Blue Green Alliance:

WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 30, 2009) With today’s introduction of the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, the Blue Green Alliance released the following statement:

David Foster, Executive Director of the Blue Green Alliance:

“The Blue Green Alliance commends Senators Boxer and Kerry for introducing comprehensive climate change and clean energy legislation. To truly achieve our goals of a cleaner environment and a prosperous and fair clean energy economy, we must pass comprehensive legislation that protects workers and ignites our clean energy economy. The Copenhagen negotiations are just around the corner, and it is critical that the U.S. Senate move on this legislation to send a strong message to the world.”

Leo W. Gerard, International President, United Steelworkers:

“We are in the midst of a long, tough process, which will require significant leadership from the administration, Congress and the many affected parties. I look forward to working with Senators Boxer and Kerry, and the rest of the U.S. Senate, to craft and pass clean energy legislation.

“To get this right, it is critical that this bill not only tackle the challenges we face in addressing climate change, but also come to the aid of workers across the U.S. by creating and maintaining jobs that strengthen America’s manufacturing base, and prevent the leakage of jobs to nations who fail to take action on climate change.”

Carl Pope, Executive Director, Sierra Club:

“The Sierra Club applauds the introduction of this bill because it’s time for America to again take charge and make sure that we have more jobs, less pollution and greater security.”

Terence O’Sullivan, General President, Laborers’ International Union of North America:

“The half-million men and women of LIUNA – who work every day to build America – are pleased with the bill’s family-supporting Davis-Bacon provisions, which will help ensure that new jobs are good jobs with fair pay. The bill’s green construction careers provision invests in both workers and jobs of the future and will strengthen communities. As we move forward, LIUNA looks forward to working with the Senate to ensure that sufficient investment is also made in building weatherization, which can create good jobs, save families money and help free us from foreign oil.”

Frances Beinecke, President, Natural Resources Defense Council:

“This bill will help curb climate change, strengthen our economy and make our country more secure. It will help generate jobs, reduce our reliance on foreign oil and create a healthier future for all of us. And it will put Americans back to work, making our country the world leader in the clean energy technologies that are driving growth in the global marketplace.”

Larry Cohen, President, Communications Workers of America:

“Taking action on the issues of climate change and energy policy is critical for our country. Our goal must be to build a new energy workforce and workplace for the future, one that combines quality jobs with securing America’s place as a leader in energy innovation and manufacturing.  I look forward to working with Senators Boxer and Kerry as we move forward on an energy policy that will also create quality jobs for American workers.”

Andy Stern, President, Service Employees International Union:

“Senators Boxer and Kerry have put forth a bill that not only brings America closer to establishing itself as a leader in the clean energy economy, but ensures that American workers are an integral part of the solution.  I look forward to working with Senators Boxer and Kerry to ensure that sufficient investments are made in job training and creation as we work through this process.”

Mike Langford, National President, Utility Workers Union of America:

“Those working to supply Americans with their electricity have so much to gain from clean energy legislation, and so much to lose from inaction. Working with Senators Boxer and Kerry, we can ensure that comprehensive clean energy legislation transitions our economy to provide the investments needed to grow a long-lasting clean energy sector that will provide high-quality jobs for years to come.”

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The Blue Green Alliance is a national partnership of labor unions and environmental organizations dedicated to expanding the number and quality of jobs in the clean energy economy. The Blue Green Alliance unites more than eight million people in pursuit of good jobs, a clean environment and a green economy.

