Iowa Global Warming

Representative Bruce Braley held a special event in Cedar Falls last Thursday focused on the American Clean Energy & Security Act (ACES). When I got my chance I asked him this question: “How will you bring along Members of Congress from carbon-intensive districts while ensuring the bill jumpstarts the renewable energy economy and lowers emissions?”

Representative Braley responding by mentioning that the current allocations of revenue in the ACES bill are not what he would have decided, nor would they be what a Representative from West Virginia would choose. The current allocation scheme in the ACES bill is a compromise between diverse interests. That was good to hear. Then he said that he wished the renewable energy standards were stronger and the efficiency standards were better. He was adamant that this bill and this year were the best shot the nation would have for truly comprehensive energy and climate legislation.

He went on to say he doesn’t want to sell-out his children’s future by passing a bill that won’t effectively transition us off of fossil fuels and avert dangerous climate change. He finished his answer by telling the story of how committed young people in green hard hats were present in the committee room while ACES was being debated. Those young people were the tangible reminder that this bill was about their future and their quality of life. Most memorable line: “The clean energy revolution has begun and we need your help to make it a reality.”

I look forward to seeing more strong leadership from Representative Braley as the legislation moves through committees and goes to the House floor. We need each Representative from Iowa, those being Braley, Loebsack, Latham, Boswell, and King to be fighting for a stronger renewable energy standard in the final ACES bill. Voice your support for strong comprehensive energy and climate legislation by contacting your representative: http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/Iowa_ACES

Drew

Washington, D.C. — The wind power industry’s growth will slow sharply from last year’s levels under the usage mandates for renewable power being considered in Congress, industry officials say.

A bill approved by a House committee last month and another under consideration in the Senate would require utilities to get a certain percentage of their power from renewable sources starting in 2012, but the targets are well below what the wind power industry wanted.

The Senate version would start at 3 percent in 2012 while the House bill would begin at 6 percent, and both could be lowered through energy efficiency measures.

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver joined industry representatives Thursday in meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to urge them to enact higher mandates. “The number does matter,” Culver said later.

Check out the rest of the DM Register story here.

The fight for a clean energy future and a planet safe from climate change has brought me home once more to work on the Iowa Global Warming Campaign. I grew up in Ames and I’ve been going to college in Washington DC at American University. Last summer I interned with the Iowa Global Warming Campaign because I wanted to get more experience with climate issues outside of the campus or the classroom. I realized dressing up in a snowman costume and playing “wheel of warming” was, in its own peculiar way, helping to build a grassroots movement for solutions here in my home state. At the time, I had no idea how important Iowa was for the future of the world. The winds of change swept from Iowa all the way to Washington in 2008, and the future the rest of the nation desires has already begun right here. More wind power, a new passenger rail line, an educated workforce hungry for green collar jobs and a citizenry energized by the caucuses all make this one of the most important frontlines to protect our common future.
I have spent the last school year heavily involved in organizing students on my campus around the issues of clean energy and climate change. The millennial generation is hungry for a brighter future where we can have good jobs and a good environment. At this point in human history we can choose between destroying our planet or protecting it for posterity. The world doesn’t need to be ravaged by climate change, but right now it is up to us whether it will or not. The world is looking to the United States for leadership in reducing emissions and building a sustainable economy, and Iowa should be leading the nation.
I encourage every one of you reading this blog to get involved by contacting our members of Congress (http://www.gov.iastate.edu/federal/delegation.html). Right now Congress is debating the American Clean Energy and Security act, or ACES. This is the first comprehensive energy plan our country has had in 30 years.
The ACES bill has a Renewable Energy Standard, which requires utilities to generate an increasing percentage of their power from clean, renewable sources over time. The higher the target for renewable energy, the more it will benefit all Iowans.
A new national market for renewable energy will benefit Iowa greatly. Iowa is already a leader in wind energy generation. Because each state would have to use more renewable electricity, we would be able to sell our clean energy to states that are lagging behind. The possibilities for new jobs in the clean energy sector are incredible.
The bill also includes a cap on the greenhouse gas emissions that are generated by burning fossil fuels. By capping and reducing emissions we will be able to stop dangerous climate change while driving innovation in American manufacturing and energy production.
One month ago this week I woke up very early and waited in line for 5 hours to get a spot in the Energy & Commerce Committee room audience for the ACES bill. Opportunities to influence the energy future of the world do not come along very often, even in DC. Young climate activists from around the area filled the committee room with green shirts to demand a sustainable future. The dirty energy lobbyists and their friends on the committee did not expect to be joined by the future leaders of America. We heard testimony from dirty industries afraid of a bright future free from climate change and fossil fuels. We also heard testimony from clean industry pioneers asking for strong legislation to help build the green economy and make the United States an innovation leader once again.
If you feel like I do, that we need national leadership in forging a new energy economy and protecting the planet from dangerous climate change, then this summer will be an exciting chance to get involved.

