This is old, but important.

Carl Pope:

The Senate is supposed to be debating global warming — the bill on the floor is the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act. But yesterday the Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, refused to allow the Senate to debate the 491-page bill, demanding instead that the clerk READ IT OUT LOUD — a process that took NINE hours.

McConnell did not claim that members of the Senate were illiterate — he said he was just pissed off that the Democrats weren’t approving President Bush’s judicial nominees. (Can McConnell spell infantile?) But evidently it’s not really judges that got under McConnell’s skin. Last night Majority Leader Harry Reid read a much shorter (and more interesting) document out loud to the Senate — it was a leaked copy of a Republican leadership-strategy memo explaining that they had no intention of seriously legislating about climate change, but intended to use the floor time to score political points at the expense of the Democrats. The memo gleefully looked forward to a whole series of votes in which advocates of cleaning up global warming would be portrayed as plotting $8/gallon gasoline prices.

The USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity has just released a new report: The Climate Gap: Inequalities in How Climate Change Hurts Americans & How to Close the Gap:

By now, virtually all Americans concur that climate change is real, and could pose devastating consequences for our nation and our children. Equally real is the “Climate Gap” – the sometimes hidden and often unequal impact climate change will have on people of color and the poor in the United States.

This report helps to document the Climate Gap, connecting the dots between research on heat waves, air quality, and other challenges associated with climate change. But we do more than point out an urgent problem; we also explore how we might best combine efforts to both solve climate change and close the Climate Gap — including an appendix focused on California’s global warming policy and a special accompanying analysis of the federal-level American Clean Energy Security Act.

I encourage you to download the full report.

Via DOE:

James J. Markowsky, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy, Department of Energy

James J. Markowsky is currently a consultant in the energy and electric power generation area, a member of the National Research Council’s Committee on America’s Energy Future and a Member and the Chair of the National Academy of Engineering’s Section 6 – Electric Power/Energy Systems Committee. Previously, Markowsky was the President of Research and Development Solution, LLC, from 2004 – 2005 where he was involved in providing technical support services, including R&D technology planning and analysis; R&D project planning and analysis; and R&D operations and process engineering, design and analysis to DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratories. Before that he was executive vice president of power generation, at American Electric Power Service Corporation(AEP), where his responsibilities included providing overall administrative, operational, and technical direction for the AEP System’s 21,000MWe coal and 800 MWe hydro power generating facilities. Markowsky’s career with AEP extended from 1971 – 2000, and his other positions included; executive vice president of engineering and construction, senior vice president and chief engineer, vice president – mechanical engineering, assistant vice president – mechanical engineering, AEP Sloan Fellow, and section manager.

Markowsky received several awards including the Washington Coal Club’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002 and has 26 publications in the area of power generation and fossil energy. He earned degrees from: Massachusetts Institute of Technology – MS in Industrial Management -1981; Cornell University – Ph.D. in 1971 and MS in 1970, both in Mechanical Engineering; and Pratt Institute – Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering -1967.

Polly Trottenberg, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, Department of Transportation

Polly Trottenberg serves as Executive Director of Building America’s Future, a national bipartisan coalition that supports U.S. infrastructure investment and a more accountable, sustainable and performance-driven national transportation policy. Building America’s Future is chaired by Governor Edward G. Rendell, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and has a membership of elected officials from across the U.S. Prior to joining Building America’s Future, Trottenberg served in the U.S. Senate for 12 years, most recently as Deputy Chief of Staff and Legislative Director for Senator Barbara Boxer, and worked extensively on transportation policy.

She also served as Legislative Director for Senator Charles Schumer and as Legislative Assistant for Transportation, Public Works and Environment for the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Trottenberg previously worked at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the Massachusetts Port Authority on aviation and transportation finance issues, and on the Joint Commerce and Labor Committee of the Massachusetts State Senate. She received her Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government and her BA in American History from Columbia University, Barnard College.

Congrats to friend of EnviroKnow Miles Grant on these crucial endorsements:

More than a dozen top Arlington environmentalists announced their support today for Miles Grant in the Democratic primary for House of Delegates in Arlington’s 47th district. The endorsements come the same week the Sierra Club endorsed Grant’s candidacy.“Miles is the only candidate in the race who’s been an activist on environmental issues, both here in Arlington and across Virginia,” said Phil Rizzi, current board member and former chair of Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment. “From fighting for clean energy to standing up for Arlington against I66 expansion, Miles has led the charge on building a more sustainable community here in Arlington. He will carry that fight to Richmond and work to make not only Arlington but all of Virginia a better place to live, work, and play.”

The full press release is available here.

