WASHINGTON, DC, November 21, 2008 (ENS) – The order of business in the incoming 111th Congress is beginning to take shape. When lawmakers convene on January 6, 2009, Democrats will be firmly in control of both houses, although today the outcome of several elections is still unclear.

When Democratic President-elect Barack Obama takes office on January 20, both the White House and Congress will be in Democratic hands for the first time in 16 years.

For the environment, this means that climate change legislation will be on the front burner as soon as the new session opens.

The U.S. Capitol at sunrise. November 11,
2008 (Photo credit unknown)

Senator Barbara Boxer of California, who will continue to chair the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, announced Tuesday that she will introduce two pieces of climate legislation in January.

“The first bill will establish a grant program to reduce global warming emissions under the Clean Air Act with up to $15 billion a year available to spur innovations in clean energy, including advanced biofuels,” Boxer said.

Intended as an economic stimulus, Boxer said the bill follows President-elect Barack Obama’s recommendation.

Obama’s short video statement on climate change played at the Governors’ Global Climate Summit convened in California on Tuesday was “music to my ears,” Boxer said.

Obama said, “Few challenges facing America – and the world – are more urgent than combating climate change. The science is beyond dispute and the facts are clear. Sea levels are rising. Coastlines are shrinking. We’ve seen record drought, spreading famine, and storms that are growing stronger with each passing hurricane season.”

“My presidency will mark a new chapter in America’s leadership on climate change that will strengthen our security and create millions of new jobs in the process,” he said.

“Climate change and our dependence on foreign oil, if left unaddressed, will continue to weaken our economy and threaten our national security,” said Obama.

Senator Barbara Boxer of California
(Photo courtesy EPW)

“Clean energy means green jobs,” Boxer said, citing a new report from the U.S. Conference of Mayors estimating that by 2038, another 4.2 million green jobs could be added to the economy.

Boxer also will propose a bill amending the Clean Air Act that directs the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to set up a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases that meets the goals laid out by the president-elect.

“This bill will reflect the strong partnership we will have with the new administration, and will focus on achieving the emissions reductions needed while restoring the economy,” said Boxer.

Boxer also announced her committee’s first hearing in the 111th Congress. “The hearing will take place as soon as possible after we convene in January, and will be entitled “How Fighting Global Warming is Good for the Economy and Will Create Jobs,” she said.

Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma
(Photo courtesy EPW)

Senate Democrats will have to contend with Republican Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, the ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee and a climate change denier. In his blog on the committee website, Inhofe claims that the planet is cooler now than when President George W. Bush took office and that Arctic ice is growing, not shrinking.

Over in the House of Representatives, the Democratic Caucus Thursday elected California Democrat Henry Waxman as chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

He replaces Michigan Congressman John Dingell, who has served for the past 28 years as chairman and ranking member of the committee. Dingell now will serve as chairman emeritus, but Waxman’s ascendency marks a shift away from the influence of the Detroit auto industry and towards cleaner energy and climate concerns.

Waxman said, “Some of the most important challenges we face – energy, climate change, and health care – are under the jurisdiction of the Commerce Committee. In large measure, our success as Congress will depend on how the Commerce Committee performs.”

“Enacting comprehensive energy, climate, and health care reform will not be easy,” said Waxman, but, “The public expects Congress and President-elect Obama to work together to find solutions to the nation’s most pressing problems.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday, “Henry Waxman will bring to the post of Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee the outstanding leadership he has demonstrated as chair of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

“Under his leadership, the committee and the entire caucus will make progress toward making America energy independent, making health care available to all Americans, and addressing the greatest challenge of our time, global warming,” she said.

Congressman Henry Waxman of California
(Photo courtesy Office of the Congressman)

The replacement of Dingell by Waxman could affect the outcome of possible legislation offering financial assistance to the beleagured auto industry, which has requested at least $25 billion to stave off collapse.