Drew

Summer is three weeks away, but many regions already are sweating out unseasonably warm weather that promises plenty of dog days ahead.

Above-normal temperatures have registered in 13 states in the South and Southwest so far this year. Also, Portland, Maine, topped 90 degrees for the first time in April. And Washington Dulles International Airport outside the nation’s capital notched its earliest three-day string of 90-degree days since records began in 1962.

The spring heat could be a sign of a toasty summer ahead, according to the Climate Prediction Center in Camp Springs, Md. It forecasts a warmer-than-average season for the entire Eastern seaboard from Maine to Florida. Much of the Gulf Coast and West are also likely in for higher temperatures, with the Desert Southwest forecast to endure an even hotter summer than usual.

USA Today has the rest of the story here.

The first comprehensive report into the human cost of climate change warns the world is in the throes of a “silent crisis” that is killing 300,000 people each year.

More than 300 million people are already seriously affected by the gradual warming of the earth and that number is set to double by 2030, the report from the Global Humanitarian Forum warns.

“For the first time we are trying to get the world’s attention to the fact that climate change is not something waiting to happen. It is impacting seriously the lives of many people around the world,” the forum’s president, former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, told CNN.

Speaking to CNN’s Becky Anderson in London on Friday, Annan said the migration of people from newly uninhabitable areas presents a security issue that needs to be addressed by the United Nations Security Council.

Read this rest of this important story here.

Congressman Bruce Braley, a Democrat from Waterloo, is defending the energy bill against claims by the state’s largest utility company that it will lead to higher electric bills. Braley was asked about MidAmerican’s claim the bill would lead to a 20% increase in electric bills.

Braley says groups that claim the energy bill will raise the cost to consumers are “flat wrong.” He says the bill is “gonna create millions of clean energy jobs, it’s gonna reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and it’s going to lower energy bills for the middle class. And despite what MidAmerican is saying, the bill won’t increase prices for consumers, nor will they pay higher taxes for the bill.”

Braley says there’s evidence in the eastern Iowa district he represents that prove MidAmerican wrong. Braley says two of MidAmerican’s customers and consumers who will be paying the most, John Deere and Alcoa are in his district and both support the bill. “And so I guess the question I would have for MidAmerican is, if two of their largest customers are supporting the bill, what is the question they’re having?,” Braley asks.

Read more here.

Senior doctors today published a report warning that climate change is the biggest threat to global health of the 21st century.

Rising global temperatures would have a catastrophic effect on human health, the doctors said, and patterns of infection would change, with insect-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever spreading more easily.

Heatwaves such as occurred in Europe in 2003, which caused up to 70,000 “excess” deaths, will become more common, as will hurricanes, cyclones and storms, causing flooding and injuries.
“We have not just underestimated but completely neglected and ignored this issue,” said Richard Horton, editor of the Lancet, which published the report commissioned from University College London. “This has not been an issue on the agenda of any professional body in health in the last 10 years in any significant way. This report is one of the stepping stones in changing that culture within the health sector. It is the biggest employer in Britain and it should be a leading voice in the debate.”

To read more, go here.

At the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate on Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised that that United States is prepared to lead the world in negotiating a new climate change treaty in Copenhagen in December. The conference in Washington was the first of three that will take place, bringing together leaders from countries that are responsible for 75 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Clinton emphasized that there is not doubt that climate change is a serious threat to the environment, economy, health and security. She also assured developing countries that their energy sources would not be limited, but that developed countries like the US would help to make them cleaner. Countries like India were glad to see such a commitment from the US and hope this will lead to better trust between developed and developing countries.

Because the US made little progress in the realm of climate legislation during the past eight years, Clinton emphasized the importance of acting now. “The United States is fully engaged and determined to lead and make up for lost time both at home and abroad. We are back in the game,” she said.

To read more, go here

Climate was part of the discussion at the G-20 Leaders’ Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy in London Wednesday. The first summit, which was held in Washington D.C. in November made little mention of climate issues, but G-20 leaders at the London summit wanted to take the opportunity to outline some concerns that will be addressed at the United Nations Climate Change conference in Copenhagen in December.

Though it only comprised two of the 29 points in the final communiqué, the environment and how it is connected to financial issues was a concern to the G-20 countries represented. Discussion was not specific, but centered on the necessity of an agreement in Copenhagen. President Obama highlighted the need for the US to serve as a leader with regard to climate.

Though there was some criticism of the lack of specificity concerning climate issues, many feel it was a great step forward that climate was discussed at all at a summit centered on the economy. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown stressed the importance of “working together” in Copenhagen “based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.”

Read more here