Symons identified October’s Superstorm Sandy as a “turning point” in how people are registering climate change in the national political dialogue, and referenced a Zogby poll of voters, taken November 7th, in which it is reported that 65% of voters believe elected officials should take action to mitigate climate change for future generations. But it’s not just voters advocating for legislation and calling attention to climate change and its effects. Symons referenced a new World Bank report, Turn Down the Heat:  Why a 4°C Warmer World Must Be Avoided–a call to immediate action to reduce carbon emissions from an institution that has not, historically, “been a leader of environmental consciousness.”

Audience at Symons’s University of Mary Washington presentation earlier this month. Photo credit Julian Keniry, NWF.

So, what can students do, and what role do colleges and universities play in this transition? Symons cited the strong turnout of young voters on November 6th as an important step, and encouraged that bloc to continue to let their legislators know that clean energy is an important issue to them. He discussed student activism around the Keystone XL pipeline, as well as the value in students gaining hands-on sustainability skills in the classroom, and carrying those skills through to the workforce. Symons lauded the leadership of the higher education sector, as campuses, more often than not, are models of sustainability inside and out–prime examples of efficient, low-impact and low-cost operations.

Jeremy Symons’s inspiring presentation was follwed by comments from Scott Sleisinger of the Natural Resources Defense Council, who reinforced the fact that this past election, the power of the people proved stronger than corporate polluter dollars (10 of the “Dirty Dozen” were defeated, and all 18 of the NWF Action Fund-endorsed candidates won their races), a trend Sleisinger says shows the waning power, politically and otherwise, of the fossil fuel industry. However, Sleisinger pointed out that we need to continue to pressure Congress to vote for clean energy, especially about the Production Tax Credit for Renewable Energy.

A closing message from the webinar emphasized setting our sights high–on eliminating carbon pollution for a healthier planet, building and supporting that infrastructure now, for the long-term, rather than continuing to support industries that are only profitable in the short term.

In reference to the title question of this blog, it may be more telling to draw the connection a different way, instead asking, “What effect does campus sustainability have on elections?” Students, faculty, staff and administrators are greening campuses more than ever before, and will continue to demand the same sustainability initiatives and standards in the workforce and in government.

Read about Jeremy Symons’s visit to University of Mary Washington earlier this month, where he helped students connect the dots among Superstorm Sandy, energy and the future.

Like Campus Ecology on facebook, and follow @CampusEcology, @YouthForClimate and @Greenforce on twitter.

NWF’s Jeremy Symons helps students at the University of Mary Washington connect the dots between Sandy, Dirty Energy and their Future.

“Climate change is putting hurricanes on steroids,” he explained.  “Climate change doesn’t create storms, but it makes them stronger and bigger and we have a responsibility to do something about it.  Carbon pollution from smokestacks and tailpipes is throwing our climate out of balance, and the severe storms, droughts, wildfires, and floods we are experiencing are the new normal as a result.”

Symons showed the students maps of the unusually warm Atlantic ocean temperatures that preceded Sandy, noting that hurricanes gather energy from warm waters, as happened with Hurricane Katrina in 2005.  He also noted that warmer air is holding more water, and that sea levels at Battery Park in New York have risen by almost a foot in the past century, amplifying the storm surge that swamped the city and the coastline.

Symons explained why National Wildlife Federation is concerned about climate’s impacts on the survival of species, which is jeopardized by our growing dependence on fossil fuels even though cleaner energy alternatives are already available and within reach. He also explained how NWF is working with its 4 million members and supporters to foster a shift towards clean, renewable energy, coupled with cleaner transportation and energy efficiency.

Putting a price on carbon pollution, he explained, is one of the most important measures we can take to create the market incentives that would make clean energy profitable and more rapidly replace fossil fuels. In response to a question from a student, he also noted that there is much in Virginia we can do to boost incentives for energy efficiency, and that Dominion Power needs to do more to open opportunities for Mary Washington and other institutions to use cleaner, safer forms of renewable energy.