Brain Angliss is out with this week’s Weekly Carboholic. Here are the stories he covered this week:

GPS degradation to affect climate measurements too
Secretary Chu suggests white roofs to combat climate disruption
Ecuador wants cash to leave carbon underground
Subsidies, quotas warping “renewable” definition

Jonathon Hiskes has a must read piece at Grist:

Imagine the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives standing in a single line, from the most likely to support climate change legislation to the least likely. At the far “green” end, i.e. most inclined to vote for greenhouse gas restrictions, you’d find Seattle Democrat Jim McDermott. At the far “brown” end, Texas Republican/libertarian Ron Paul.

Predictably, most Republicans would stand nearer to Paul’s end. Most Democrats would stand closer to McDermott. In the exact center, according to recent work by two economists, are nine lawmakers. And if the Waxman-Markey climate bill receives a full House vote, any one of them could provide the 218th “yes”—the decisive vote that passes the bill.

Let’s call them the Carbon Nine: Jason Altmire (Pennsylvania), Rick Boucher (Virginia), Artur Davis (Alabama), Baron Hill (Indiana), Charlie Melancon (Louisiana), Earl Pomeroy (North Dakota), Mike Ross (Arkansas), John Tanner (Tennessee), and Gene Taylor (Mississippi).

Via EIA (h/t Watthead):

World marketed energy consumption is projected to grow by 44 percent between 2006 and 2030, driven by strong long-term economic growth in the developing nations of the world, according to the reference case projection from the International Energy Outlook 2009 (IEO2009) released today by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The current global economic downturn will dampen world energy demand in the near term, as manufacturing and consumer demand for goods and services slows. However, with economic recovery anticipated to begin within the next 12 to 24 months, most nations are expected to see energy consumption growth at rates anticipated prior to the recession. Total world energy use rises from 472 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) in 2006 to 552 quadrillion Btu in 2015 and then to 678 quadrillion Btu in 2030.

Via Wikipedia:

The event, which took place Tuesday in Denver, was well documented in two blog posts. First, Van Jones writes:

To rebuild and strengthen the middle class, Vice President Joe Biden wants Americans earning more money in enterprises that upgrade America’s buildings, increase their efficiency, save money, and at the same time, help to improve our environment.

· Read the Release: Vice President Biden Calls for Report on Green Opportunities for the Middle Class

· Read the Release: Middle Class Task Force Announces Agency Partnerships to Build a Strong Middle Class through a Green Economy

· Read the Middle Class Task Force’s Green Jobs Update Report (pdf)

· Read Appendix A for the MCTF Green Jobs Report, May 26, 2009 (pdf)

A smart plan will ultimately save Americans billions of dollars in energy costs, while creating jobs and reducing the strain on our nation’s power grid. Reducing the load on our coal-fired power plants would, in turn, cut air pollution – letting our kids and seniors breathe a little easier.

At the same time, retrofitting American homes will also enhance their value – since energy efficient homes are more valuable than drafty ones. In other words, an aggressive program to retrofit America will create more work, more wealth, and better health for middle class Americans.

That is why today Vice President Biden asked the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to help the administration develop long-term, innovative proposals to begin weatherizing and retrofitting our nation’s building stock.

Then, Jared Bernstein, VP Biden’s Chief Economist, wrote:

Those who’ve been with us from the beginning will notice that this is our second taskforce meeting on this topic of green jobs. This is no accident: our emphasis on green energy occurs at the intersection of two of the Obama Administration’s most important policy initiatives: protecting the environment and creating good jobs.

On the first point—fighting back against global warming—this past week has been a good one. On Tuesday the President hosted an historic event where stakeholders who have been at odds for years on this stuff came together to support a much higher mileage standard for vehicles. (BTW, IMHO one of President Obama’s more important skills is the ability to take folks who traditionally line up on opposite sides and bring them together—you see it in health care too.)

The administration’s plan to promote clean energy use also made some headway in Congress last week.

Then there’s green jobs, which we define broadly (and loosely—there is no official definition) as jobs that help to improve the environment in some way. That includes blue collar workers building out the smart grid to efficiently move the wind power (green, renewable energy) across the land. It includes “weatherizers” who can diagnose and repair the energy inefficiencies in your house or business. And it includes the green manufacturers who made those wind turbines or the scientists and lab technicians who developed those renewable energy sources and weatherization materials.

It’s important to see the connection between these various initiatives: our clean energy agenda, mileage standards, and green jobs. By setting higher mileage standards and by promoting incentives to use clean energy (while reducing our dependence on foreign oil), we create new demand for the science, techniques, products, and tools to meet the standards. We help to grow the market for more efficient engines and new production techniques that reduce carbon emissions. And a growing market means more jobs for middle-class families.