June 08, 2009

Capitol Hotline (Jun. 8)

House Climate Bill Heads to Ag Comm, Senate ENR Comm mark up energy bill, US & China Debate CO2 Emissions, 2nd Week of UN Negotiations in Bonn, Climate Priority for EU

In this issue

Hot Topic of the Week

o House Climate Bill Heads to Agriculture Committee for Hearings

USCAN Member Action Alert
Member-Only Resources
Inside the Beltway

o Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee moves forward on energy bill mark up, reach compromise on RES

Outside the Beltway

o U.S. and China Debate on CO2 Emissions

o Second Week of U.N. Negotiations in Bonn

o Climate Remains a Priority for Newly Elected European Parliament

Capitol Hill Events
Other Headlines

Hot Topic of the Week

House Climate Bill Heads to Agriculture Committee for Hearings

American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454) is moving along in the House and could see floor action later this month. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has given a June 19 goal to the eight committees that have jurisdiction over the bill to report something. Whereas most committees will basically give a stamp of approval on the bill, the Agriculture Committee has suggested that they will make significant changes to the legislation. Chairman of the Agriculture Committee, Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) has vowed to begin this effort at a hearing this Thursday, June 11. Chairman Peterson has said he will use the recent 2,500 page document published by the Agriculture Committee, which gives advice and recommendations from stakeholder groups, to educate panel members on climate legislation's potential effects of agriculture. The Agriculture Committee has not yet scheduled a markup of the bill.

The Congressional Budget Office released a report on Friday that stated the climate and energy legislation is projected to trim the federal budget deficit over the next decade. CBO's scoring of H.R. 2454 projects the bill's requirement that companies reduce their emissions or purchase allowances on an open market would bring in federal revenue of about $845.6 billion during the first decade of its operation. By contrast, federal spending is expected to increase by $821.2 billion, meaning the Treasury can expect a $24.4 billion net gain.

Read more at E & E (sub req'd): http://www.eenews.net/EEDaily/2009/06/08/3/

USCAN Member Action Alert

Here are just a few of the key things that are happening in the lead up to the House floor vote:

A number of groups have sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi urging her to strengthen and pass the bill. Specifically, the letter urges a stronger renewable electricity and energy efficiency standard, removing the provision which would prevent the EPA from imposing "carbon pollution standards" on current power plants, refineries and other sources, and that more allocations be dedicated to "delivering energy efficiency and renewable energy, creating green jobs and training workers to fill them, and protecting natural resources, public health and vulnerable communities here and around the world."

The C. campaign has produced talking points on the bill, both highlighting its positive aspects as well as what needs to be strengthened. These are available to other organizations through the members-only section of our website here to use as they see fit. Similarly, the C. campaign action alert on the Waxman Markey bill is available here if that is helpful.

The "war room" 5 PM calls have resumed on Tuesdays and Thursdays to share intelligence between the field and the lobbyists and to track the community grassroots, communications and other activities.

For more information on any of these resources or other activities, contact jKurz@climatenetwork.org.

Member-Only Resources

The following resources (talking points, sign-on letters, polling data, reports and more) were added to the member-area of the USCAN website recently. You must login to access them. Need an account? Register here.

Inside the Beltway

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee moves forward on energy bill mark up, reach compromise on RES

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has been marking up a comprehensive energy bill. Last Thursday the panel reached agreement on a central title of the draft legislation, which would require that 15% of the nation's electricity come from renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2021, up to 4% of the standard could meet through efficiency. This is a significant compromise from the 20 percent mandate that Bingaman initially proposed.