One of the benefits of student and higher education engagement around energy choices and policy, Symons explained, is strengthening America’s economy with more good jobs for graduates, illustrating relative job creation through the clean energy versus the fossil fuels economies.

Dr. Melanie Szulczewski, a professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at University of Mary Washington, helped to organize this event.

Many of the students in the classes who attended the lecture are studying environmental regulation and earth sciences and when asked, “How many of you are looking forward to a career in the clean energy economy?” nearly all of the approximately 50 students present raised their hands.Helping to organize and host NWF and Mr. Symons were Dr. Melanie Szulczewski, a professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, and Graham Givens, one of the leaders of the Student Ecology club on campus.

About Climate Change, Weather and Wildlife, See other NWF Posts:

• Jeremy Symons:  What Is Causing Our Climate to Unravel?
• Amanda Staudt:  How is Climate Change Fueling Sandy?
• Kevin Coyle:  Hurricane Sandy’s Impact on Fish and Wildlife
• Jennifer Janssen:  How Arctic Sea Ice Loss Can Set the Stage for Superstorms
• Joe Mendelson:  Sandy’s Mandate:  When Political Reality Meets Climate Reality

About How Students in Higher Education Are Leading for Clean Energy, See NWF Resources:

• Campus Ecology Dirty Energy Politics Resources
• Student Tar Sands Action
• Campus Ecology Resources:  Campus Sustainability Case Studies, and past Campus Ecology reports
• Campuses Divest from Fossil Fuels

Like Campus Ecology on Facebook and follow @CampusEcology and @YouthforClimate on Twitter.

Via Flickr's Viri G

First, let’s take a step back & look at how skyrocketing oil prices have made Canadian tar sands oil more profitable, flipping conventional oil wisdom on its head. Oil analyst Philip Verleger explains:

In the past, Midwestern refiners paid more for oil than their counterparts in Texas and Louisiana because oil had to be shipped north.

Recently, though, these refiners have gotten a break as Canadian output has increased. Oil now flows south, not north. Midwestern refiners can save significant sums, savings that ultimately get passed on to consumers.

Executives at Canadian oil companies want to end this discount. They propose building the Keystone line to go around Midwest refineries.

Build the Keystone XL pipeline to refineries on the Gulf Coast and suddenly oil companies don’t have to keep selling it at a discount to drivers in the Midwest – they can just put it on the global market and ship it to the highest bidder in China or anywhere else. Verleger estimates building Keystone XL would result in Americans paying $5 billion more every year, not just in higher gas prices, but in higher production costs for food and other goods. That’s why Cornell University researchers actually say Keystone XL would result in a net loss of American jobs.

National Wildlife Federation Senior Vice President Jeremy Symons broke it down in very simple terms in testimony to a Congressional committee last May. Skip ahead to 1:37 of this clip:

Click here to view the embedded video.

That’s why oil prices falling in the wake of Keystone XL’s rejection was such a big tell, a tip of Big Oil’s hand. If Keystone XL was really about energy security as its supporters claim, wouldn’t its rejection create more insecurity and a rise in oil prices?

Between the Obama administration’s setback of Keystone XL and its rollout of new fuel efficiency standards, Big Oil faces two major threats to its massive profits. As National Wildlife Federation President & CEO Larry Schweiger testified in Detroit this week, the new fuel efficiency standards will cut our oil dependence by billions of barrels, saving consumers money, cutting America’s carbon pollution, and reducing the risk of oil spills that threaten people and wildlife.

The rejection of this Keystone XL permit is a major victory not just for conservationists but for the Nebraska families worried about their drinking water and landowners threatened with having their property rights stripped by TransCanada. “The National Wildlife Federation’s 4 million supporters from across the political spectrum believe that clean water, wildlife and the rights of American families should come before the power of big oil companies,” said NWF’s Larry Schweiger.

