After much last-minute political wrangling and billions of dollars in additional promises and special-interest spending, the Waxman-Markey climate bill (the American Clean Energy Security Act of 2009) passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a narrow margin (219-212) in June.
Supporters of the bill believe it will stimulate the economy by encouraging investment in “green” jobs and alternative energy that will help America become less dependent on foreign oil.
But swaying the votes took significant concessions to farm and agricultural groups, utility companies and other major industries.
The bill now heads to the U.S. Senate, where it will likely see significant further modifications.
Although the bill’s supporters claimed the House vote as a victory, others are not so sure.
For example, the Climate Crisis Coalition ( www.climatecrisiscoalition.org ), a non-profit organization founded in 2004 to build awareness and broaden the constituency of the climate action movement, released a statement prior to the vote’s passage suggesting that the bill should be significantly overhauled or scrapped altogether.
“The numerous provisions in ACESA’s 1,000-plus pages do not add up to the steps needed to avert catastrophic climate disruption,” the statement read. “Moreover, the bill’s emissions trading provisions create vested interests that would make future reforms very difficult.”
The organization cited a weak greenhouse gas emissions cap that they say doesn’t do enough to prevent global warming. The carbon offsets allowed by the bill further weaken the effectiveness of the cap, the CCC says. Other objections included the reduction in the renewable energy standard (the amount of energy required of utility companies to be sourced from wind, solar, hydroelectric and other renewable resources). The original bill proposed an RES of 25% by 2025, but the bill that passed the House called for only 15% by 2020.
“The climate crisis is urgent, but that is all the more reason not to pass seriously flawed legislation,” the statement said. “We urge Congress to overhaul or scrap ACESA for a stronger and less complex bill with serious RES standards and a carbon tax with revenue-recycling, managed price or cap-and-dividend approach.”
For more information, visit www.climatecrisiscoalition.org.
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu in June announced millions of dollars in Recovery Act funding to support energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in many states. Under DOE’s State Energy Program (SEP), states have proposed statewide plans that prioritize energy savings, create or retain jobs, increase the use of renewable energy, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This initiative is part of the Obama Administration’s national strategy to support job growth and promote clean energy and conservation.
“This funding will provide an important boost for state economies, help to put Americans back to work and move us toward energy independence,” said Chu. “It reflects our commitment to support innovative state and local strategies to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy while insisting that taxpayer dollars be spent responsibly.”
Under the Recovery Act, DOE expanded the types of activities eligible for State Energy Program funding, which include energy audits, building retrofits, education and training efforts, transportation programs to increase the use of alternative fuels and hybrid vehicles, and new financing mechanisms to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy investments.
The Recovery Act appropriated $3.1 billion to the State Energy Program to help achieve national energy independence goals and promote local economic recovery. States use these grants at the state and local level to create green jobs, address state energy priorities, and adopt emerging renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.
A number of states receiving these grants have highlighted industrial energy efficiency in their goals.
California will leverage its program funding to provide a statewide energy efficiency retrofit program and cost effective clean energy systems for residential, commercial, and industrial buildings and facilities. The revenue savings that result from these efficiency measures will provide an ongoing source of revenue to continue implementing additional cost-effective efficiency measures. Additionally, California plans to implement a public education, marketing, and outreach effort to ensure the benefits and value of energy efficiency are well understood.
With SEP funding, Missouri will expand its existing Energy Center program, which includes a variety of home efficiency programs, building energy codes, and education and training initiatives. Under the program, the state will focus on finding energy efficiency opportunities in its five most energy-intensive industrial/manufacturing categories: aluminum, chemicals, food products, metal casting, and forest products including paper. These energy-intensive industries will be examined to determine specific, targeted activities to increase energy efficiency. The state intends to increase industrial and manufacturing energy efficiency through a multi-faceted program that may include energy audits, rebates and low-interest loans, workshops and development of a web-based audit tool.
The Energy Center will also play a key role in providing training to ensure a workforce capable of assessing and deploying energy efficiency technologies.
Arizona will use its State Energy Program funding for a series of innovative programs aimed at advancing energy efficiency and renewable energy investments statewide, while supporting renewable energy manufacturers and products made in the state. The state will offer revolving loan funds for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in commercial buildings, along with loans to manufacturers of renewable energy or energy efficiency equipment and technologies.
Minnesota will put its Recovery Act funds to use improving energy efficiency in residential, commercial, and government buildings, as well as increasing the amount of renewable energy produced in-state. Minnesota will award grants to small, medium, and large businesses to help provide for the design, financing, and installation of various energy efficiency improvements and retrofits.
First-of-its-Kind Report by Leading Clean Technology CEOs, Venture Capitalists and Academics Identifies How to Reduce a Billion Tons of CO2 from Each of Eight Existing Industries.
In a presentation before national policymakers and analysts in June, leading clean energy CEOs, venture capitalists and academics unveiled the “Gigaton Throwdown,” an assessment of the nation’s clean energy potential that identifies seven industries capable of creating 5 million clean energy jobs and reducing CO2 emissions by 5-7 gigatons by 2020. The report, a collaborative effort between leading researchers at UC Berkeley, MIT, University of Michigan, Stanford, and Drexel University, and clean tech leaders, challenges Washington policymakers to remove obstacles that keep billions of capital investment dollars sitting on the sidelines.