Senator Voinovich sent the following to his online newsletter on September 30th 2009:

Recently, Sen. Voinovich delivered remarks at the Managing Ohio’s Energy Future Climate Change Conference to discuss Ohio’s vital role in the national climate change debate. As a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) and the Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee, Sen. Voinovich has been at the forefront of the debate on climate change. He is committed to harmonizing our environmental, energy and economic needs, though he does not believe this should be done on the backs of working families. His vote against the Lieberman-Boxer climate bill last year helped save hundreds of thousands of Ohio jobs and protect Ohio seniors and families from sky-rocketing natural gas, electricity and gasoline costs. Sen. Voinovich believes the smart way to go about addressing this problem isn’t through unilateral actions that hurt our economy and drive jobs overseas. Americans are already struggling with increases in their cost of living due to higher prices for gasoline, home heating fuel, electricity, food and health care. Climate change must be addressed in a bipartisan way – it must incentivize the clean energy technologies we need now and in the future. Only through a collaborative, multinational effort can we develop and deploy the clean energy technologies necessary to solve this global problem.

Representative Ed Markey:

“With the release of this Senate draft bill, there is now Congress-wide movement to pass a comprehensive clean energy and climate bill. Given the Senate draft’s structural similarity to the House-passed Waxman-Markey bill, a legislative solution that can pass both chambers of Congress is finally within sight.

“Just as in Waxman-Markey, the Senate draft bill includes many provisions to help America make the transition away from foreign oil and to a clean energy future, including robust consumer protection and worker training measures.

“As the bill moves through the Senate process, I will continue to work with Senators Kerry and Boxer, and any other Senators, to ensure that the final legislation we send to President Obama creates a future with more clean energy and less global warming pollution.”

Hill Heat has compiled many statements on the legislation from environmental organizations here

Via email from Friends of the Earth.

Friends of the Earth Statement on the Kerry-Boxer Draft Climate Bill

·         Offset Loopholes: The extensive use of unreliable offsets in this draft bill, up to 2 billion tons a year, seriously undermines the integrity of the already weak emissions cap and delays the health, environmental, and economic benefits of shifting to a low-carbon economy.

·         Markets Regulations: The bill would creative a massive, new and complex commodities market with almost no specifics on how that market would be regulated.

**Upon on a more thorough reading of the draft bill, we acknowledge that the Clean Air Act section of our previous statement was not an accurate reflection of the bill’s text.

Kerry.Senate.Gov:

In this time of economic challenge, we have a unique opportunity to put Americans back to work and take charge of our security, our energy future and the fate of our planet. We have the chance to reclaim our energy destiny.For too long, Washington has let oil companies, lobbyists, and special interests maximize their profits and minimize our progress. Our dependence on foreign oil has hurt our economy, helped our enemies, and put our national security at risk. It’s time to invest in energy solutions that are made in America, and work for America. It’s time to take back control.

This bill will get tough on corporate pollution and put American ingenuity to work to dramatically improve every facet of the way America generates and uses energy. It will create millions of new, good-paying jobs, protect our air and water from dangerous pollution, and secure our children’s future by making America more energy independent. And it does not raise the federal deficit by one single dime.

For more information see Senator Kerry’s Op-Ed in Politico.

Here is an overview of the bill:

Overview –

Here is a section-by-section summary:

SectionbySectionSummary –

Here is the full text of the legislation:

bill –

Wonk Room explains:

This is a blatant falsehood, by any definition. The Chamber has a long history of questioning the science of climate change. The Chamber’s present campaign against regulation of greenhouse gases by the Environmental Protection Agency questions the existence of global warming as well as the scientific evidence of its impacts on the public health and welfare. The Chamber promotes global warming denier books “to advance our thinking about issues of significance,” and has promoted the work of global warming denier Pat Michaels since at least 1992.

Here is Chamber President Tom Donohue’s full statement:

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce continues to support strong federal legislation and a binding international agreement to reduce carbon emissions and address climate change.

We believe that in order to succeed, any climate change response must include all major CO2 emitting economies, promote new technologies, emphasize efficiency, ensure affordable energy for families and businesses, and help create American jobs and return our economy to prosperity. The Congress should carefully deliberate on and enact legislation that meets these goals.

We also have called upon the United States to join with other nations to negotiate a new international agreement that sets binding CO2 reduction commitments for each nation, while allowing each to devise its own best path to meeting its target.