But while we’ve won this battle, you can bet this war isn’t over. Big Oil spent $110 million on lobbying in 2011 alone and its top lobbyist has already threatened President Obama with political payback.

Take Action

Tell President Obama to keep standing strong for wildlife against Big Oil.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, via State Dept.

Emerging from talks with Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird late this week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton indicated that the State Department is getting ready to approve the dirtiest, largest pipeline ever to be built in the U.S. The diplomatic-speak whereby Mr. Baird said he wanted a fast decision, while Mrs. Clinton said they had agreed to some safety enhancements seemed to signal the permit process is drawing to a close.

NWF senior vice president Jeremy Symons said, “The Canadian government seems to have more say in this dirty tar sands pipeline decision than the Americans who are at put at risk by this pipeline. The State Department hasn’t allowed the U.S. citizens who oppose the pipeline to talk to Sec. Clinton, but the Canadian government appears to have unlimited access on behalf of their oil companies.”

The news comes as long sought after reforms to improve pipeline safety seems to be moving forward in Congress.  A rash of major spills and explosions may be responsible for some rare bipartisan agreement on the failings of the current safety laws and regulations in place.

Pipeline Safety Bill Advances in Congress

It took several serious ruptures, contamination and evacuations, but finally, Congress is moving to tighten up on pipeline safety.  Over two million miles of oil and gas pipelines crisscross the country, many of them unseen underground.  Pipeline breaks have dumped spills into the Yellowstone and Kalamazoo Rivers and in Alaska and in San Bruno, California, for example.

via NWF

One bill would require gas line operators to document their maximum allowable operating pressures, a key factor in the San Bruno accident.  The bills include tougher requirements for pipelines crossing waterways to address some of the weaknesses that led to the Yellowstone River spill and generally the bills would strengthen the mapping of pipelines and the notification of accidents to state and local governments and emergency responders.  One bill would require records of all inspections.  They would increase penalties for safety violations.

The House bill was crafted in a rare bipartisan negotiation between Reps. Fred Upton (R-MI) and John Dingell (D-MI), which stands as a good symbol of how Congress should work.  After all, environmental protection shouldn’t be a partisan or ideological issue.

It’s nice to have some good news from the Congress.  These bills would give millions of Americans more assurance that their water supplies and property will not be harmed by an oil or gas spill from a broken pipeline. They will push the Department of Transportation to beef up enforcement sand spur improvements in technology and training that could stop leaks from occurring and attenuate the damage if they do.

Keystone XL Project Would Harm Energy Security

The bill stands in contrast to recently approved House legislation perversely called the “North American-Made Energy Security Act” that requires the Obama administration to expedite its decision-making on the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.  As we’ve said before, if approved Keystone XL will carry one of the dirtiest, highest polluting fuels ever through the Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico for export.

CC Chapman/Flickr

Mr. Baird and other supporters have provided no guarantees the energy would be used in America.  If anything, the industry has issued documents suggesting they want to move supply away from Americans and to ports that would ship the heavy crude to places like China and India.  The result: higher gas prices for many Americans.

The bill amounts to an unnecessary, ill-conceived ploy that could force a precipitous decision without solid facts.

NWF Pushes for a Stronger Bill

Groups like the National Wildlife Federation are working to see that the final pipeline safety bill requires studies to determine the full impacts of transporting tar sands oil through pipelines – even when a spill occurs.  Once those studies are done, appropriate regulations are needed to ensure that pipelines are built to withstand the corrosive and unstable nature of tar sands sludge and oil. Until a thorough study of this product is done and until proper regulations are in place, Congress should not be jamming through the legislative process a bill to force a premature, ill-informed decision on questionable polluter projects like Keystone XL.

Mute swans in Warwick, RI (NWF's Miles Grant)

Will we choose not to face our interconnected economic, energy and environmental crises? Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein raises the possibility with a wildlife-themed analogy:

Forget preparing for the “black swans,” investor Nassim Taleb’s name for the unpredictable crises that disrupt and damage our lives. We’ve stopped preparing for what economist Nouriel Roubini calls the “white swans”: the crises we can predict and could even prevent. [...]

