Brad at the Wonk Room has the story:

Even as the Senate argues whether to pass clean-energy legislation, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finally moving to regulate global warming pollution. One of the leading opponents to the EPA’s proposed regulations, slated to go into effect in March, 2010, is Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal (R-LA). On Monday, Jindal “and the secretaries of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources and Louisiana Economic Development filed objections with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson,” claiming the Supreme-Court-mandated standards “will certainly have profound negative economic impacts.“

Here is Governor Jindal’s (R-LA) two page letter to EPA Administrator Jackson:

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Perhaps Sarkozy will respond with something with less exemptions:

France’s constitutional court rejected a proposed tax on carbon emissions, saying a web of exemptions violated the principal of equality and rendered efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions ineffective.

The government said it will make new proposals on Jan. 20.

The tax, which would have started on Jan. 1, was set at 17 euros ($24.38) per ton of carbon-dioxide emissions, President Nicolas Sarkozy said in September. To make the tax more palatable, he partially or fully exempted power plants, public transport, airlines, farming and fishing, as well as 1,018 older cement, steel and glass factories.

In all, 93 percent of all industrial carbon emissions in France would have avoided paying the full tax, the constitutional court said in a decision published on its Web site. The tax would have fallen disproportionately on fuel for heating and cars, it said.

“The court ruled that the system of exemptions, due to their extensive nature, were contrary to the objective of fighting global warming and contravene the principle of equality before the tax system,” the court said.

The court rejected all the articles relating to the carbon tax in the government’s 2010 budget.

We’ll be traveling for the next 24 hours or so, so blogging will likely be light or nonexistent. Sporadic blogging will resume once Maggie and I return to EnviroKnow world headquarters later on Tuesday, and will be back to a normal pace on Monday the 4th.

In the meantime, check out Josh Lynch’s top 10 list of youth climate moments over at IGHIH:

• December 2009 - Youth sit-in, refuse to leave while reading 11 million voices for a strong climate deal in Copenhagen
• October 2009 – 15,000 school kids march for climate in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in One of over 5000 climate demonstrations in 181 countries
• March 2009 – 2,500 Protest Capitol Coal Plant after historic Power Shift Conference
• December 2008 – Youth climate journalist breaks story of Tennessee Coal Ash spill 100 times bigger than Exxon Valdez
• April 2007 – 1350 “Step It Up” Demonstrations put 80% by 2050 carbon target on the map
• December 2005 – International Youth launch popular climate blog ItsGettingHotinHere.org at Montreal Climate Talks
• June 2004 – Youth leaders from more than 20 organizations in U.S. and Canada form the Energy Action Coalition
• November 2003 – Students at 65 colleges and universities organize the first National Day of Action for Clean Energy
• April 2001 – Seven-Day Student Sit-in for “Kyoto Now!” Wins Cornell University Climate Commitment
• December 2000 – Over 200 students pressure governments at UN Climate Talks in The Hague

Politico is always pleased to report on what Democrats are saying when they are arguing against the party’s platform (page 49).

Senator Landrieu:

“I am communicating that in every way I know how,” said Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), one of at least a half-dozen Democrats who’ve told the White House or their own leaders that it’s time to jettison the centerpiece of their party’s plan to curb global warming.

Senator Bayh:

“We need to deal with the phenomena of global warming, but I think it’s very difficult in the kind of economic circumstances we have right now,” said Indiana Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh, who called passage of any economywide cap and trade “unlikely.”

Senator Nelson:

“I’d just as soon see that set aside until we work through the economy,” said Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.). “What we don’t want to do is have anything get in the way of working to resolve the problems with the economy.”

Senator Conrad:

“Climate change in an election year has very poor prospects,” added Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.). “I’ve told that to the leadership.”

A tent that includes Senators arguing against dealing with the greatest challenge of our time is too big of a tent for me. I’m not insisting on ideological purity, but we need Democrats who are capable of fighting for legitimate solutions to real problems. The folks quoted above, unfortunately, can not be included in that category.

The New York Times reports:

Some of the greenest technologies of the age, from electric cars to efficient light bulbs to very large wind turbines, are made possible by an unusual group of elements called rare earths. The world’s dependence on these substances is rising fast.

