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This is it, people. I don't know why I didn't think to post this sooner, but in a way the timing is appropriate: the draft of this bill that was introduced in early March has just been transformed into a full-fledged bill in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, H.R. 2454. Some environmental groups say it still needs to be improved before they can support it, but if you agree that we have to pass something substantial this year, this bill is clearly the way to go. In addition to your representatives, these swing voters may need to hear more support from the public before they make a decision.
The ACES Act is the most comprehensive global-warming- and alternative-energy-focused legislation we've yet seen, and it comes not a moment too soon. Its contents include both a cap-and-trade system of greenhouse emission permits, the centerpiece of its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough to avoid a predicted global climate catastrophe, and a renewable electricity production standard to ensure that the most polluting sector of our economy begins making real changes. It also contains extensive provisions to motivate electricity producers and others to promote energy efficiency measures, the cheapest means of reducing emissions, and provides some funding (some would say too much) for research into burying the carbon dioxide from the remaining fossil-fuel-fired power plants. (The spending in this bill is balanced to some degree by the revenues from auctioning off about 15% of the pollution permits, a number we hope to increase.)
On the almost equally crucial transportation front, the bill promotes large-scale conversion of our vehicles and refueling infrastructure to plug-in electrics, as well as supporting development of the "smart grid" technologies needed to balance the load when large numbers of electric cars are plugged in. In the meanwhile, the bill directs the EPA to strengthen greenhouse gas emission standards for gas- and diesel-powered vehicles as much as current technology will allow.
All of these goals are supported by a commitment to increase job training and assistance for the many workers who will need to transition from polluting industries to the new clean energy economy, as well as tax credit and refund programs for low-income people to cope with fluctuations in energy costs throughout this difficult but necessary national transition. And since we know that a certain amount of further global warming is now inevitable, the bill contains provisions for helping the nation adapt to the difficulties this will impose.
Finally, there are provisions to allow international exchange of pollution reduction "offsets" (arguably too many--many environmentalists see these offsets as an easy way to maintain business as usual), and to fund efforts at reforesting tropical areas to absorb carbon dioxide, as well as transfers of clean-energy technologies to developing economies that couldn't otherwise afford them.
The main reason I feel so strongly about the need to advocate for this bill is that it will demonstrate America's new commitment to leading the world in solving the climate crisis, a commitment we need to make clear at the international negotiations in Copenhagen this December that will define the successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol. According to the latest science, these negotiations are our last chance to establish a matching commitment from other world leaders to work together globally to save our future.
So again, please call your U.S. Representative to let him/her know how crucial it is that we pass this bill, and prevent it from getting watered down into meaninglessness. Presuming it passes the House, the Senate fight this fall will be even harder, so you could call your Senators too just to get the ball rolling.
Thanks, everyone!
The ACES Act is the most comprehensive global-warming- and alternative-energy-focused legislation we've yet seen, and it comes not a moment too soon. Its contents include both a cap-and-trade system of greenhouse emission permits, the centerpiece of its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough to avoid a predicted global climate catastrophe, and a renewable electricity production standard to ensure that the most polluting sector of our economy begins making real changes. It also contains extensive provisions to motivate electricity producers and others to promote energy efficiency measures, the cheapest means of reducing emissions, and provides some funding (some would say too much) for research into burying the carbon dioxide from the remaining fossil-fuel-fired power plants. (The spending in this bill is balanced to some degree by the revenues from auctioning off about 15% of the pollution permits, a number we hope to increase.)
On the almost equally crucial transportation front, the bill promotes large-scale conversion of our vehicles and refueling infrastructure to plug-in electrics, as well as supporting development of the "smart grid" technologies needed to balance the load when large numbers of electric cars are plugged in. In the meanwhile, the bill directs the EPA to strengthen greenhouse gas emission standards for gas- and diesel-powered vehicles as much as current technology will allow.
All of these goals are supported by a commitment to increase job training and assistance for the many workers who will need to transition from polluting industries to the new clean energy economy, as well as tax credit and refund programs for low-income people to cope with fluctuations in energy costs throughout this difficult but necessary national transition. And since we know that a certain amount of further global warming is now inevitable, the bill contains provisions for helping the nation adapt to the difficulties this will impose.
Finally, there are provisions to allow international exchange of pollution reduction "offsets" (arguably too many--many environmentalists see these offsets as an easy way to maintain business as usual), and to fund efforts at reforesting tropical areas to absorb carbon dioxide, as well as transfers of clean-energy technologies to developing economies that couldn't otherwise afford them.
The main reason I feel so strongly about the need to advocate for this bill is that it will demonstrate America's new commitment to leading the world in solving the climate crisis, a commitment we need to make clear at the international negotiations in Copenhagen this December that will define the successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol. According to the latest science, these negotiations are our last chance to establish a matching commitment from other world leaders to work together globally to save our future.
So again, please call your U.S. Representative to let him/her know how crucial it is that we pass this bill, and prevent it from getting watered down into meaninglessness. Presuming it passes the House, the Senate fight this fall will be even harder, so you could call your Senators too just to get the ball rolling.
Thanks, everyone!