Last spring, we watched a drilling platform explode in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil prices are gyrating violently, causing pain for consumers and heartburn for economists. And, most important, nine of the 10 hottest years on record were in the past decade. So the Earth is warming and our energy status quo is, quite literally, blowing up in our faces. But are we doing anything about it? Quite the opposite.

Most of the Republicans vying for the 2012 presidential nomination once supported a cap-and-trade plan to curb carbon emissions and move us past fossil fuels. It was part of the McCain-Palin platform in 2008, part of the Jon Huntsman and Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney governorships, part of Newt Gingrich’s speeches. Today? They’ve all recanted. And Congress is not seriously considering alternatives, such as real infusions of money into research and development. We’re just watching temperatures climb and prices spike and hoping against all the evidence that this turns out well. [...]

When a crisis comes, the people who were charged with preventing it like to say that it could not have been predicted. Who could’ve imagined that housing markets would crash all around the country or that terrorists would fly planes into buildings or a that a hurricane would breach the levees in New Orleans? Sometimes there’s truth to those claims. But not in these cases. These crises are predictable. These crises are preventable. These are the white swans, and they’re swooping and honking right in front of us.

Despite a slight drop in global carbon pollution during the economic downturn, pollution rates have spiked again and we’re right back on the worst case scenario track.  As E.J. Dionne writes, our paralysis in the face of crisis is costing America desperately-needed jobs:

Encouraged by Carl Pope of the Sierra Club, I spent time recently with the Wall Street Journal’s report on its annual ECO:nomics conference (PDF), published in March. Right off, the Journal’s account emphasized that China is “grabbing clean-technology market share not because of its cheap labor . . . but through strong mandates and subsidies to build a new export industry.” Ahem, those words “mandates” and “subsidies” don’t come out of the free-market playbook.

The report quoted Mark Pinto, executive vice president of Applied Materials, who said that in solar power, the United States is “neither the largest in manufacturing nor the largest market.” He added: “That’s very unusual.” Do we really want to lose this market?

The International Monetary Fund has also issued a new report showing the United States gets less money from taxes on things like pollution than any other nation in the Organization for Economic Co-operation & Development. That means we have plenty of room to implement something like a carbon pollution tax while allowing businesses to remain more than competitive globally. We’d have plenty of options for what to do with the revenue – close the deficit, offset tax cuts elsewhere, invest in American clean energy jobs, or even just split it up and cut a dividend check to every taxpayer – all while creating a critical incentive to pollute less.

But rather than moving towards a solution, so far this year Congress is moving backwards, refusing to cut billions in subsidies for oil companies that profit from pollution while attacking incentives for clean energy. “It says a lot about the priorities of this Congress that they would protect billions of dollars of oil company subsidies while gutting investments in clean energy alternatives,” NWF’s Jeremy Symons told The Hill. “Big Oil wants our kids to be as hooked on expensive oil as we are today, and clean energy investments are the only way to break the addiction.”

Please take a moment to ask your member of Congress to take on our problems and start talking about solutions.

In addition to the wind, rain, and cherry blossom pollen, there’s tension in the air this week as questions abound. Will certain Congressmen keep trying to attach riders that destroy our environmental protections to the budget bill? Are those in favor of the Dirty Air Act trying to “lose the future”? Will the government shut down? I know I’m in suspense.

Thanks for reading!

Amanda

This week’s stories:

1. Highlight of the Week: Growing Momentum for a “Clean” Continuing Resolution
2. Quote: Larry Schweiger on the Clean Air Act
3. Economic Story of the Week: High-rollers back EPA on GHGs
4. Editorial of the Week: No to a New Tar Sands Pipeline
5. Senators Stand up for Clean Air Act
6. Fighting The Good Fight Against Dirty Energy
7. Happening this Week

Subscribe to the Climate Capsule RSS Feed to have your weekly update delivered automatically!

