Statement from Rep. Markey’s office via email.

Following the announcement today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that it has finalized the so-called “endangerment finding” and determined that heat-trapping pollution constitutes a danger to human health and the environment, Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), co-author of the Waxman-Markey climate bill and chair of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, issued the following statement:

“Now that the U.S. government has officially ended its era of climate denial, the real endangerment to our planet comes from those who continue to deny the science and delay taking any action.

“The finding that global warming pollution poses a threat to human health and our environment is based on mountains of data accumulated from thousands of scientists over the course of decades. The molehill recently manufactured by a few climate deniers does not change that.

“President Obama and the United States Congress can now travel to Copenhagen armed with regulatory credibility and emission reduction targets from the Waxman-Markey legislation. The world is watching, and the United States is acting.”

Kate Sheppard:

In an email to Bonner headed “Ready to Rumble,” Hawthorn lists seven key Democratic targets it believed could be pressured to vote against the bill. Hawthorn also named specific interest groups it hoped would write letters opposing the legislation—especially organizations “representing the interests of veterans, senior citizens, minorities, and other groups,” according to the documents. The email requests Bonner to produce five letters from such groups in the district of each targted lawmaker.

Here is the letter:

Friends of the Earth:

We’re excited to give you a first look at our new video, “Just the Energy Bill,” about the trials of the Waxman-Markey energy bill as it lost its teeth at the hands of greedy lobbyists. Click “START” in the above viewer to see the video. After watching, we hope you’ll use the player to ask your senators to fix the bill and to share our video with your friends.

For more information about how polluting special interests impacted the Waxman-Markey energy bill, and what senators need to do to fix it, click here.

Please distribute this widely.

Sierra Club:

“We are disappointed that Chairman Markey’s hearing on this scandal will have to wait, but we applaud his efforts to bring this important story to light. Today’s press reports confirm the close associations between ACCCE and the contractors they hired and the fact that ACCCE knew about the letters forged on their behalf well before Congress was alerted.

“This is another reminder of how far these polluting special interests are willing to go to keep the public in the dark and dependent on their dirty sources of energy. Big Oil, Big Coal and other special interests have already spent more than $100 million trying to defeat clean energy legislation, and in doing so have managed to mar the tradition of true public participation that has made our country great.

“We cannot let polluters get away with their dirty, business-as-usual tactics. Right now the Senate is working on a clean energy jobs bill that will ensure we have less pollution, more jobs and greater security. It will help America take charge and build a clean energy economy that works for everyone.

“But Big Coal and Oil are fighting against this progress, spending tens of millions of dollars in an attempt to drown out the calls for a clean energy economy that are coming from across the country. These polluters are fighting hard for billions in giveaways that would encourage the construction of more dirty coal-fired power plants and to weaken the authority of the Clean Air Act.

“The Senate must fight back against the old polluting industries and pass as strong clean energy jobs bill that will create jobs, boost the economy, switch to renewable sources like wind and solar, make America more secure, and fight global warming.

“We look forward to when the witnesses on both sides of this issue are able to publicly tell their stories.”

Via Email.

Below is the statement of Eben Burnham-Snyder, spokesman for the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming:

“Because all testimony was not received by the Select Committee two business days or more prior to the hearing, the Select Committee has decided to postpone the investigative hearing into fraudulent letters sent to Congress.

“The Majority Staff of the Select Committee forwarded all testimony to the Minority Staff immediately upon receipt. The Select Committee charter calls for all witnesses to file testimony ‘at least two working days in advance of his or her appearance.’ Unfortunately, that timeframe was not met for this hearing.

“Both Chairman Markey and Ranking Member Sensenbrenner take the rules of the Committee and the House seriously, and both agree postponing the hearing is the proper course of action.

“The Select Committee will re-schedule the hearing soon.”

Climatewire:

A new U.S. EPA analysis requested by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) is spawning a lobbying frenzy among Midwestern utilities that claim the document shows they will be treated unfairly under federal climate legislation.They say the assessment reveals that states like California will receive a financial windfall under a global warming bill, while states like Wisconsin will not get enough help and will have to spike electricity rates as a result.