Today, Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent the following letter to the executives of the Ford, General Motors and Chrysler, calling on them to “submit a credible restructuring plan that results in a viable industry, with quality jobs, and economic opportunity for the 21st century while protecting taxpayer investments” by December 2.

“It is critical that you meet this deadline since we have announced we are prepared to come back into session the week of December 8 to consider legislation to assist your industry. We intend to give pertinent agencies within the executive branch, the Government Accountability Office, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, as well as outside experts, the opportunity to comment on your work,” Reid and Pelosi wrote.

Senator Inhofe calls higher fuel efficiency standards that may be a condition of the potential auto industry bailout, “environmental thuggery.”

In a speech on the Senate Floor Thursday, Inhofe said, “The proposed $25 billion bailout of Detroit now appears to have been hijacked by the powerful environmental lobby.”

Quoting a November 19 article in the “Wall Street Journal,” Inhofe said, “the auto bailout has degenerated into a tool to ‘make Detroit a subsidiary of the Sierra Club.’”

“We hear proponents of the auto bailout endlessly say it’s about jobs,” said Inhofe. “But the truth is, this bailout appears to be about environmental lobbies taking over the U.S. auto industry.”

The Congressional balance of power is set, but the actual seat count is still shifting.

Right now, in the Senate, the Democrats hold 55 seats, the Republicans hold 40, and there are two Independents – Joe Lieberman and Bernie Saunders, who caucus with the Democrats.

Three seats are vacant or undecided.

One Illinois seat is vacant as President-elect Barack Obama, a Democrat, has resigned. This seat will be filled by a replacement appointed by a Democratic governor.

Delaware does not yet have a vacancy, but Vice President-elect Joe Biden, a Democrat, is expected to resign on or before inauguration day, January 20, 2009. His seat will be filled by a replacement appointed by a Democratic governor.

In Minnesota, the seat is held by Senator Norm Coleman, who won the 2002 election. While Coleman leads Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party challenger Al Franken by 215 votes, the race remains too close to call. The close margin triggered a mandatory recount, which began on November 19. The recount is not expected to be resolved for at least a month.

In Georgia, a run-off election between Republican incumbent Saxby Chambless and Democratic challenger Jim Martin is underway.

In the House of Representatives, the Democrats hold 255 seats, the Republicans hold 175, and there are no Independents. Five seats are vacant or undecided.

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WASHINGTON, DC, September 16, 2008 (ENS) – Both presidential candidates say that if they are elected in November, they will fight global warming by reducing carbon dioxide emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020, using methods that include a cap-and-trade system, but then their positions begin to diverge.

Democratic nominee Senator Barack Obama of Illinois says his administration would put the United States on track to cut carbon emissions 80 percent by the year 2050. “I will restore U.S. leadership in strategies for combating climate change and work closely with the international community,” Obama says.

On the other hand, Republican nominee Senator John McCain of Arizona says his administration would aim for a reduction of at least 60 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2050. He does not mention international engagement but promises a $5,000 tax credit to every customer who buys an American zero-emissions car.

Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack
Obama, left, and Republican presidential
nominee Senator John McCain.

The candidates gave these answers in response to 14 questions posed by a new organization ScienceDebate2008 that is attempting to raise the profile of science in this presidential election.

“We are grateful for both senators’ detailed responses,” said Matthew Chapman, president of the initiative. “Now we hope the candidates will want to discuss their differences. Science Debate 2008 and its partners once again extend an invitation to both candidates to attend a televised forum where these vital issues can be discussed in front of a broader audience.”

ScienceDebate2008 is a citizens initiative started by six people last December. Signers now include nearly every major American science organization, the presidents of most major American universities, and dozens of Nobel laureates and top American CEOs.

The 14 questions address energy policy, national security, economics in a science-driven global economy, climate change, education, health care, ocean health, biosecurity, clean water, space, stem cells, scientific integrity, genetics, and research.

