WASHINGTON—In a new analysis of the climate legislation pending in both houses of Congress, Greenpeace cautioned the Obama Administration today that the bills are compromised by loopholes and handouts that do more to perpetuate our country’s addiction to fossil fuels than to rebuild the economy with clean energy sources and avert a global warming catastrophe.
“Incumbent industry and energy interests have too powerful a hold on members of Congress. They have hijacked the legislation and structured it to serve their own special interests,” according to the analysis of the House’s American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) and the Senate’s Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (CEJAPA).
In light of the overwhelming advantage the bills give fossil fuel interests, patronage written into the very letter of the legislation (in some cases by corporate lobbyists themselves), the analysis concludes that in order for a bill capable of tackling the dual climate and energy crises to pass Congress, there is no alternative to “active and principled engagement from the Oval Office.”
Written in plain English and prefaced by a letter to President Obama, “Business as Usual” highlights areas where the proposed legislation threatens to undermine efforts to transition to clean energy sources, return the country to leadership in the international arena, and address the devastating climate disruptions that are now striking the world with greater frequency. The analysis concludes that the president must address the following five areas to preserve the integrity of a key environmental law domestically and lead the world toward a solution to global warming:
- The Clean Air Act is Being Threatened. Congress is threatening to preempt the Clean Air Act from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from the biggest pollution sources in the nation. The Senate version provides some protections for the key environmental law, but it has already been suggested that this key authority may be traded away to earn more support for the bill.
- The Carbon Cap Has Little Bite. Congress is adopting a false 2005 benchmark to make the proposed US carbon cap look significant, when in reality it pales in comparison to what the science demands and what our allies in Europe have adopted.
- Coal is Anointed the Future Clean Energy Source of Choice. Dirty coal is the big winner of the legislation, being handed tens of billions of dollars to make itself clean. No other single truly clean technology – wind, solar or geothermal – comes close to receiving the same level of federal support.
- Handouts and Loopholes are Legion. The legislation will create a new form of carbon currency. Instead of auctioning the credits to make polluters pay for pollution, lawmakers are giving away the credits for free, with the lion’s share going to polluters. At the same time, Congress has created an enormous loophole – 2 billion tons of offsets – that will effectively postpone the need to reduce US industrial emissions for close to two more decades.
- Truly Clean Energy is Provided Insufficient Support. The outcome of the federal support for truly clean energy created by the legislation is less than what would happen if Congress did nothing. Support for truly clean energy development from state governments and private enterprise already surpasses the weak structure of incentives embedded in the pending federal legislation.
“Addressing global warming is a matter of national security and economic and environmental urgency of the highest order. Even though the business of America is business, the continuation of business as usual will usher in an unprecedented, sustained and irreversible period of national and global catastrophe,” the analysis concludes.
If these five points of maximum danger are not addressed, the legislation will succeed in perpetuating business as usual and usher in an endless fossil future. “Business as Usual,” was written on behalf of Greenpeace by David Sassoon, president of Science First Inc, publisher of SolveClimate with analysis provided by PointCarbon and ICF International.
Read Full Report At:
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/press-center/reports4/business-as-usual
I heartily opposed ACES when it was put on the floor. I think Waxman lost control of it. At this point, I think a lot of the people voting FOR it are doing so for a political victory, even if it means a weak bill. The worst parts are the agriculture exemptions and the pre-emption of the EPA.