These are mainstream, commonsense views that are shared by a broad majority of the American people, the business community, and a growing number of Democrat and Republican legislators.

Furthermore, we believe that Congress should set climate change policy through legislation, rather than having the EPA apply existing environmental statutes that were not created to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. This is also the stated position of the President and Congressional leaders. If determined to proceed on its own, EPA should publicly present its finding and answer questions on the limited studies it cited, in keeping with the President’s pledge of transparency.

We oppose the Waxman-Markey bill because it is neither comprehensive nor international, and it falls short on moving renewable and alternative technologies into the marketplace and enabling our transition to a lower carbon future. It would also impose carbon tariffs on goods imported into the United States, a move that would almost certainly spur retaliation from global trading partners.

Some in the environmental movement claim that, because of our opposition to a specific bill or approach, we must be opposed to all efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, or that we deny the existence of any problem. They are dead wrong. The Chamber has in its public documents, Hill letters and testimony, as well as dozens of concrete policy recommendations, supported efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere while keeping our economy healthy.

We have vigorously supported the production and use of renewable and alternative energy. We have repeatedly supported tax incentives and credits, appropriations, and stimulus funding to promote the accelerated development of new technologies. We are leading the fight to clear the regulatory, legal and Not-In–My-Backyard roadblocks that are currently delaying promising wind, solar, nuclear, and other renewable or emissions-free energy projects across the nation.

The U.S. Chamber is the world’s largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

A. Siegel lamented last week that Nike Just Can’t Seem to Do It:

Despite Nike “fundamentally disagree[ing] with the US Chamber of Commerce’s position on climate change,” unlike Duke Energy, Alstom, PG&E, PNR Resources and others, Nike Just Can’t Do It.

In response to this pressure — as well as a series of other high-profile departures from climate science denying U.S. Chamber of Commerce — Nike has just partially jumped ship by resigning from the Board of Directors.

Here is Nike’s full statement:

Nike US Chamber Statement1 –

Two questions remain:

1. When will Nike formally end its membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce?

2. Which of the following 17 corporations — which are on the record in support of federal climate legislation yet sit on the Chamber’s Board of Directors — will be the next to part ways with the chamber?

Alcoa
Caterpillar Inc.
Deere & Company
Dow Chemical Company
Duke Energy
Eastman Kodak
Entergy
Fox Entertainment Group
IBM
Lockheed
Nike Inc.
PepsiCo
Rolls Royce North America Inc.
Siemens Corporation
Southern Company
The Robertson Foundation
Toyota Motor North America Inc.
Xerox

Update: Solve Climate also saw this coming, writing on Monday: Exelon Latest to Leave US Chamber of Commerce; Is Nike Next?

Update 2: Writing for DeSmogBlog over a week ago, Brendan Demelle challenged Nike to leave the Chamber: “Nike should take a queue from PG&E and exit the Chamber’s roster immediately, and hopefully others will follow.”

Update 3: Think Progress has more.

Here is the fact sheet:

Final EAGLE Fact Sheet –

I can not stress enough that this document varies significantly from the legislation that will actually be introduced. The actual bill is still scheduled to be introduced tomorrow.

Outdated and Early Discussion Draft of Boxer-Kerry Climate Legislation –

Update: The Washington Post links to yet another version of the legislation, calling it a “close-to-final version”. While the above version is 684 pages, this version is 801.

Another Outdated Version of Boxer-Kerry –

Green Inc:

When Sweden began charging motorists to drive into downtown Stockholm during rush hour, the goal was to reduce traffic congestion, cut greenhouse gas emissions and boost ridership on public transportation.That has happened, and now a new study has found another benefit from so-called congestion pricing: In the 24-square kilometer congestion zone in Sweden’s capital, the number of registered alternative fuel vehicles, which are exempt from congestion tolls, jumped from five percent of the total vehicle fleet in 2006 to 14 percent in 2008.

Here is the study:

Sammanfattning eng 090918_-1 –