Politico:

Internal Toyota documents derided the Obama administration and Democratic Congress as “activist” and “not industry friendly,” a revelation that comes days before the giant automaker’s top executives testify on Capitol Hill amid a giant recall.

According to a presentation obtained under subpoena by the House Oversight and Government Relations committee, Toyota referred to the “changing political environment” as one of its main challenges and anticipated a “more challenging regulatory” environment under the Obama administration’s purview.

Here is the powerpoint presentation:

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Here are the full results of the poll:

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Statement via email.

Chairman Boxer Urges EPW Republicans to “Come Back to Work” on Climate Legislation After Ranking Member Inhofe Announces Boycott of Markup

“Tomorrow morning, Tuesday, November 3, at 9am, the Environment and Public Works Committee will commence the markup of S. 1733, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act. This bill has had comprehensive legislative hearings, with 54 expert witnesses in nine panels. Committee rules provide that the Chairman’s Mark be circulated three days before a business meeting, and we released it, along with the EPA’s economic analysis, ten days before the markup. No climate bill has ever had this level of review and the Obama Administration stands behind the EPA’s analysis.”

“Now is the time for action to move America toward clean energy and away from foreign oil, to create jobs, and to protect our children from pollution. The Committee Republicans should rethink their approach. As long as they refuse to come to work, they are not participating in one of the most important issues facing our generation.”

“We urge Ranking Member Inhofe, with the utmost respect, to bring the Committee Republicans back to work on this issue. We will give them the opportunity, as we proceed this week, to reconsider their decision. We look forward to working with them if they decide to participate, but if they do not, we will move forward in accordance with the rules of the Senate and of this Committee.”

The German paper Spiegel has published part of an interview with the man who used to be the next POTUS:

“I see the calendar, I see the unfolding of events, and I feel certain he will go,” Gore told SPIEGEL in an interview. Gore expressed optimism that the US Congress will agree on the outline of climate change legislation before the conference. “Therefore, I think there is a very real prospect that the legislation will pass, and that as a result, Obama will have the ability to go to Copenhagen with a more substantive position.”

Spiegel promises to publish the full interview on Monday.

Morgan Goodwin:

As part of a national day of action to stop mountaintop removal coal mining, 14 activists have staged a sit in at 11:30 the EPA. Dozens others are also holding a rally in front. They are asking the EPA to take immediate action to stop the mountaintop removal blasting that began this week on Coal River Mountain, WV, the site of a proposed wind farm.

While President Obama spent the week trumpeting his administration’s support for clean energy, Massey Energy began dynamiting Coal River Mountain in West Virginia, which is the site of the proposed 328-megawatt wind farm. Coal River Mountain gained national notoriety after a study showed that its peaks and ridges have enough wind potential to provide 70,000 households with electricity, support 700 long-term green jobs and give back $1.7 million in annual county taxes. Massey Energy began dynamiting those peaks this week in preparation for a massive mountaintop removal project.

Morgan is liveblogging at It’s Getting Hot in Here.

Scott Parkin is offering updates on Twitter.

Here is the letter two West Virginia residents tried to deliver to EPA administrator Lisa Jackson today:

Department of Energy:

Speaking at Florida Power and Light’s (FPL) DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center, President Barack Obama today announced the largest single energy grid modernization investment in U.S. history, funding a broad range of technologies that will spur the nation’s transition to a smarter, stronger, more efficient and reliable electric system. The end result will promote energy-saving choices for consumers, increase efficiency, and foster the growth of renewable energy sources like wind and solar.

Here is a map of the locations:

Here is a list of the selections by state:

Here is a list of the selections by category:

Politico published this morning excerpts from a 75 minute interview the Tom Donohue, President of the Chamber of Commerce. Here are the excerpts of interest.

Working with the White House

“We have a pretty rich history, having helped them on a lot of the very important things. You almost have to work hard not to smile, that three or four people left an organization that has 300,000 members. We’ve been very lucky and able to keep growing this place and signing up new people. Nobody came out and did a big story when we supported the stimulus, and a lot of our members disagreed with that for philosophical reasons. We looked at the numbers and we looked at what was going on, and we said: You know, this global thing is so serious that if we don’t put some perception of action in place, we could tilt into a global depression.”

Supporting the stimulus

“I don’t think we changed the world but I think if you went back and looked at the record, that was not an easy vote. We had a lot to do with making it happen because we thought it was right and we thought they were doing the right thing. And by the way, I didn’t see anybody going out at that time and saying: Some of their members disagree with what they’re doing. We’ve got 300,000 members, we have a huge renewal rate, but there are people going every week. Companies merge, the CEO changes. To get a whole lot of people together and get everybody to agree on anything, including what they had for lunch, is pretty interesting.”

