CHICAGO, Illinois, December 10, 2008 (ENS) – President-elect Barack Obama signaled that he is ready to tackle the climate crisis immediately upon taking office, following a meeting Tuesday with former Vice President Al Gore and Vice President-elect Joe Biden.

“All three of us are in agreement that the time for delay is over, the time for denial is over,” Obama said.

The three men met at the Transition’s Chicago headquarters to discuss energy and climate policy – and how addressing those issues can drive the nation’s economic recovery.

“This is a matter of urgency and national security,” Obama said. “It is not only a problem, it is also an opportunity.”

From left, Vice president-elect Joseph Biden,
President-elect Barack Obama, former Vice
President Al Gore at Transition headquarters.
December 9, 2008 (Photo courtesy Obama
Transition Team)

“We have the opportunity now to create jobs all across this country in all 50 states to repower America,” said Obama, “to redesign how we use energy and think about how we are increasing efficiency to make our economy stronger, make us more safe, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and make us competitive for decades to come – even as we save the planet.”

Obama’s “repower America” comment Tuesday is an echo of Gore’s plan, made public in July, to Repower America with 100 percent clean electricity within 10 years.

The plan to Repower America outlines immediate investments in three areas: energy efficiency, renewable generation and transmission.
# Energy Efficiency: A national upgrade to eliminate waste, save money, and improve comfort. Make every bit of energy we produce work harder for us.

# Renewable Generation: Accelerate the ramp-up of clean, renewable electricity sources through policies that support increased private and public investment in technologies that work, like wind, solar, and geothermal.

# Unified National Smart Grid: Modernize transmission infrastructure so that clean electricity generated anywhere in America can power homes and businesses across the nation. National electricity ‘interstates’ that move power quickly and cheaply to where it needs to be; local smart grids that buy and sell power from households and support clean plug-in cars.

The president-elect and the former vice president appear to be in accord on the urgent need to address global warming after eight years of denial, delay and neglect during the Bush administration. Obama is taking advice from Gore, who shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for his work to publicize the dangers of global warming through his Oscar-winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.”

In November, the We Can Solve It campaign mounted by Gore’s nonprofit Alliance for Climate Protection launched an advertising and grassroots effort to support the president-elect as he enacts policies to revitalize the American economy and help solve the climate crisis.

Obama is not waiting until he takes office to go green. His will be the first eco-friendly inaugural celebration in American history.

Event Emissary, a DC-based event planning company, announced today that it will host the Green Ball to kick off the Obama Inaugural on January 17, 2009 at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium. www.greeninauguralball.com

Co-founder Jenna Mack explains, ” With millions of visitors headed to Washington for President-elect Obama’s swearing in ceremony and accompanying celebrations, the impact on our environment will be substantial. Our goal is to create an unforgettable evening while treading lightly on the Earth.”

Every facet of The Green Ball is designed to reduce the impact on the environment. Catering will be 100 percent organic and include both vegetarian and vegan options. The bars will feature local and organic beverages. Food waste and floral arrangements will be composted and bottles will be recycled.

Decorative lighting will focus on the use of LED Color Blasts that utilize a fraction of the power compared to more traditional lighting sources. Entertainment audio-visual production will be tailored to minimize environmental impact, using only the most efficient lighting and equipment.

“That which cannot be reduced will be offset,” says Mack. “Energy usage will be measured closely and offset through the purchase of wind power credits. Transportation for deliveries to the event, as well as vendor and staff transportation will be offset through the purchase of carbon credits.”

Event Emissary Co-founder Stephanie Campbell said, “While one green event is a step in the right direction, our goal is to bring attention to this issue while the Presidential Inaugural Committee and many other groups are still early in their planning. We hope to set an example to other organizations and encourage them to green their events, as well.”

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Rush hour in Denver, Colorado. Increasing traffic, air pollution and fuel consumption, are becoming major problems. (Photo by Warren Gretz courtesy NREL)

WASHINGTON, DC, December 14, 2007 (ENS) – The U.S. Senate approved a landmark energy bill Thursday night that requires the first increase in vehicle fuel economy standards in more than 30 years. But the bill is far less ambitious than Democrats wanted, as they bowed to pressure from Republicans and the Bush administration and removed a $22 billion tax package that would have cut tax breaks for oil companies and boosted support for renewable energy.

The removal of the tax package was a second blow to the renewable energy industry – earlier in the week Democrats had ceded to Republican demands to remove a renewable electricity mandate from the bill. The provision, approved last week by the House, would have required investor-owned utilities get 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources.

The scaled-back measure passed 86-8 and the House is expected to approve the bill next week. The Bush administration has indicated the president will sign the legislation into law.

Democrats noted disappointment at the demise of the tax package and the removal of a renewable electricity standard but said the final bill is still a historic achievement.

“Compromise can be frustrating, it can be exasperating, and it can be maddening,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat. “But at the end of the day, compromise can lead to progress, and that is exactly what we have today.”