Highlight of the Week

Growing Momentum for a “Clean” Continuing Resolution

The House, Senate and White House are still racing to reach an agreement on a six-month spending plan to avoid a government shutdown, with a deadline of April 8th, when the current interim measure will expire.

The budget bill has been loaded up with riders that have nothing to do with fiscal discipline, but instead are trying to limit the power of the EPA and shed decades of bipartisan support for our most basic clean water and clean air protections.

Belinda Serata/NWF

“Voters didn’t go to the polls last year worried that our air is too clean or our water too safe to drink,” said NWF Senior Vice President of Conservation and Education Jeremy Symons. To the contrary, a recent poll confirms that 77 percent of Americans, including 61 percent of Republicans, believe that “Congress should let the EPA do its job.”

The White House stated their opposition to environmental riders in the budget bill. “As the administration has made clear, the funding bill should not be used to further unrelated policy agendas, and we remain opposed to riders that do that, including as it relates to the environment,” said Clark Stevens, a White House spokesman.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) told reporters that Senate Democrats won’t “accept any of the EPA riders they have in their bill.”

On NBC’s “Meet the Press” Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) called the EPA riders “totally unacceptable. The idea that we are going to close down the Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to keep our air clean and our water pure, I mean, that sort of thing is irresponsible.”

NWF has been working hard to have all environmental riders removed, as well as maintain sensible investments for conservation programs.

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Quote:

Stories of the week:

1. Highlight of the Week: New EPA Action on Mercury Changes the Game
2. Quote: NWF’s Ryan Salmon on the Keystone XL Pipeline
3. Economic Story of the Week: New Global Sustainable Biofuels Certification System
4. Editorial of the Week: Pipeline Expensive and Unnecessary
5. More Review for Risky Tar Sands Pipeline
6. Attacks on the Clean Air Act Continue
7. To Make Sense of Science, Google It
8. Happening this Week

Subscribe to the Climate Capsule RSS Feed to have your weekly update delivered automatically!

Highlight of the Week

New EPA Action on Mercury Changes the Game

National Wildlife Federation released a new report entitled Game Changers: Air Pollution, a Warming Climate, and the Troubled Future for America’s Hunting and Fishing Heritage, which highlights a number of wildlife species important to hunters and anglers that are harmed by toxic air pollution and climate change.

The report came the same day that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced new proposed limits on the mercury, arsenic, dioxin, and other toxic air pollutants spewing from the nation’s coal-fired power plants. The release of these hazardous pollutants into our air comes at a huge cost to our economy and poses numerous and severe impacts our nation’s public health.

As the report was released, local groups around the country urged members of Congress to support EPA’s efforts to update air pollution limits under the Clean Air Act. Congress is currently considering several proposals that would severely weaken the Clean Air Act by preventing EPA from updating air pollution standards.

“Our children, our wildlife, and future generations are being sacrificed to satisfy polluter special interests who want free rein over our air and water,” said Catherine Bowes, NWF senior policy representative. “We need a strong Clean Air Act to protect our lakes from toxic mercury, our streams from acid rain, and our forests from tree-killing smog and carbon pollution. History has shown time and again that cutting air pollution benefits our health and the economy, and it is time to update our air standards to reduce toxic emissions.”

More on this story: PNS, Missoulian, Michigan Radio, Montana Public Radio

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Quote:

Ryan Salmon

“This pipeline is like a rotten onion. The more layers you peel away, the more it smells.”

-Ryan Salmon, energy policy advisor for NWF, on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

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Economic Story of the Week

New Global Sustainable Biofuels Certification System

via NWF

Today the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) launched the first global third-party certification system for sustainable biofuels. The RSB Certification System features a unique set of online tools that take the complexity out of compliance and streamline certification.

“All biofuels are not created equal,” said Barbara Bramble, senior advisor for the International Climate and Energy Program at the National Wildlife Federation. “It’s one thing to say your product is sustainable and another to prove it. This new system makes it easy to differentiate between biofuels that are environmentally destructive and biofuels that deliver on the promise of sustainability.”

