Via Climate Progress:

The Kerry-Boxer bill is moving along well and we are looking forward to introducing legislation that will create millions of clean energy jobs, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and ensure American leadership in the clean energy economy.Because of Senator Kennedy’s recent passing, Senator Kerry’s August hip surgery, and the intensive work on health care legislation particularly on the Finance Committee where Sen. Kerry serves, Majority Leader Reid has agreed to provide some additional time to work on the final details of our bill, and to reach out to colleagues and important stakeholders. We have told the Majority Leader that our goal is to introduce our bill later in September.

Update: Majority Leader Reid’s statement, also via Climate Progress:

“Senator Reid appreciates the leadership of Senators Boxer and Kerry as they shepherd this important legislation through their respective committees. They are working diligently to craft a well-balanced bill and Senator Reid fully expects the Senate to have ample time to consider this comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation before the end of the year.”

A group of more than 300 organizations sent a letter (below) this morning to Senator Barbara Boxer urging her to introduce a stronger climate bill in the Senate than what the House of Representatives was able to pass on June 26th. Boxer, who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, will be introducing legislation with Senator Kerry in the coming weeks. This development comes in stark opposition to a spate of recent fraudulent letters in opposition to climate legislation, paid for by the coal industry.

Here is the letter:

300+GrpLetter-1 -

Here is the press release:

BoxerLetterRelease –

Transcript from ABC’s This Week:

STEPHANOPOULOS: You’ve also pledged to help – to work with the president on preserving our national parks. You’re here with Secretary Salazar. And one of the things you’re having a hearing on this weekend is the threat of climate change to our national parks.

I was in Glacier National Park a couple years ago with Governor Schweitzer. You talked about the problem there. Glaciers just evaporating, could be completely gone by 2025, 2035. What’s the threat here?

MCCAIN: I think the threat is serious here. We’ve seen increased temperatures, which has had impact on the wildlife, on the flora and fauna, on the Colorado River itself, which we are seeing less and less of.

We are in serious drought conditions, our parks have very fragile ecology here and, frankly, when you’re in this driest area anyway, then they’re even more fragile.

So I think that part of the impact of climate change on our national parks is – well, you know, they’re going to have to change the name of Glacier National Park because the glaciers are going away.

STEPHANOPOULOS: In the past, you’ve been supportive of legislation to deal with greenhouse gas emissions, cap and trade. What about the current legislation that’s coming out of the House now, moving to the Senate? They’ve met a lot of your objections about not giving away the allowances. Is this something that you can support?

MCCAIN: Well, to support a 1,400 page piece of legislation to start with is always difficult for me, but I believe that the only way we’re going to truly reduce greenhouse gas emissions effectively is through nuclear power.

We have got to build 100 nuclear power plants in the next 20 years. We can do that. Right now, the administration’s position is against storage and they’re against recycling of spent nuclear fuel. I can’t support a genuine reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, unless nuclear power is a key part of it.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But you’ve been for it in past.

MCCAIN: I’ve been for – and nuclear – assuming that nuclear power would be a key part of it. I mean, you can’t get there from here. The only country that’s really making its Kyoto goals is France, where 80 percent of their electricity is generated by nuclear power.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But you’d be willing to go along with cap and trade, if it were part of a comprehensive deal that included more …

MCCAIN: Well, that would have to be part of it. And second of all, in any 1,400 page piece of legislation, you put in a lot of special deals for a lot of special interests. We know what happened there. The bazaar was open in the House of Representatives, so obviously I would have to want to do away with a whole lot of that.

But I think climate change is real and I would be glad to sit down and try to work, as I have in the past, across the aisle on this issue. Senator Lieberman is great on this issue…

STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Kerry is putting a group together as well; have you been part of that?

MCCAIN: I have not yet, no.

Washington Post:

The Post asked politicians, academics and others whether the health-care debate has made it unlikely that climate change legislation will be passed in the near future. Below are contributions from Steven F. Hayward, Kenneth P. Green, James M. Inhofe, Geoff Garin, Tony Fratto, Steve Seidel, David G. Hawkins, Harold Ford Jr., Kay Baily Hutchison.

Here is Senator Boxer’s statement:

SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D-Calif.)

Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee

As we are moving to address some of our nation’s great challenges — revitalizing our economy, putting Americans back to work and passing health insurance reform — scientists are telling us we have a short window to take the steps that are needed to avoid the ravages of global warming. We must also act quickly to ensure America leads the world in clean energy technology. We need to confront all of these issues; we don’t have the luxury of picking and choosing. By creating powerful incentives for clean energy, the bill that Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and I will introduce in September will restore our economy and create jobs at home while reducing carbon pollution and making us less dependent on foreign oil. John Doerr — one of the nation’s leading venture capitalists, who helped launch Google and Amazon.com — has predicted that the investment capital that will flow into clean energy will dwarf the amount invested in high-tech and biotech combined. It will create millions of jobs in America — building wind turbines, installing solar panels on homes and producing a new fleet of electric and hybrid vehicles.

We can successfully address all of these challenges. Our forebears have set the pace ever since our nation was founded. President Obama has reminded us that America built the transcontinental railroad and established the National Academy of Sciences in the midst of the Civil War. In the 1960s, we passed historic civil rights legislation even as we took on the challenge of going to the moon. At the end of the day, leaders have to lead when action is needed.

From EPW.

Video of full hearing available here.

The focus of today’s hearing is on clean energy jobs, economic growth, and global warming policies from a state and local perspective. Providing incentives for clean energy is a win-win solution for our country — it helps to address the threat of global warming and it builds the foundation for long term recovery and prosperity. Right now, our states, cities and counties are leading the way in adopting smart policies to drive the transition to a clean energy economy.