Reid said the measure will “save consumers money, it will begin to reverse our addiction to oil and it takes a small first step in our fight to turn the tide of global warming.”

The centerpiece of the final bill is language requiring a 40 percent increase in vehicle fuel economy standards, raising the average fleet standard to 35 miles a gallon by 2020.

“The last time America raised fuel economy standards was 30 years ago,” Reid said. “We didn’t have air bags, the Internet was a science fiction fantasy and the closest thing to GPS [global positioning system] was a map.”

The provision, which drew reluctant support from the U.S. auto industry, is expected to save 1.1 million barrels of oil a day and save consumers some $22 billion in 2020. Proponents say it will also make a significant dent in U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases, equivalent to taking some 60 million cars off the road.

“It demonstrates to the world that America is a leader in fighting global warming,” said Senator Daniel Inouye, a Hawaii Democrat and coauthor of the fuel economy language.

The bill also includes a five-fold increase in domestic production of biofuels – requiring the use of 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022- and tightens energy efficiency standards for government buildings as well as for consumer appliances and products.

“People underestimate efficiency, but today household appliances, lighting and electronics use up to two-thirds of energy in households,” said Senator Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat. “By requiring these new standards for manufacture of these products, we will save over 40,000 megawatts of energy. That is the same amount of electricity used in 19 states today.”

Approval of the final legislation came after Senate Democrats had attempted to preserve the tax package by trying to end a Republican filibuster of the bill.

The $22 billion tax package would have extended tax credits for wind, solar and other renewable energy sources, with support also earmarked for fuel cell development, clean coal. Much of the tax package would have been paid for by the repeal of several oil industry tax breaks, potentially costing the industry more than $13.5 billion.

Oil industry lobbyists had generated opposition to the tax package from Republican senators, who said it was unfair and unwise to raise taxes on oil companies.

“What this will do is decrease supply and increase price,” said Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, a Texas Republican.

Other Republicans stressed President Bush’s threat to veto the bill over the tax package.

“He has said: ‘If the taxes are in, the bill is gone,’” said Senator Pete Domenici, a New Mexico Republican. “So it looks to me as if those who want a winner ought to vote to take the taxes.”

Ahead of that vote, Reid urged colleagues “not to be stampeded” by pressure from the White House.

“We have to flex our legislative muscle and do the right thing,” said Reid.

The 59-40 vote fell one short of the number needed to end debate, effectively forcing Reid to strip the tax package from the bill.

Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu was the lone Democrat to oppose ending debate. Arizona Republican John McCain, who is running for president, was the lone senator not to vote.

“The future just failed by one vote,” said Senator Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat in the wake of the cloture vote. “The past was preserved … the oil companies are now celebrating in their boardrooms. Not only do they have the highest profits in history, they continue to have a death grip on this Senate.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the final bill reflected political reality.

“The final product is not perfect but it is vastly better than the version that was sent to us by the House of Representatives,” said McConnell, a Kentucky Republican. “We in the Senate recognized that the House bill couldn’t pass the Senate and wouldn’t be signed into law so we fixed it and now it will.

Many national environmental groups praised passage of the measure, highlighting the increase in fuel economy standards, but others were less congratulatory

Senate Democrats “should show some backbone,” said Friends of the Earth President Brent Blackwelder, who criticizing them for bowing to Republican pressure by removing the “two most positive provisions in the bill.”

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In a world where nothing seems to happen unless somebody, somewhere, gets really rich for signing papers, there is finally hope for global environmental health. A new joint report has been released by the European Renewable Energy Council and Greenpeace. This report states, among other things, that the U.S. could create electricity consistent with rising demand and save $180 billion annually by building infrastructure for renewable energy sources. Globally, this would require an annual $22 billion investment increase for renewable energy infrastructure. This all makes so much sense one wonders why the financial backing is not there already.

It is important for humanity at large to consider renewable electricity now. This decade, emerging economies found in China, India and Brazil are rapidly requiring new energy infrastructure to power the growth of their countries. Everyone else in the world should want these emerging economies to be powered on renewable energy sources rather than coal and fossil fuel energies.

Without a real commitment to renewable energy technologies, this planet will pay a dire financial cost in addition to the incredible cost in human lives. Imagine coast lines disappearing, the disruption of hundreds of coastal ports and communities, massive influxes of environmental refugees fleeing floods, and of course, all the rioting and lawlessness that would erupt. Take all that in, sit back in your chair and think about how much money would be lost in financial markets in that situation.

There is hope to mitigate this situation by beginning the switch to real renewable energy infrastructure. This will lessen the global warming trend in the short term and reverse it in the long term. The financial benefits will be real because countries like North America will not have have to import as much foreign oil, which will keep more money and investment potential in our country rather than giving it away to other countries.

If you want to read this report and find out about the organizations that sponsor it, then please visit Energy [R]evolution [www.energyblueprint.info]. Also, you may consider writing your representatives and asking them to make renewable energy happen. You might find that promising your vote in return for action on renewable energy is a very persuasive argument.