The certification system covers the major economic, social and environmental concerns in biofuels’ production, including their contribution to climate change mitigation and rural development; their protection of land and labor rights; and their impacts on biodiversity, soil and water pollution, water availability and food security.

National Wildlife Federation played a key role in establishing this global standard with the goal that the new system will help end biofuels production practices that are harmful to the climate and environment.

More on this story…

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Editorial of the Week

Pipeline “Expensive and unnecessary”

Jeremy Symons, senior vice president for Conservation and Education at National Wildlife Federation

(USA Today)

Beware of oil companies offering bumper-sticker solutions to our energy problems. The more we pay at the pump, the more they profit. Big Oil routinely funds campaigns to block clean energy initiatives and distract us from the real problem: our oil addiction… Oil companies now want an expensive and unnecessary pipeline to carry tar sludge from Alberta to Texas refineries. Canada is our ally, but when disruptions occur anywhere, the price for oil increases everywhere, whether it comes from the Middle East, the U.S. or Alberta’s tar sands….Everyone will pay more, but families and farmers in the Midwest will get hit hardest…When our kids grow up, they should be benefiting from American clean energy, not hooked on expensive and destructive tar sludge from Canada. (More…)

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More Review for Risky Tar Sands Pipeline

Jungbim via Wikimedia

On March 15th the U.S. Department of State, which is charged with overseeing the Keystone XL pipeline proposal to carry tar sludge across the U.S. heartland, ordered more environmental review and public comment through a supplement environmental impact statement (SEIS). National Wildlife Federation was among many conservation groups urgently requesting the SEIS.

The project is highly controversial because tar sands emit three times the carbon emissions compared to conventional fuels, and cause environmental havoc in Canada where they are mined. In addition, the pipeline is likely to spill on private and public lands and could increase gas and food prices by routing oil away from Midwest states.

“State Department is acknowledging that the long list of concerns raised about Keystone XL warrants further review. Many more questions than answers have surfaced about how it could contaminate groundwater, increase air pollution, and even raise gas prices,” said Ryan Salmon, energy policy advisor for NWF. “The State Department has the chance to do right by landowners and all Americans by ensuring their actions are consistent with President Obama’s clean energy goals.”

More on this story: USA Today, AFP, Wall Street Journal, NWF Media Center

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Attacks on the Clean Air Act Continue

Last week, the House Energy & Commerce committee voted to pass the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011 (H.R. 910), legislation introduced earlier this month by U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.). The vote passed 34-19 in support Chairman Upton’s bill, which attacks the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to crack-down on carbon pollution. The bill could face a vote by the full House soon after the Congressional recess.

In the Senate, several bills intended to roll back the authority of the EPA to address carbon pollution under the Clean Air Act were filed as amendments to a pending small business bill. U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) introduced a companion bill to H.R. 910 that would repeal the EPA’s authority to set carbon emissions limits, while Senator Rockefeller proposed a two year delay in setting standards on stationary sources. Votes on these amendments, and the underlying bill, were tabled until after the current Congressional recess.
More on this story:

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To Make Sense of Science, Google It

In an effort to tackle the challenge of communicating the science behind climate change, Google.org, the nonprofit arm of the technology mogul, has selected 21 Google Science Communication Fellows. The fellows were chosen from a pool of applicants of early to mid-career Ph.D. scientists working in climate research who will use new media and technologies to improve the way the science of global warming is communicated to the public and lawmakers.

The announcement comes on the heels of a recent Gallup poll on the environment that reported a decrease in American concern regarding global warming. Nearly 20 percent of those surveyed believe the effects of global warming will never happen, an increase from 11 percent in 2008.

More on this story: Solve Climate News, Google.org

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Happening this Week

Congress is in Recess until Sunday, March 27th.