The panel will vote on one final amendment tomorrow and plans to begin marking up the last main title of the draft legislation, focused on oil and gas. Even with the compromise, Bingaman struggled to garner the support needed to get the committee's approval for the measure, lowering the mandate to seek backing from committee Democrats from Southeastern states. Bingaman and other Democrats made clear that while they supported the 15 percent compromise to move the measure through committee, they intend to try to strenghten the provision on the floor. For more information see CQ Today Online News, June 4 (sub req'd)

Outside the Beltway

U.S. and China Debate on CO2 Emissions

The United States' climate change policy envoy, Todd Stern, arrived in Beijing yesterday, the latest in a succession of officials hoping to reach agreement with China on mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. According to Representative Edward Markey (D-Mass.), who recently returned from a trip to China, "This is going to be one of the most complex diplomatic negotiations in the history of the world." As the world's top two emitters of greenhouse gases, if the two countries do not meet some kind of truce to restrict emissions then, most negotiators believe, it is not likely that a meaningful international climate treaty will be reached in Copenhagen this December. Both countries have agreed to hold more discussions on commitments to climate change policy. Read more at The New York Times

Second Week of U.N. Negotiations in Bonn

At the second round of U.N. talks to negotiate a global agreement to limit and then reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the issue of funding for adaptation efforts has become critical for success. As temperatures continue to rise globally, developing nations are already experiencing the effects of climate-related disasters, such as crop loss and water shortages, that are predicted by the U.N. to cost hundreds of billions of dollars in adaptation efforts. One suggestion for the global warming deal, proposed by the world's 50 least developed countries, is to have rich nations pay a tax on international flights and shipping fuel in order to raise the billions of dollars needed to help poorer nations adapt to climate change. Also gaining ground in Bonn is a separate Mexican proposal for a "green fund" plan that would require all countries to pay amounts according to a formula reflecting population size, greenhouse gas emissions, and the size of their economy. Read more at The Guardian

Climate Remains a Priority for Newly Elected European Parliament

On Sunday, citizens of the European Union elected hundreds of new members to the European Parliament to represent them for the next five years, in which cutting greenhouse gas emissions and increasing Europe's energy security will be major concerns. All the major European parties consider it important to ensure that the EU takes a leading role in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change talks. As the EU is the only region to have committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions to 20% below 1990 levels by 2020, it has tried to set an example for other industrialized nations to follow. In an effort to coax other nations to make firm commitments to reduce emissions, the EU has pledged to raise this goal to 30 % should other industrialized countries commit to comparable goals. The Parliament has traditionally been the EU's most progressive institution when it comes to setting ambitious emissions reductions targets, with the Green party pushing the EU to commit to 40% emission reductions by 2020. Read more at EurActiv

Capitol Hill Events

June 9: Hearing on GHG Emissions Allocations (House En & Com)
June 9: Hearing on Defining "Green" Marketing Practices (House En & Com
June 9: Hearing on Environmental Research at DOE (House Sci & Tech)
June 9: Hearing on Chemicals' Impacts on Fish and Wildlife (House NR)
June 9: Hearing on Scientific Integrity at EPA (Senate Env & PW)
June 9: Hearing on Ocean Economy (Senate Com)
June 9: Vote on Energy, Interior Nominees (Senate En & NR)
June 9: Markup of Energy Legislation (Senate En & NR)
June 9: Briefing on Effective Global Climate Change Policy: Technical and Regulatory Challenges (Newseum)
June 10: Briefing on "Small Wonders": How America's Small Businesses are Helping Fuel a Green Economic Recovery (EESI)
June 10: Markup of Wildlife, Public Lands Legislation (House NR)
June 10: Hearing on Washington, D.C., Chemicals Cleanup (House Ovs & Gov Rfm)
June 10: Markup of EPA, FHA Nominees (Senate Env & PW)
June 10: Hearing on the State of the U.S. Auto Industry (Senate Bnk, Hsg & Urbn Aff)
June 11: Briefing on Forest Biomass: Renewable, Low Carbon, and Limited (EESI)
June 11: Briefing on the Search for Wise Energy Policy (Indiana Univ-SPEA)
June 11: Hearing on Fixing IRIS (House Sci & Tech)
June 11: Hearing on Climate Bill (House Ag)
June 12: Hearing on Future of Transmission (House En & Com)

Other Headlines

----------------

Jennifer Kurz

Outreach Director

U.S. Climate Action Network

1810 16th St. NW., Washington, DC 20009

Direct: 202-621-6237 Cell: 202-374-4431

Office: 202-609-9846 Fax: 202-536-5503

Skype: jenniferlkurz

www.usclimatenetwork.org

Please excuse typos- this message was written with voice recognition software

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Capitol Hotline (Jun. 8)

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