The energy change train is a comin’, it’s a comin’!

Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill passed in the House Energy and Commerce Committee!!! This is a landmark bill which is well on its way to becoming one of the biggest shifts in energy and environmental politics since the Clean Air Act. The vote passed 33-25 last Thursday.

The bill sets up a cap-and-trade program on carbon emission and other Earth-warming gases with intentions of decreasing America’s carbon output by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050.  It also sets efficiency standards on buildings and pushes for an increase in renewable energy.

The NYT rightly calls the bill “the most ambitious energy and global warming legislation ever debated in Congress.”

Alumna Kate Sheppard, who reports on politics for Grist.org, has the full story here. There are several ways in which representatives are trying to weaken or kill the bill, including Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), who  attempted to remove the cap-and-trade portion, and increase production of oil, gas, coal, and nuclear power, Sheppard reports. Crazy, right?

The passing of this bill came just a week after Obama increased  Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards on cars. By 2016, fuel efficiency must be increased to 39 mpg, which is up from 27.5 mpg. As Nancy Pelosi said, “It’s been a very good week for new energy policy.”

The Waxman-Markey bill has a way to go, though. It now has to face off against clueless representatives, misled by climate-change skeptics and the oil/coal lobbyists. Also, as Joe Romm from Climate Progress points out, most represenatives don’t deal with global warming and complex bills like cap-and-trade. Not to mention, global warming is abstract and its effects are hard to pinpoint.

Posted May 25, 2009 at 11:19 am by Tristan Fowler | Share on Facebook
Categories: The World

Comments (3)

3 Comments | Add yours

  1. Spanish Fork car repair on August 18th, 2009 12:47 pm

    I hope that car manufacturers can reach those fuel efficency levels by then. My question is what happens if they do not?

  2. Harry Applin on August 28th, 2009 9:00 am

    Tristan,
    Thanks for posting your blog, but I have to tell you that the Ithacan should be a shame for putting this topic on the back burners. While you got a little notice published in the last Ithacan, it was the only thing related to Climate Change. I am sure that is part of the reason IC ranked 47th out of 135 schools for being green in a recently published survey. Why is it that a student has to search for information on a “hot” topic instead of bringing it out front like true newspapers should.

    I publish a weekly newsletter on the subject and I have trouble cutting down all of the information to a manageable level. And though my readership is small, I get comments weekly thanking me for keeping them informed, especially since most of the news never makes the mainstream media outlets like newspapers or TV.

    You must realize that is one of just a handful of countries (which is getting smaller and smaller) that aren’t on board climate change. In what is suppose to be one of the most informed countries on the planet (you know, FREE PRESS) the U.S. is one of the least informed countries on the planet.

    I suggest that you push the editor of the paper to bring the issue front and center, after all IC has agreed to ACUPCC and one of the sections is to inform all students on the issue. Where is the leadership?

  3. Tristan Fowler on August 28th, 2009 2:56 pm

    Harry,

    Thank you so much for your comment. I couldn’t agree more that the news media is doing a poor job covering this issue. The most obnoxious part of the coverage is their attempt to remain balanced on an issue that is clearly unbalanced. Using skeptics to counterbalance a host of scientists is irresponsible. It’s the equivalent of finding skeptics of gravity on an article about Newton.

    What I disagree with you is The Ithacan’s coverage of the climate change issues happening on campus. Over the years, climate change has been soaked the newspaper. From the front page to the opinion page, stories about Ithaca College students, faculty and staff fighting for a more eco-friendly world have become an integral part of our coverage. Search our database, and you’ll find a range of excellent coverage.

    Thank you for pushing our campus leadership (specificly our administration) to take this more seriously.

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