I would like to thank our distinguished witnesses for being here today. On the first panel we have:
• Governor Bill Ritter from the State of Colorado,
• Governor Chris Gregoire from the State of Washington,
• Governor John Hoeven from the State of North Dakota,
• Governor Jon Corzine from the State of New Jersey.

On the second panel we have:
• Mayor Robert Kiss from the City of Burlington, Vermont,
• Mayor William Euille from the City of Alexandria, Virginia,
• State Representative John Lowery from Arkansas,
• Mayor Douglas Palmer from the City of Trenton, New Jersey.

We are facing two historic challenges today – the current recession, and the dangers of unchecked global warming. And we have the opportunity to address both with a single solution that will create millions of clean energy jobs in America, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and protect our children and grandchildren from pollution.

I agree with President Obama, who said: “We can remain one of the world’s leading importers of foreign oil, or we can make the investments that would allow us to become the world’s leading exporter of renewable energy. We can let climate change continue to go unchecked, or we can help stop it. We can let the jobs of tomorrow be created abroad, or we can create those jobs right here in America and lay the foundation for lasting prosperity.”

Legislation that provides incentives for clean energy will create jobs, increase our energy efficiency, save families and businesses money in energy costs and drive technological innovation.

When we provide incentives for clean energy development, we invest in American jobs. What kind of jobs are needed to build the clean energy economy? The University of Massachusetts at Amherst found that clean energy industries employ construction workers, electricians, boilermakers, mechanics, plant operators, farmers, engineers, scientists, and teachers.

My State of California is a national leader in clean energy job creation. A June 2009 Pew Charitable Trusts report found that more than 10,000 new clean energy businesses were launched in California from 1998 to 2007. During this period, clean energy investments created more than 125,000 jobs and generated jobs faster than the state’s economy as a whole.

I look forward to today’s testimony from state and local officials who are implementing innovative policies to help build the foundation for the clean energy economy.

Here is the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s latest desperate attempt:

Dear Republican Friend,

Barbara Boxer is at it again.

Recently, I told you about Boxer’s unbelievable behavior during a committee hearing when she berated a U.S. General for having the tenacity to call her “ma’am,” insisting he use the title “Senator.”

Today, the President and CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce fought back and questioned what he felt were racial undertones in her statements at a hearing this morning.

Despite her efforts to cut him off, NBCC head Harry C. Alford persisted in asking why Boxer was equating a non-binding NAACP resolution favoring climate change legislation with the extensive, years-long research conducted by the NBCC on the negative economic impacts of her cap-and-tax efforts.

At least he didn’t try to call her ma’am though.

Please watch the video now and then forward this message on to five of your friends.

Thank you for all that you do.

The hearing was on Ensuring and Enhancing U.S. Competitiveness while Moving toward a Clean Energy Economy.

Opening Statement of Senator Barbara Boxer

Today’s hearing will focus on creating clean energy jobs here in America and ensuring that this country is the world’s economic and technological leader in the 21st century.

Our witnesses today will testify about the powerful incentives for investment that well-crafted clean-energy legislation will provide.

When we unleash the American innovative spirit, we will drive economic growth and create jobs and whole new industries here at home. American entrepreneurs will create jobs – including jobs building wind turbines that we can export to the world, jobs installing solar panels on homes and businesses, and jobs producing energy efficient products and a new fleet of electric and hybrid vehicles.

At the same time, we must ensure that our existing industries receive fair treatment as we transition to a clean energy economy. We need to make sure that our industries that require a lot of energy operate on a level playing field with manufacturers in other countries of the world.

The legislation recently passed in the House contains several provisions to assist industries that are energy intensive and that are subject to international competition, and we are carefully reviewing these provisions as we develop our bill here in the Senate.

At the end of the day, our competitiveness in the world economy will depend on how we face the challenge of global warming.

I believe strongly that Thomas Friedman got it right when he wrote “…the ability to develop clean power and energy efficient technologies is going to become the defining measure of a country’s economic standing, environmental health, energy security, and national security over the next 50 years.”

Other countries, especially China and Germany, are already building their clean energy industries. I believe that when we pass strong clean energy legislation that cuts our dependence on foreign oil and protects our children from pollution, we will also provide the impetus that will restore American leadership in the world economy.

I look forward to hearing from today’s witnesses.

Minority statement below the fold.

Read the rest of this entry »

Details at The Wonk Room.

Via EPW.

Today I want to provide an important update on our ongoing investigation into the management of coal ash waste throughout the country and the potential threat this waste poses to our communities.

At 1:00 a.m. on December 22, 2008, a retaining wall failed on an 84-acre surface impoundment holding a half century’s worth of coal ash at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston coal-fired power plant.

More than one billion gallons of coal combustion waste rushed down the valley like a wave, covering more than 300 acres. The volume of ash and water was 100 times greater than the amount of oil spilled in the Exxon Valdez disaster. The cost of cleaning up that spill has been estimated at over a billion dollars.

After the devastating Kingston spill, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee immediately held an oversight hearing to better understand this incident and how to avoid similar disasters in the future.

When EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson came before our Committee for her confirmation hearing a week later, she committed to move immediately to address the threat posed by coal ash waste.

I want to commend EPA today for its quick action.

Read the rest of this entry »

The campaign has narrowed down the 200+ original submissions to 12 finalists.

Two of the finalists incorporate green imagery:

The deadline for voting is Tuesday 4/21 at midnight. Click here to see all 12 finalists and vote for your favorite.