Wednesday, March 23

“Greening the Government: How Agencies are Driving Energy, Climate, and Environmental Performance Improvement” sponsored by University of Maryland School of Public Policy Alumni Association, and the Net Impact DC Professional Chapter,
The National Trust For Historic Preservation, 2nd Floor Conference Room. 1785 Massachusetts Avenue NW, 7:45AM-9:30AM

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For more global warming news on Wildlife Promise click here.

Thanks for reading!  

George  

This week’s stories:  

1. Highlight of the Week: House Spending Bill Guts EPA
2. Quote: NWF’s Joe Mendelson on the Continuing Resolution
3. Economic Story of the Week: Study: Climate Change Risks Trillions in Investments
4. Editorial of the Week: The Dirty Energy Party
5. Climate Change May Cause “Massive Disruptions” to Global Food Supply
6. Greenforce Initiative Summits in Virginia and Michigan a Success
7. Happening this Week

Subscribe to the Climate Capsule RSS Feed to have your weekly update delivered automatically!   

Highlight of the Week

House Spending Bill Guts EPA

The House budget is an unprecendented attack on the environment and public health. (Image courtesy of www.treehugger.com)

The U.S. House of Representatives last week passed its “Continuing Resolution” (CR) to fund the federal government through the end of the fiscal year, by a vote of 235-189. Among its many severe attacks on the environment and public health, the bill slashes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) budget by billions and hamstrings EPA’s’ ability to regulate carbon pollution under the Clean Air Act.

“In this budget charade, the target became polluter regulators, not polluter subsidies,” said Jeremy Symons, senior vice president of National Wildlife Federation. ”This extreme and reckless bill amounts to the largest assault on America’s bi-partisan legacy of environmental and wildlife safeguards in history.”

The House budget, disguised as deficit reduction, was quickly shown to be a comprehensive attempt to reduce EPA’s comprehensive ability to tackle carbon pollution through heavy cuts to specific climate change programs.

National Wildlife Federation’s analysis of the budget has shown it would significantly weaken the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act; slash investment in public lands, wildlife conservation, and clean energy; and ensure oil companies already raking in billions in annual profit will continue getting billions more in subsidies from taxpayers. 

National Wildlife Federation has compiled a complete breakdown of how corporate polluters are the big winners in the House CR.  

More on this story: Wildlife Promise, Politico, AP, Mother Jones, The Hill

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Quote:

Joe Mendelson

“Last week, the House of Representatives completed work on a bill known as a H.R. 1, a Continuing Resolution (CR) designed to make sure the U.S. government stays open for business for the rest of the 2011 fiscal year. Instead of focusing on spending, however, the House engaged in a polluter feeding frenzy designed to gut and filet any semblance of action to address climate change and to update our air pollution standards…It is directly seeking to prevent the federal government’s ability to limit the carbon pollution belching unchecked from our nation’s coal fired power plants, oil refineries, and industrial smokestacks.”

- Joe Mendelson, director of policy for National Wildlife Federation’s climate and energy program, in a post to Wildlife Promise on the spending bill which was passed by the House with no Democratic support.  

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Economic Story of the Week

Study: Climate Change Risks Trillions in Investments

A new study from global investment consultancy Mercer has found that without international action on climate change, institutional investors are at risk of losing trillions of dollars over the next 20 years.  The study calculated that climate change could make up as much as 10 percent of portfolio risk in the same time-frame.  

“Climate change brings fundamental implications for investment patterns, risks and rewards,” said Andrew Kirton, chief investment officer at Mercer. “Institutional investors should be factoring long-term considerations, such as climate change, into their strategic planning.” 

The report, Climate Change Scenarios – Implications for Strategic Asset Allocation, also found that climate change would open up more than $5 trillion in investment opportunities in low carbon pollution technologies by 2030. 

Meanwhile, the Investor Network on Climate Risk is reporting that a record number of (66) shareholder resolutions relating to climate and other environmental issues have been filed in the 2011 proxy season, credited to the significant impact on shareholder value that climate issues can have. 