“Most of America’s major unsolved challenges revolve around these 14 questions,” said Shawn Otto, CEO of the initiative. “To move America forward, the next president needs a substantive plan for tackling them going in, and voters deserve to know what that plan is.”

On the role of nuclear energy, the candidates differ widely in their views.

McCain supports a greater role for nuclear power, saying, “As president, I will put the country on track to building 45 new reactors by 2030 so that we can meet our growing energy demand and reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases. Nuclear power is a proven, domestic, zero-emission source of energy and it is time to recommit to advancing our use of nuclear energy.”

Obama does not rule out nuclear power but looks towards developing, “A new generation of nuclear electric technologies that address cost, safety, waste disposal, and proliferation risks.”

On the production tax credit for renewable energy facilities that is due to expire at the end of December, Obama offers to extend the credit for five years.

Stirling Energy Systems SunCatchers use mirrors
to concentrate the Sun’s energy and
convert it to electricity without harmful
emissions. (Photo courtesy SES)

McCain says he supports the idea of a production tax credit although he has voted against it. “I’ve voted against the current patchwork of tax credits for renewable power because they were temporary, and often the result of who had the best lobbyist instead of who had the best ideas. But the objective itself was right and urgent,” he said.

On the question of improving ocean health, McCain, a former U.S. Navy officer, says, “Ocean health and policy requires better management focus; however, we also need a better scientific understanding of the oceans,” but offers no specific actions.

Obama says he will “work actively to ensure that the U.S. ratifies the Law of the Sea Convention – an agreement supported by more than 150 countries that will protect our economic and security interests while providing an important international collaboration to protect the oceans and its resources.”

Obama links global climate change to “catastrophic effects on ocean ecologies” and says his plan to reduce U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases 80 percent below 1990 by 2050 can help.

He promises to expand the research budgets of federal scientific agencies such as NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Clean drinking water is something Americans can
no longer take for granted. (Photo by Jasen
Robillard)

On the essential question of coping with the water shortages expected in 39 states during the next decade, McCain offers nothing new, but the senator from the arid state of Arizona says, “I understand the importance of state law and local prerogatives in the allocation of water resources, and that all levels of government must work together with stakeholders to ensure that our lifeblood is protected, managed, and utilized in a wise, just, and sustainable manner.”

Obama says, “Solutions to this critical problem will require close collaboration between federal, state, and local governments and the people and businesses affected. First, prices and policies must be set in a ways that give everyone a clear incentive to use water efficiently and avoid waste.”

Obama says he will “establish a national plan to help high-growth regions with the challenges of managing their water supplies” and will provide “information, training, and, in some cases, economic assistance” to farms and businesses shifting to “more efficient water practices.”

The 14 questions were developed from over 3,400 questions submitted by more than 38,500 signers of the ScienceDebate2008 initiative.

The questionnaire is a joint effort led by ScienceDebate2008, with Scientists and Engineers for America, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, and the Council on Competitiveness, among others, together representing more than 125 million Americans.

To read the two candidates’ responses to the 14 questions, click here.

A national poll, commissioned by Research!America and ScienceDebate2008.com and conducted in May by Harris Interactive, shows that 56 percent of respondents strongly agree and 29 percent somewhat agree that the presidential candidates should participate in a debate to discuss how science can help tackle key problems facing the United States, such as health care, climate change and energy.

“This is not a niche debate,” said Craig Barrett, chairman of Intel and one of the supporters of the Science Debate initiative. “Without the best education system and aggressive investments in basic research and development we will become a second rate economic power. We expect the candidates for president to take this very seriously.”

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WASHINGTON, DC, April 15, 2008 (ENS) – Overall, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions were 1.1 percent lower during 2006 than the previous year, according to the latest annual report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, released today.

Emitted by the burning of the fossil fuels coal, oil and gas for power, manufacturing and transportation, greenhouse gases reduce the loss of heat into space raising global temperatures.