…

Some environmentalists are counterattacking that the three-page report is flawed because its author relied on questionable methodology and analyzed only one part of a bill that passed the House earlier this year. They also say a Senate version of climate legislation is still being drafted and could make EPA’s statements moot.

“I have not been particularly impressed of certain aspects of EPA modeling,” said Joe Romm, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. “It looks to me like they’ve done what is easy for them to do, but isn’t accurate.”

I posted a press release earlier detailing some print ads Environmental Defense is going to run calling on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to support clean energy legislation.

Here is the ad:

10477_ad_Silicon-Valley-Clean-Energy –

In his latest campaign ad, candidate for VA-Gov Bob McDonnell used the familiar $1,761 clean energy tax lie in the most creative way I’ve seen yet. First, the ad says “Deeds supports tax policies that will cost families $7,800 over four years.” The first $1,000 is for a 20 cent per gallon gas tax. Aside from pointing out that taxing gasoline is a good idea, I’ll let this one go. The additional $6,800 McDonnell’s ad cites is the $1,761 figure (roughly) multiplied by four, the length of a term as Virginia’s governor.

Watch it:

At the 18-second mark, where the $6,800 figure is shown, it specifically cites CBSNews.com 9/15/09. This is the piece in which conservative blogger Declan McCullagh arrived at the $1,761 figure by way of faulty math. Brad Johnson documented the process by which this meme spread. It is starting to look like the Republican party’s messaging shop for energy policy is a single libertarian blogger making up numbers for the CBS website.

Here is the full script of the ad:

Creigh Deeds has unequivocally committed himself to higher taxes.Deeds supports tax policies that will cost families $7,800 over four years.

His billion-dollar gas tax increase would add twenty cents to a gallon of gas.

Cost to families: $1,000

Deeds called for Washington’s mandatory cap and trade energy tax.

Cost to families $6,800.

Killing up to 56,000 Virginia jobs.

Creigh Deeds ‘ tax policies will cost $7,800

For his part, Deeds is staying true to the stereotype of a Democrat who repeatedly insists on snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Despite being handed proof that his opponent is against working women, homosexuals and contraceptives, Deeds has trailed in the polls throughout the race.  To make matters worse, Deeds is running a new ad saying he “says no to any new energy taxes from Washington”, which is drawing the ire of environmentalists.  There has been some confusion over Deeds’ stance on cap and trade legislation, and as a result, he is being hit from both sides on an issue the Virginia Governor has absolutely no say in.

Press release from Representative Ed Markey.

Markey to Chamber: Follow Those Companies That Want Action, Not Talk

WASHINGTON (October 8, 2009) — Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), co-author of the Waxman-Markey clean energy and climate bill, today noted the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s statements supporting the goals of the Waxman-Markey bill. Rep. Markey called on the Chamber to follow forward-thinking companies like Apple, Nike, Exelon, PG&E and others who have left the Chamber because of the group’s continued failure to match action with their own words.

“It is good to have the Chamber of Commerce on board supporting the tenets of Waxman-Markey. Unfortunately, while the Chamber says they are for everything the Waxman-Markey bill addresses, they are just not for the bill itself,” said Rep. Markey, who Chairs the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. “The Chamber should listen to the companies who would rather leave the group than wait for it to back up their talk with action.”

