Iowa Global Warming

The scent of fast money in Washington has all manner of corporate interests scrambling to show they can create jobs, especially green ones. The prize is a slice of the Obama Administration’s stimulus package, expected to range from $675 billion to $775 billion in scale. But the President-elect’s transition team is warning interest groups that they won’t see any of the money unless their pet projects meet strict criteria.

First, the projects must be “shovel-ready”—that is, ready to go immediately. “They told us that for business to get anything, we have to prove there’s a short-term job impact—within six months,” explains Brent Erickson, vice-president of the Biotechnology Industry Assn. (BIO), which is pushing for biofuels production incentives. But the projects can’t put Uncle Sam on the hook to spend money for more than a year or two. “They have to be temporary, not creating a permanent need for funding,” says Dow Chemical (DOW) lobbyist Peter Molinaro.
A “Feeding Frenzy” of Proposals

Hiring ditch diggers would get shovels in the ground fast, of course. But Obama’s team is most interested in projects that will speed America toward a greener, cleaner future, reducing both energy dependence and the emissions that cause global warming.

Read the full article here

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said he urged President-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday to include money to expand Iowa’s electrical capacity in the new administration’s plan to jump-start the economy.

Culver was attending the National Governors Association meeting in Philadelphia. He said he prodded Obama, who has promised a massive jobs bill, to include public works provisions that go beyond road and bridge work.

“I particularly focused on the importance of getting our electric grid built out so that Iowa can really maximize our potential to be a net exporter of wind energy,” Culver told reporters in a conference call.

Read the full article here

By LIZ SIDOTI
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Calling climate change an urgent challenge, President-elect Barack Obama promised Tuesday that Washington would take a leading role in combating it in the United States and throughout the world. “My presidency will mark a new chapter in America’s leadership on climate change,” Obama said in a video message to governors and others attending a Los Angeles summit on the issue.

In the roughly four-minute message, Obama reiterated his support for a cap-and-trade system approach to cutting green house gases. He would establish annual targets to reduce emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020 and reduce them another 80 percent by 2050. Obama also promoted anew his proposal to invest $15 billion each year to support private sector efforts toward clean energy.

Read the full story here

Welcome to the new Iowa Global Warming Campaign website. The US has elected a new president and Congress, Iowa has chosen new state leaders, and we’ve got a new site to share all of the developments with you as they happen. Take a minute to get familiar with the layout, check out new features like the improved event calendar and watch our new series of short videos. A lot of things are changing, and we’re working to stay ahead of the times.

The past few weeks have been really, really exciting. Obviously, there’s that whole ‘election thing’, which is especially interesting to us here at IGW. We’ve been working on strengthening candidate positions from the very beginning of the process, way back in spring 2007. That work paid off in a big way, with the early candidates taking increasingly strong positions – the ‘finalists’ being the ones that had shown the most leadership on our climate. With the inauguration of Sen. Obama, we have come full circle with the goals of our primary campaign.

So, we’re finished with the beginning – Iowa Global Warming has (almost) completed its first two years. 2009 marks the start of a whole new era, as we work with a new administration, new Congress and new legislature to pass meaningful legislation to reduce emissions and invigorate our economy. I hope you’ll join us – together we’re going to accomplish great things.

Andrew