The agency says emissions of the main climate warming gas carbon dioxide decreased in 2006 because Americans burned less fossil fuels and used less electricity than they did in 2005.

Compared to 2005, the winter of 2006 was warmer, which decreased consumption of heating fuels, and the summer was cooler, which reduced demand for electricity, the EPA said.

Fuel consumption for transportation went down because of rising fuel prices, the agency said.

And finally, the increased use of natural gas and renewables in the electric power sector also contributed to the lowering of carbon dioxide emissions.

Coal-fired power plants like this one in the
coal-rich state of West Virginia, are
the biggest contributors to U.S.
greenhouse gas emissions. (Photo
courtesy Allegheny Energy)

The report, “Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2006,” is the latest in an annual set of reports that the United States submits to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change.

“Each year since 1993, EPA’s experts have built a comprehensive inventory of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions,” said Robert Meyers, principal deputy assistant administrator for EPA’s Office Air and Radiation.

“Our understanding of emission sources is paramount to combating climate change,” he said.

Total emissions of the six main greenhouse gases in 2006 were equivalent to 7,054.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

These gases include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride.

The report indicates that overall emissions have grown by 14.7 percent from 1990 to 2006, while the U.S. economy has grown by 59 percent over the same period.

Burning coal produces by far the most greenhouse gas emissions, with mobile combustion such as cars and trucks responsible for the next highest amount of emissions. Burning gas in stationary power units produces is the next highest source of emissions, with burning oil in stationary power units not far behind.

The fifth highest source of emissions is direct nitrous oxide, N2O, emissions from agricultural soil management, according to the report.

EPA prepares the annual report in collaboration with experts from multiple federal agencies and after gathering comments from a broad range of stakeholders across the country.

The inventory tracks annual greenhouse gas emissions at the national level and presents historical emissions from 1990 to 2006.

The inventory also calculates carbon dioxide emissions that are removed from the atmosphere by “sinks,” such as forests, vegetation and soils, which take up carbon dioxide from the air.

To view the 2006 greenhouse gas inventory report, click here [www.epa.gov].

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MONACO, February 20, 2008 (ENS) – A green economy is emerging worldwide as growing numbers of companies embrace environmental policies and investors pump hundreds of billions into clean technology and renewable energies, finds the 2008 United Nations Environment Programme Year Book.

The Year Book was presented here today at the opening of the largest gathering of environment ministers since the UN climate conference in Bali, Indonesia last December.

The ministers, joined by representatives of business, organized labor, science and civil society, are attending UNEP’s Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum with the theme “Mobilizing Finance for the Climate Challenge.”

“Hundreds of billions of dollars are now flowing into renewable and clean energy technologies and trillions more dollars are waiting in the wings looking to governments for a new and decisive climate regime post 2012 alongside the creative market mechanisms necessary to achieve this,” said Achim Steiner, UN under-secretary general and UNEP executive director.

UN officials introduce the 2008 UNEP
Year Book in Monaco. From left:
UNEP Governing Council President
Roberto Dobles of Costa Rica, UNEP
Executive Director Achim Steiner,
International Labor Organization
Director-General Juan Somavia.
(Photo courtesy Earth Negotiations Bulletin)

Climate change, as documented in the Year Book, is increasingly changing the global environment, from the melting of permafrost and glaciers to extreme weather events.

But it is also beginning to change the mind-sets, policies and actions of corporate heads, financiers and entrepreneurs as well as leaders of organized labor, governments and the United Nations itself.

Combating climate change increasingly is being viewed as an opportunity rather than a burden and a path to a new kind of prosperity instead of a brake on profits and employment, the UNEP Year Book shows. The emerging green economy is driving invention, innovation and the imagination of engineers on a scale not witnessed since the industrial revolution of more than two centuries ago.

The report points to the growing interest in novel geo-engineering projects such as giant carbon dioxide, C02, collectors that absorb the greenhouse gas from the air as trees do.