The Chamber today defined a successful piece of legislation as one that “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 Waxman-Markey bill:

• Includes major CO2 emitting economies: Does not regulate China, India or other countries, as that is not under Congressional jurisdiction, but it does promote international technology cooperation, international deforestation prevention, international investments, and sets the stage for an international agreement to be made with all countries;
• Promotes new technologies: provides $200 billion to research and deploy clean energy technologies, and establishes a Green Bank that can provide funding for renewable energy, nuclear and other emerging technologies, and creates Clean Energy Hubs that will help link inventors with investors;
• Emphasize efficiency: sets a national efficiency standard and updates the efficiency of appliances, homes, buildings, and vehicles;
• Ensure affordable energy for families and businesses: according to the CBO, EIA, and EPA analyses, the Waxman-Markey bill would cost about a postage stamp a day, with electricity rates rising no more than 3 to 4 percent—and that’s before the savings from energy efficiency reduces energy bills for all consumers;
• Help create American jobs and return our economy to prosperity: several studies have pointed to the millions of jobs that could be created from clean energy legislation, and clean energy innovation and jobs are key to the long-term recovery of our nation’s economy.

I’ve written several times in the past few weeks about the $1,761 energy tax lie Republicans have latched onto to oppose clean energy legislation. For those who haven’t been following, here is how this went down:

STEP ONE: “News” generated by right-wing think tank.

STEP TWO: Right-wing print journalists write “breaking news” story.

STEP THREE: Promoted by Drudge, story repeated endlessly on right-wing blogs, Twitter, and talk radio.

STEP FOUR: Republican politicians, right-wing think tanks, and polluter front groups release statements of shock and outrage.

STEP FIVE: On Fox News, Glenn Beck calls President Obama a liar/socialist/Marxist/communist/fascist/racist.

Here is how I characterized the willingness of Republican politicians to latch onto this lie at the time:

Despite immediate and forceful pushback from the Treasury Department, the Congressional Budget Office and environmental groups, solid reporting by the Wonk Room and the Washington Post, and thorough debunkings by Media Matters and Politifact, several leading GOP elected officials have begun citing the highly misleading figure.

Since I wrote that a few weeks ago, several Republican politicians have continued repeating the lie.

Today, Representative Ed Markey pushed this story back to the forefront with a Huffington Post piece. After setting the record straight on Romney’s falsehood and explaining the urgency of clean energy legislation, Markey finishes strong:

So the next time you hear Mitt Romney or other opponents of clean energy and climate legislation railing about the costs of action, you should multiply your suspicion by whatever number they are attempting to sell. Odds are, it is far from even-handed.

While this is a solid piece, and Representative Markey makes his case well, he barely mentions the other Republican politicians who have repeated this lie.  I understand the value of pegging this on a potential 2012 Presidential candidate, but there are over a dozen current elected officials in the Republican party who have repeated this lie as well.

Since I last updated the count a few weeks ago, eight additional Republican politicians and party organizations have repeated the lie, bringing the total to 20.

• Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) released a statement claiming that “The Obama administration’s own estimate found a cap-and-trade scheme could cost American families an extra $1,761 per year.”
• Rep. Cynthia Lummis’ Chief of Staff told a local Chamber of Commerce that Democrats’ cap-and-trade bill “could cost individual households an extra $1,761 a year.”
• The Oregon GOP sent a fundraising email claiming that Democrats in Congress “Passed a huge energy tax that adds an estimated $1,761 to every family’s yearly budget.”
• Joel Pollack, Republican candidate for Congrss in IL-9 told the Cook Country Republican party that “The House passed a cap-and-trade bill that will cost each family in America $1,761 per year.”
• Rep. Blaine Leutkemeyer issued a press release lamenting the “Majority’s obvious disregard for the plight of American families who would have to shell out at least $1,700 a year in additional taxes…” (h/t Fired Up Missouri)
• Rep. John Culberson blogged that “Treasury also estimates the cost per household would be $1,761 a year, while American families are struggling to make ends meet.”
• MN State Rep. Mike Beard blogged that “We are gaining some more perspective as to how much cap-and-trade proposals at the federal and state levels would cost the average Minnesota family: $1,761 and $575 per year, respectively.”

Finally, here is one I missed as this lie was just beginning to take hold:

• On September 16th, the National Republican Congressional Committee issued dozens of press releases with the headline “National Energy Tax Could Cost Families $1,761 A Year.”

Here is the full list of 20 Republican politicians and local party organizations who have parroted some version of this widely debunked $1,761 lie:

Read the rest of this entry »