Climate

I can't resist sharing this. It's the Mayberry Solar Farm in Mt. Airy.

Pictured at the dedication are Sen. Richard Burr and Rep. Virginia Foxx. Nevermind that both vote in lockstep with the Republican anti-clean energy agenda.

Never mind that Richard Burr voted no on the tax incentives that encourage clean energy development, voted to bar EPA from regulating greenhouse gases, and introduced legislation to abolish the EPA (which employs more than one thousand North Carolinians).

Never mind that Virginia Foxx voted in lockstep with every House Republican effort in the last few months to kill off alternative energy and defang the EPA.

When it comes to a local solar farm, hey, let's cheerlead at the ribbon cutting!

An environmental watchdog is challenging the federal government's oft-made claim that recycling power plants' coal ash waste into consumer products helps the climate by reducing greenhouse gas pollution.

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility has filed a complaint under the Data Quality Act, also known as the Information Quality Act. The law charges federal agencies with "ensuring and maximizing the quality, objectivity, utility and integrity of information" that they disseminate.

"Coal is our biggest source of greenhouse gases," says PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch. "It is the height of absurdity to contend that the toxic wastes produced by coal combustion help our atmosphere."

Yesterday's Democratic Senate caucus meeting - combined with Majority Leader Reid's push on this issue, combined with President Obama's leadership, combined with a clear demand by the public for action - has given comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation a major boost as we head towards the 4th of July recess. Clearly, at this point, there's a better path to 60 votes in the U.S. Senate for comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation than ever before. We are that close to making history, let's make sure we seize this moment!

As is often the case, the “mainstream” media nowadays is pushing a “conventional wisdom” line that has only one major problem – it’s largely or completely wrong. In this case, the “wisdom” is that voting for limits on carbon pollution is bad politics. The polling indicates it’s far more complicated than that.

For instance, the latest CBS/NY Times poll indicates that nearly 90% of Americans believe U.S. energy policy needs either “fundamental changes’ or “to be completely rebuilt,” while 97% of Americans are “angry” or “bothered” by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Those percentages hardly appear to indicate a status quo, “conventional wisdom” electorate on this issue, or an automatic political downside to making fundamental changes in U.S. energy policy.

I grew up in the rural parts of Kentucky and Pennsylvania, two relatively conservative areas. Most of my friends and family are tried-and-true Republicans so it was assumed that I would follow suit. When I started working for a Democratic Congressman in college, one very prominent male figure in my family explained the oddity with a shrug (channeling Churchill) saying "If you are a Republican when you are in college, you have no heart. But if you are a Democrat when you are older, you have no mind."

This weekend, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said that kind of thinking could get the G.O.P. in trouble with young people. Indeed, he said one of the central reasons he is reaching across the aisle on clean energy and climate legislation is that he thinks the G.O.P. needs to do a better job of connecting with young voters.

As we all drink our morning coffee and digest what this latest change-up means for the Senate, let me be the first to say - I continue to be hopeful that the Senate will take action on climate change.

The signs of momentum for a clean energy and climate bill outweigh any signs that come from the Massachusetts special election.

Take, for example, that this week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid reiterated that he wants to pass the bill this spring, and that the bill has the tri-partisan support of Senators Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman.

In a little more than 6 weeks, 1221 businesses have called for strong action on climate via American Businesses for Clean Energy.