“Based on technology used in fish tank filters and developed by scientists from Columbia University’s Earth Institute, this method called “air capture” can collect the CO2 at the location of the ideal geological deposits for storage,” says the report.

Meanwhile, scientists in Iceland and elsewhere are looking at injecting C02 into that country’s abundant basalt rocks where it is claimed the gas reacts to form inert limestone.

Similar “sequestration rocks” exist in geological formations across much of the world and may provide a safe and long term disposal option for the main greenhouse gas emissions, says the UNEP Year Book.

Some elements of a green economy are already taking shape.

Prince Albert of Monaco emphasized scientific
warnings of climate change, referring
to his own observation of severe
warming effects in the Arctic.
(Photo courtesy ENB)

Corporate social responsibility reporting, including environmental concerns, is now found among corporations in over 90 countries – with the number of such statements mushrooming from virtually zero in the early 1990s to well over 2,000 now, the Year Book states.

The Investor Network on Climate Change, launched in November 2003, now has some 50 institutional investors with assets of over $3 trillion.

And the Principles for Responsible Investment, jointly facilitated by UNEP’s Finance Initiative and the UN Global Compact in 2006, now has 275 institutions with $13 trillion of assets.

In 2007, financial transactions in the sustainable energy sector reached $160 billion – up from just over $100 billion in 2006, according to another UNEP report drafted to inform the deliberations of ministers in Monaco.

“An initiative to provide seed money for clean energy entrepreneurs has spawned close to 50 new enterprises in Africa, China and India. The Principles for Responsible Investment, facilitated by the UNEP Finance Initiative and the UN’s Global Compact, has secured the support of over 275 institutions handling assets of over $13 trillion dollars,” said Steiner.

“Among the challenges facing ministers in Monaco is how to accelerate this transformation to ensure that it is far reaching, widespread and above all speedy,” he said.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, composed of more than 2,000 scientists established by UNEP and the World Meteorological Organization to advise governments, estimates that to avoid dangerous climate change emissions need to be stabilized at between 535 to 590 parts per million, ppm, in 2050.

In order to meet the stabilization target, global emissions of greenhouse gases will need to decrease in 2050 by 18 to 29 giggatonnes of carbon dioxide with emissions peaking even earlier – somewhere between 2010 and 2030.

A variety of recent assessments such as the Stern Review; ones by the IPCC and others by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change put the costs of stabilization at between 0.3 percent and four per cent of global Gross Domestic Product, GDP.

Stern estimates it at one percent of global GDP, costing around $134 billion in 2015 rising to $930 billion in 2050.

Industrialized countries, except the United States, are abiding by the Kyoto Protocol, which requires a reduction in six greenhouse gases by an average of 5.2 percent of 1990 levels by the end of 2012.
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environment in the Bureau of Oceans,

Environment and Science Dan Reifsnyder
said most decisions should be put
off until next year’s Governing
Council. (Photo courtesy ENB)

After 2012, the Kyoto Protocol will be replaced by an global agreement now under negotiation that are expected to be completed by the climate convention meeting in Copenhagen in 2009.

Some developing countries are already committed to a green economy.

UNEP Governing Council President Roberto Dobles of Costa Rica told reporters today that his country wants to become a carbon neutral, zero impact economy by 2021.

“To change the economy, we have to become more resource efficient, the culture of consumption will have to change,” Dobles said.

Although the country enjoys a 62 percent forest cover, last year Costa Ricans planted six million trees and aim to plant seven million trees this year, he said.

Costa Rica will be reducing emissions and increasing its capacity to mitigate climate change, Dobles said. “We will be increasing our well-being through a low carbon economy.”

In a video message played at the Governing Council today, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed to the environment ministers to usher in a “new generation” of solutions to climate change.

“You can help us meet the crucial challenge of mobilizing finance to meet the climate challenge,” he said. “We must sustain the momentum, including through practical actions now.”

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