President Barack Obama

“Remember one thing, we don’t do presidential politics. We believe that it is in our interest to have a strong president, particularly if you take a quick, cursory look at what’s going on around the world. So, we want to be able to challenge the president on issues without making it personal or without weakening the presidency, because that’s bad for our country. Look, these are hot issues. The president’s under a lot of heat from both sides. We enjoy exercising our constitutional right to petition the government. And I understand that he may not be happy with some of the things we say. It’s not personal; it’s all business. I do sort of like that he was kind enough to acknowledge that we’re pretty good at what we do. I don’t have any personal angst with the president and I have never seen any value in fighting with the institution.”

Obama’s agenda

“We think we need significant improvement in the capital-market regulations. We think we need some thinning out of some of [what we proposed], but we need some improvement. We believe that it’s in our interest to raise issues about things we think goes outside the boundaries of reasonable stuff. But we want a bill. We want a health care bill. I’ll tell you, all my members are looking for a health care bill. And on the climate side, we want a domestic climate bill and we want an international agreement, but we’re concerned about some of the components. What we’re talking about are the components of these bills. And why are they are after us? Make a list of all the people they’re not after, they’re usually not engaged or having an effect on what it is the White House is trying to get done.”

Chamber’s campaign for free enterprise

“We think we need to remind, encourage, educate and let people know what created the greatest economy in the history of the world – more jobs, more innovation, the whole nine yards. And we think if we sort of remind people of that and hang it up on the wall for everybody to see, figuratively, we might make some better decisions as we go forth in the months and years ahead as we try and fix the economy.”

How he feels

“Actually, I feel pretty good. I’ve been around a long time. I think we’re doing what I fundamentally believe is right. Do we always use the right language? Do we always say the right sentence? Probably not. But I think we’ve picked the right issues, I think we’re doing what’s right. I’ve got extraordinary support from our board and from the business community. And, by the way, we can lose a few more members because members come and go all the time. But we’re growing in the middle of a recession.”

Chamber input to the White House

“Well you’ve got two kinds of input. It’s input under the radar screen…Our folks talk to the White House people all the time. We’ve got trade people, we’ve got folks working the national security, we have events going on, we’ve got Cabinet members here all the time. And then there’s the street level of education. We put out a press release, they put out a press release. We take a public position, we say something on the Hill, I give a speech, he gives a speech. That’s a form of communication. They do the same thing. What I’ve told the people here is: We don’t want to go anywhere near marginalizing the White House – it would be the worst thing we could do for our country. We want to strengthen the president. We reserve the right to disagree with some of the policies. I’m trying to be very positive.”

Associated Press:

A controversial e-mail message buried by the Bush administration because of its conclusions on global warming surfaced Tuesday, nearly two years after it was sent to the White House and never opened.

The e-mail and the 28-page document attached to it, released Tuesday by the Environmental Protection Agency, show that back in December of 2007 the agency concluded that six gases linked to global warming pose dangers to public welfare and wanted to act to regulate their release from automobiles and the burning of gasoline.

The document specifically cites global warming’s effects on air quality, agriculture, forestry, water resources and coastal areas as endangering public welfare.

That finding was rejected by the Bush White House, which strongly opposed using the Clean Air Act to deal with climate change and stalled on producing a so-called “endangerment finding” that had been ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2007.

Here is the document:

Greenwire:

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee today approved three of President Obama’s energy and environmental nominees, including a controversial mining pick who has drawn fire from environmental groups.

After discussing the complaints against him, the panel agreed to send to the full Senate the nomination of Joseph Pizarchik to be director of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. Two senators opposed the nomination: Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Pizarchik, director of Pennsylvania’s Bureau of Mining and Reclamation since 2002, has been under fire from environmental groups that criticize the agency’s policy to bury waste from coal-burning power plants in abandoned mines. Several studies have documented contamination to water supplies from the practice, but Pizarchik has remained a staunch proponent of the policy during his tenure.

Statement from Friends of the Earth, via email, below the fold.

Read the rest of this entry »

White House:

Demonstrating a commitment to lead by example, President Obama signed an Executive Order today that sets sustainability goals for Federal agencies and focuses on making improvements in their environmental, energy and economic performance. The Executive Order requires Federal agencies to set a 2020 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target within 90 days; increase energy efficiency; reduce fleet petroleum consumption; conserve water; reduce waste; support sustainable communities; and leverage Federal purchasing power to promote environmentally-responsible products and technologies.

“As the largest consumer of energy in the U.S. economy, the Federal government can and should lead by example when it comes to creating innovative ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase energy efficiency, conserve water, reduce waste, and use environmentally-responsible products and technologies,” said President Obama. “This Executive Order builds on the momentum of the Recovery Act to help create a clean energy economy and demonstrates the Federal government’s commitment, over and above what is already being done, to reducing emissions and saving money.”

Here is the Executive Order:

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