“What we’ve outlined today is an ambitious goal, but one that is entirely attainable through hard work and a concerted effort between government, business and private investment,” said Sunil Paul, founder of the Gigaton Throwdown and founding director of Spring Ventures. “We are at a crossroads, and the U.S. has an opportunity to become a leader in this new global sector if we act now. To us the choice is clear.”
“This study is a loud, clear message about the importance of acting now to create a vibrant clean energy economy,” said U.S. Senator John Kerry. “By passing strong legislation, we can grow our economy and end our dependence on foreign oil. We can ensure that the United States takes back the lead in creating the clean energy technologies of the future—wind turbines, solar panels and energy efficiency products—and that American companies benefit. This will help rebuild our manufacturing base, jump-start our economy and create millions of clean energy jobs that can’t be shipped overseas.”
The report identified seven existing industries—biofuel, nuclear, solar, geothermal, wind, building efficiency, and construction materials —that could reach gigaton scale over the next 10 years with new infusions of private capital. To attain gigaton scale, a single technology must reduce worldwide carbon dioxide and equivalent greenhouse gas emissions by at least 1 billion tons—a gigaton—per year by 2020.
“The Gigaton Throwdown sets our collective sights on game changing combinations of science, technology and policy that can turn the needed levels of climate protection and energy security into a roadmap for laboratory-to-industry partnerships,” said Dan Kammen, of the University of California-Berkeley. “Quite frankly, I am tired of watching the exceptional technology advances in the renewable energy field become big business in Europe or Asia when they could just as easily become multi-billion dollar companies here. The Gigaton Throwdown can be a catalyst for academia-government-industry synergies to make these innovations in U. S. green businesses.”
For more information, visit www.gigatonthrowdown.org.
Energy ministers and other government energy leaders from across the Americas came together with major energy corporations and other experts in Lima, Peru June 15 and 16, at the Americas Energy and Climate Symposium. The Symposium, the first major energy event after the Summit of the Americas earlier this year, resulted in the announcement of concrete joint actions to improve energy efficiency, promote clean and renewable energy, and increase information sharing on best practices and past experiences.
“As President Obama explained when announcing the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas, countries across our hemisphere must come together to find new ways to produce and use energy, so that we can create jobs and promote economic recovery while protecting our planet,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “The Symposium is the latest in a series of collaborative efforts to strengthen our clean energy future throughout the Americas, and we look forward to working with our regional partners in the shared goal of combating global climate change.”
Among the joint efforts welcomed at the Symposium, Secretary Chu announced a Low Carbon Communities Program to assist countries in developing transformative energy efficiency and renewable energy programs to reduce the carbon footprint of urban communities throughout the region. Through this initiative, the Department of Energy will partner with countries in the region to provide technical assistance and limited funding to develop building standards and adopt modern urban planning strategies including transit-oriented development to achieve low carbon communities.
Energy leaders also announced the development of a Regional Energy Efficiency Center in conjunction with the Peruvian government and a Regional Wind Center supported by Mexico.
The Americas Energy and Climate Symposium, hosted by the Government of Peru, demonstrates the strong support of the nations of the region to expand cooperation on energy and climate change as part of the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA). The Partnership was first announced at the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, where President Obama invited all countries of the Western Hemisphere to be a part of a united effort in this critical area. Since the Summit in April, regional response has been overwhelmingly positive across all five ECPA elements: energy efficiency, renewable energy, cleaner fossil fuels, critical infrastructure, and energy poverty alleviation.
DOE’s Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs David Sandalow joined with Ambassador Craig Kelly to lead the U.S. Delegation to Peru.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved the American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009 by a bipartisan vote of 15-8, following months of hearings and meetings with various industries. The June 17 bill includes recommendations provided by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), which the association provided when it testified before the committee in March. The legislation now proceeds to the full Senate for consideration at a time yet to be determined.
“I commend Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Ranking Member Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) for their work in hammering out a bipartisan bill that will significantly improve our nation’s energy security, efficiency, and competitiveness,” said NEMA President and CEO Evan R. Gaddis. “This legislation is a true testament that we can find common ground and advance policies that address our nation’s critical challenges.”
The Alliance to Save Energy also approved of the legislation, according to a statement released in June. “Energy efficiency has once again been an issue on which members of Congress can reach across party lines to address our nation’s energy problems,” said Alliance President Kateri Callahan. “The bipartisan cooperation demonstrated in crafting this bill is a model for other energy and climate initiatives.”
“The Alliance strongly supports the Senate energy bill’s stricter energy-savings targets for national model residential and commercial building codes—30 percent in 2010 and 50 percent after 2016—as well as the significant increase in federal funding to help states with code compliance,” Callahan continued. “The more stringent targets will deliver substantial energy and monetary savings in newly constructed commercial and residential buildings. Provisions relating to industrial energy efficiency would contribute to greater U.S. industrial competitiveness by enlarging the successful U.S. Department of Energy’s Industrial Assessment Centers and utilizing innovative financing mechanisms and public-private partnerships to encourage both enhanced research and development and increased implementation of energy-efficient manufacturing technologies.”
The bill includes key provisions:
For a summary of the legislation, visit www.nema.org/gov/energy/efficiency/upload/The%20American%20Clean%20Energy%20Leadership%20Act.pdf.