More on this story: Reuters, Mercer Press Release, NYT  

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Editorial of the Week

The Dirty Energy Party

(The New York Times)

President Obama has decided that the failure of last year’s comprehensive climate bill does not have to mean the death of climate policy. Instead of imposing a mandatory cap and stiff price on carbon emissions, as the bill would have done, the president is offering a more modest approach involving sharply targeted and well-financed research into breakthrough technologies, cleaner fuels and more efficient cars and trucks. Yet even this retailored approach is sure to whip the Republicans into a fresh frenzy of opposition. They have already made clear their determination to cut off financing and otherwise undermine the Environmental Protection Agency, which plans to regulate carbon emissions from power plants and other industrial sources using its authority under the Clean Air Act. But basic scientific research? Energy efficiency? Cleaner fuels? The House Republican budget resolution gives the back of its hand to even these worthy and unobjectionable strategies, which until now have enjoyed reliable bipartisan support….(More…)  

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Climate Change May Cause “Massive Disruptions” to Global Food Supply

Climate change will create serious disruptions in the global food supply, yet another leading figure in the field has stated. Food prices are expected to jump which in turn translates to a spike in worldwide hunger. 

“The fact is that climate around the world is changing and that will cause massive disruptions,” said Sunny Verghese, chief executive officer at Olam, a leading global supplier of rice and cotton. 

A recent report from the International Food Policy Research Institute found that climate change will greatly exacerbate a steady rise in food prices this century, becoming a “threat multiplier” that could double certain food prices by 2050, lower crop yields, and leave millions more people malnourished around the world 

More on this story: Bloomberg, E&E (sub. req.)   

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Greenforce Initiative Summits in Virginia and Michigan a Success

www.greenforceinitiative.org

Last week, National Wildlife Federation and Jobs for the Future’s Greenforce Initiative held summits in Virginia and Michigan. The initiative is a joint effort  to strengthen the capacity of community colleges to develop, enhance or refine green career pathway programs in six regions of the U.S.

In Michigan, 90 participants from more than 15 community colleges gathered to gain a better understanding of the state’s green jobs initiatives and showcase strong partnerships between community colleges and business/industry. In Virginia, economic development leaders, community colleges, and the chancellor of Virginia’s community college system convened to discuss the state’s emerging green economy.

For more on the Greenforce Summit in Virgina, click here.

For more on the Greenforce Summit in Michigan, click here. 

More on this story: Greenforce Initiative, Wildlife Promise, Public News Service

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Happening this Week

Thursday, February 24

 Briefing: “Beyond Green Awards Program”, Two educational briefings featuring winning case studies from the 2010 Beyond Green High-Performance Building Awards, Sustainable Buildings Industry Council, 11:30AM-1:00PM, Rayburn B-369. RSVP: sbic@sbicouncil.org . 

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For more global warming news on Wildlife Promise click here.

Jeremy Symons, the National Wildlife Federation’s senior vice president for conservation & education, has a column in today’s Fredericksburg (VA) Free Lance Star putting this winter’s Mid-Atlantic snowstorms into a long-term perspective:

For our kids and grandkids, snowstorms may be the least of their concerns if we fail to act to reduce pollution and invest in clean energy alternatives. Warmer average temperatures could increase concentrations of ground-level ozone, which is known to aggravate respiratory problems such as asthma, especially in children and seniors. Virginia’s incredible diversity of native wildlife–more than 700 species of birds, fish, and animals–will have to adapt to rapid changes in climate and habitat or perish. [...]

If corporate polluters succeed, we all lose. We will lose the clean energy race, and those jobs will go to Beijing instead of Virginia. Instead of being good stewards of the environment, we will leave our kids with a dangerous inheritance. Our senators need to stay focused on delivering jobs and clean air to Virginia by passing legislation that limits pollution and unleashes investments in clean energy alternatives.

Have you asked your senators to support strong clean energy& climate legislation in 2010? Take action now!