2009 poised to be a green year, but . . .
by Gannett News Service on Dec. 26, 2008, under Nation/World, Opinion
A long exposure captures a windmill silhouetted under the night sky in Reno, Nev., in October.
WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama has promised to take bold action to reduce global warming and invest in renewable energy – initiatives he hopes will create 5 million “green jobs” to help pull the nation out of recession.
His goal is to reduce greenhouse emissions by more than 80 percent by 2050 and invest $15 billion a year in clean energy, including solar, wind and nuclear power; bio-fuels; and technology to make coal less polluting by reducing its harmful emissions.
Democratic congressional leaders say the new president, working with increased Democratic majorities in Congress, has an opportunity to finally get something done on climate change and alternative energy after eight years of stalemate between liberal lawmakers and the Bush administration.
But their euphoria is tempered by the knowledge that the sad state of the U.S. economy and the still powerful Republican minority in the Senate could slow their momentum. Republicans and the business community argue that any major new environmental regulations will drive up energy costs and put more people out of work.
They cite a study by the National Association of Manufacturers and the American Council for Capital Formation predicting that up to 4 million jobs would have been lost by 2030 if a major global warming bill proposed in the current Congress by Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and John Warner, R-Va., had passed. Climate change legislation in the next Congress is expected to be even more ambitious.
“At a time when the economy is already suffering, it will be interesting to see how President Obama will reconcile what seems to be conflicting agendas in the White House,” said Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., the senior Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
To counter that argument, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who chairs the environment committee, has scheduled a January hearing titled, “How Fighting Global Warming is Good for the Economy and Will Create Jobs.”
She cited a new report from the U.S. Conference of Mayors estimating that by 2038, more than 4 million green jobs could be created through investment in alternative energy.
“I believe strongly that when we address the threat of unchecked global warming by investing in clean energy technologies and reducing our dependence on foreign oil, we also have a recipe for economic recovery,” Boxer said.
Boxer plans to introduce two climate change bills in January.
The first would create a grant program to reduce global warming emissions under the Clean Air Act with up to $15 billion a year available to encourage innovations in clean energy.
The second would direct the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce greenhouse gases as outlined by Obama by setting up a “cap and trade” system in which utility companies and other industries can earn credits for using clean energy. They could then sell those credits to companies that need to reduce their global warming emissions to meet limits set by the federal government. The idea, already being tested by a coalition of 10 Northeast states, is to provide a financial incentive to companies to stop burning oil, gas and coal.
Boxer and Obama will have a powerful new ally in the House, where Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., will replace current Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich. Dingell blocked previous global warming bills out of concern that mandates to make cars cleaner and more energy-efficient would hurt automakers in his home state.
But while global warming bills may now win easy passage in the House, they could stall in the Senate, where Democrats remain shy of the 60 votes they need to stop Republican filibusters.
Ultimately, the Obama administration may have to accomplish much of its agenda without Congress, said Eric Davis, professor emeritus of political science at Middlebury College in Vermont. Just as President George W. Bush used his executive authority to curtail some environmental regulations, Obama can use his to strengthen existing rules or create new ones.
“Probably the best strategy for Obama’s new energy and environmental team is to try to do as much as possible through the regulatory process,” Davis said. “They can use favorable court decisions that allow them to regulate global warming emissions under the Clean Air Act. And they can make sure they don’t get in the way of states like California and Vermont that want to take the lead. I think the people Obama is appointing won’t hesitate to use the full statutory authority that is at their disposal.”
Obama said he will not tolerate inaction.
“Delay is no longer an option,” he said. “Denial is no longer an acceptable response.”
