dividend.  Under this bill:

• the Department of Energy would auction carbon shares (1 share = a permit to emit a ton of CO2), to U.S. companies that import and produce fossil fuels
• 75% of the auction proceeds would be divided evenly among U.S. consumers each month
• 25% would go to a fund (the Clean Energy Reinvestment Trust Fund) to pay for additional greenhouse gas emissions reductions, low‐carbon energy investment, climate change adaptation, and regional economic adjustments
• The number of permits sold each year would decrease to achieve a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2020 and an 83% reduction by 2050 
• The permit price would be determined by bidding on permits but regulated to be within a certain range to reduce the economic damage caused by too much price volatility 
• Only producers and importers would be required to purchase permits and allowed to bid

The apparent advantages of this bill, pointed out by Mike Sandler at the Huffington Post, are that 100% of permits are auctioned, no offsets are allowed (offsets let an emitter buy shares in a project that reduces CO2 rather than reducing the emitter's CO2 production), and no one but producers and importers can bid on permits (no speculators, investment firms, etc.). In other bills, such as ACES (Waxman-Markey, which passed the House last year), many permits were given away for free, offsets were allowed, and third parties could buy and sell permits.

What do you think of this bill?  Post your comments, and
Stay cool,
Bonney