Just one problem: These elements come almost entirely from China, from some of the most environmentally damaging mines in the country, in an industry dominated by criminal gangs.

This chart shows a) the extent to which production of these elements is dominated by China and b) the price volatility of the rarest of these elements:

We may need to do some rethinking of what we mean when we call an energy source or technology ’sustainable’ or ‘environmentally friendly.’

I am not sure why this asshole is part of Senator Kerry’s efforts:

“I don’t think the Senate has an appetite for another such epic, polarized legislative war this session,” said Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), who met with Sens. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) on Wednesday to strategize on how to enlist support for a compromise climate bill they are writing.

Wildlife Promise:

But a new poll released by the National Wildlife Federation is revealing that Swifthack has failed to move the needle with voters…

… Among those who said they had read or seen something about the stolen emails, 53% said it did not affect their view at all. The remainder was largely split — 26% said it made them less likely to support the U.S. taking action to reduce global warming while 20% said it made them more likely to support action.

Even a harshly framed attack about the emails failed to influence voters in any significant way … 63% still say they believe global warming is happening.

Here are the full results of the poll:

122109PollMemo –

Most of these folks were never going to seriously consider voting for a worthwhile bill in the first place. I’m glad they’ve now identified their excuse for inaction so we can stop including them in policy negotiations.

“It makes it hard to do anything because of the way this was handled,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

Graham didn’t elaborate, but he didn’t have to — the fierce partisan fights during the past few weeks have torn away at the Senate’s clubby decorum, raising temperatures, fraying nerves and creating what one Democratic senator has called a “very high” level of distrust among members.

Graham’s words carry serious weight with supporters of climate change legislation because the South Carolina Republican has emerged as a leader on the issue in the Senate, working with Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) on a bipartisan bill.

Other potentially “gettable” Republican senators also sounded discouraging notes Monday.

“Right now, I would say that cap and trade is stalled,” said Maine Sen. Susan Collins.

“Cap and trade has been delayed by the health care debate almost indefinitely,” said Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar. “The question will be how many more battles members of Congress want to take on in an election year.”

“I give it a very low chance,” said Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a potential GOP target for bill supporters. “What it comes down to is our ability to work together as a body. And right now, the indicators are not very positive for climate change.”

Press release via Sierra Club.

President Obama Leads World to Historic, If Incomplete Climate Deal
Progress Made Sets Stage for Fair, Ambitious, and Binding Deal in 2010

Copenhagen, Denmark–After two weeks of fraught, stalled negotiations, President Obama arrived in Copenhagen, built on the progress made yesterday by Secretary of State Clinton, personally negotiated with world leaders for hours, and tonight announced the elements of an international climate accord. The Sierra Club offered the following comments in response.

Statement of Carl Pope, Sierra Club Executive Director
“The world’s nations have come together and concluded a historic–if incomplete–agreement to begin tackling global warming. Tonight’s announcement is but a first step and much work remains to be done in the days and months ahead in order to seal a final international climate deal that is fair, binding, and ambitious. It is imperative that negotiations resume as soon as possible.

“President Obama and the rest of the world paid a steep price here in Copenhagen because of obstructionism in the United States Senate. That a deal was reached at all is testament to President Obama’s leadership–all the more remarkable because of the very weak hand he was dealt because of the Senate’s failure to pass domestic clean energy and climate legislation. Now that the rest of the world–including countries like China and India–has made clear that it is willing to take action, the Senate must pass domestic legislation as soon as possible. America and the world can no longer be held hostage to petty politics and obstructionism.

“What was clear over the past two weeks is that there is no argument over the science of global warming or the urgency with which we must act. A parade of developed and developing counties alike made crystal clear that they would implement their national plans to tackle global warming and build the clean energy economy not because they were required to do so, but because it was simply in their own national interest to do so.

“The agreement reached here has all the ingredients necessary to construct a final treaty–a mitigation target of 2 degrees Celsius, nationally appropriate action plans, a mechanism for international climate finance, and transparency with regard to national commitments. President Obama has made much progress in past 11 months and it now appears that the U.S.–and the world–is ready to do the hard work necessary to finish what was started here in Copenhagen.

“A chilly two weeks in Copenhagen has given humanity its best chance of preventing the ravages of a warming world. Today’s deal is neither perfect nor complete, but we must not this chance slip away.”

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