Tell the Senate we need a strong energy bill

---DEADLINE PASSED---

October 14, 2009

Few people are talking about it right now, but you and I know it's an important piece of legislation. As health care has dominated the Congressional agenda for months, a rush to push through other legislation is likely once a decision is reached. We don't want the energy and climate bill to get lost in the rush. It's too significant.

To ensure it's not overlooked, we need to act now to let our Senators know that we want a strong energy and climate bill, one which recognizes the challenges that lie ahead and does not maintain a business-as-usual approach buried beneath pages and pages of text.

You may recall that this summer the House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act, a voluminous bill focused on energy and climate change solutions. Many organizations criticized the final version as too diluted and too weak on curbing use of coal and other dirty fossil fuels.

Recently the Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC), Oregon Rural Action's parent organization, issued a statement on the Senate's new Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act. Though an improvement on the bill the House passed, the new bill does not do enough to transition to a clean and renewable energy economy. Areas of concern include:

• Taxpayer money for coal and other fossil fuels, including subsidies for unproven carbon capture and sequestration for new coal plants;
• Inadequate consideration for the full carbon footprint of coal from mining to transport to burning;
• Unregulated Wall Street style trading markets for carbon allowances;
• Offsets that cannot be held to a verifiable, permanent, and enforceable standard, and which do nothing to support U.S. farmers and ranchers.

 
WORC and Oregon Rural Action are calling for a federal renewable energy standard of at least 25% by 2025, with increased incentives for energy efficiency. This is essentially the same standard passed by Oregon in 2007 and we feel it's time to bring the rest of the country along.

Take Action!

Please take a moment to contact your Senators and let them know you want a strong energy and climate bill.

Oregon

• Senator Ron Wyden at (202) 224-5244 or wyden.senate.gov/contact/
• Senator Jeff Merkley at (202) 224-3753 or merkley.senate.gov/contact/
  

Idaho

• Senator Mike Crapo at (202) 224-6142 or crapo.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm
• Senator James Risch at (202) 224-2752 or risch.senate.gov/webform.cfm

 
(Not from Oregon or Idaho? Find your senators here.)

More Information

Senators John Kerry and Barbara Boxer introduced a bill dealing with global climate change, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, on September 30. K.C. Duerig of King Hill, Idaho, Chair of the Western Organization of Resource Council’s (WORC), issued the following statement on behalf of WORC:
 
We commend Senators Kerry and Boxer on their commitment to addressing the critical problem of global climate change. Although the bill makes a number of key improvements when compared to the bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, we believe it does not do enough to transition to a clean and renewable energy economy, and would lock in use of coal and other dirty fossil fuels. 

Areas of particular concern include:

• Taxpayer money for coal and other fossil fuels: Far too much money under the bill would subsidize the unproven technology of carbon capture and sequestration for new coal plants. Every dollar invested in such speculative technologies is a dollar that cannot be spent on energy efficiency or renewable energy production, whose effectiveness at reducing pollution and providing jobs and clean energy is well established.
• Ignoring the full carbon footprint of coal: The bill does not adequately address coal’s full lifecycle carbon emissions, including mining, transport, and burning, especially in the context of the massive subsidies for carbon capture and sequestration. If all of the emissions associated with electricity generation from coal are not considered, there would
• be no guarantee of significant, sufficient reductions in greenhouse gas pollution, even if carbon capture and sequestration could be implemented on a large scale.
• New Commodities Trading Market: Equally as disturbing as the incentives for fossil fuels is the creation of an essentially unregulated Wall Street style trading market for carbon allowances. 
• Offsets: Any offsets should be real, verifiable, permanent, and enforceable. Additionally, use of international offsets should be minimized and, as proposed, would do nothing to support U.S. farmers and ranchers.

It’s important that Congress gets it right when acting on climate change. Congress should pass a clean energy bill with a federal renewable energy standard of at least 25% by 2025 and with increased incentives for energy efficiency. By doing so, Congress would firmly establish the United States as a leader in a clean energy economy. In the meantime, the Environmental Protection Agency should move forward with greenhouse gas regulations.
 

Please take a moment to contact your Senators and let them know you want a strong energy and climate bill.