The U.S. Senate is holding two key hearings on the climate crisis today. The first took place before the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee this morning, "Clean Energy Jobs, Climate-Related Policies and Economic Growth - State and Local Views." This afternoon, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee holds a hearing titled, "Climate Change & Global Security: Challenges, Threats & Diplomatic Opportunities." The Senate is looking to take up comprehensive climate & energy legislation this fall after the House passed the American Clean Energy & Security (ACES) Act.
I'm live-blogging the hearings from National Wildlife Federation's DC headquarters, posting any interesting tidbits, and doing some instant fact-checking. Please post your thoughts in comments & I'll watching Twitter for updates with the #ACES tag!
FINAL UPDATE 4:20pm - Hearing ends and committee adjourns. Disappointing not to see more committee members attending today's hearing. Where were people reportedly on the fence like Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA)? Where were the obstructionists like Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)?
More updates after the jump!
4:20pm - Hearing ends and committee adjourns. Disappointing not to see more committee members attending today's hearing. Where were people reportedly on the fence like Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA)? Where were the obstructionists like Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)?
4:17pm - Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) has joined the hearing. Sen. Warner says it's great to see a fresh face on the committee and hopes she'll support a good bill.
4:15pm - From Twitter - @footprintzero: Kerry: How do we prevent the next Darfur? Get serious about #climate change now. #ACES
4:05pm - Sen. Corker tries to say climate change isn't impacting water supplies right now. Sen. Kerry immediately jumps in to say climate change has already cut rainfall 30% in some areas.
4:03pm - Back to the nuclear again! Sen. Corker tries to claim nuclear power doesn't use any water. It's really befuddling how unhealthily obsessed some of the Republicans are with expensive, water-intensive, disposal-challenged nuclear power. And these are the same guys who keep saying we shouldn't pick winners & losers.
4:01pm - Sen. Corker tries to say strains on water resources caused by population growth is a completely unrelated issue from strains on water resources caused by climate change, and even hints climate change-related water concerns are distracting from population growth-related water concerns. Sharon Burke points out "all of these demands fit together."
3:57pm - Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) asks panelists about nuclear power. Republicans on both the Environment & Public Works Committee and Foreign Relations Committee have been relentlessly hyping nuclear power all day long. None get the irony that as we talk about climate change increasing droughts & desertification, Republicans are pushing an incredibly water-intensive power source.
3:52pm - Former Sen. John Warner (R-VA): "I just think that this is the time that Congress has got to forcefully lead."
3:44pm - Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) seems to be struggling for a way to say, "I know climate change is a grave threat but right now I'm not sure I'm willing to stand up to the ignorant members of my party to do anything about it." He's shown leadership in the past on climate change; let's hope he keeps his iron will moving forward.
3:39pm - Related item from the Center for American Progress Action Fund: A Dozen Reasons for Clean Energy
3:35pm - Sen. Kerry quotes Gen. Anthony Zinni saying climate change will pose a threat to American troops. Panelists concur.
3:30pm - Vice Admiral Dennis McGinn, USN (Ret.) & member of the Center for Naval Analysis Advisory Board: "A business-as-usual approach constitutes a threat to our national security."
3:21pm - Sharon Burke of the Center for a New American Security: climate change will impact natural security and national security.
3:15pm - Gunn: "Climate change poses a clear and present danger to the United States of America."
3:12pm - Gunn: climate change will change the why -- why America provides aid or goes on the attack, why we have allies or enemies. Will change the how -- dwindling water supplies will impact land operations and sea level rise threatens coastal bases.
3:07pm - Retired Navy Vice Admiral Lee F. Gunn says the threats of climate change may not be 100% certain -- but in the military, by the time threats are 100% clear, something bad will have already happened on the battlefield. We can't wait to act.
3:00pm - Sen. Warner describing how Sen. Kerry helped get him interested in energy & climate issues. Interesting to hear the affection Sen. Warner, World War II veteran and son of a World War I veteran, has for Sen. Kerry, who came to prominence on Capitol Hill as a leader of Vietnam veterans against the war.
2:56pm - Sen. Warner says once climate legislation becomes law, it's critical that Americans see the rest of the world following our leadership.
2:51pm - Recently-retired Sen. John Warner (R-VA) says it's an odd feeling to be back in the room as a witness where he served three decades as a senator.
2:49pm - Sen. Lugar praises the Pentagon for experimenting with extremely dirty, expensive coal-to-liquid fuels.
2:47pm - Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) says global warming will increase drought, famine, epidemics, and mass migration. Points out we're sending hundreds of billions of dollars to authoritarian regimes to buy fossil fuels. Calls oil a "magnet for conflict."
2:40pm - Sen. Kerry: Himalayan glaciers, which supply water to one billion people in one of the most unstable parts of the globe, could disappear by 2035.
2:39pm - Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) opens the hearing by saying that just as 9/11 showed us we can't be complacent in the face of global security threats, we can't sit back and wait for someone else to confront the threat of global warming.
2:34pm - And we're back! Witnesses taking their seats for the Senate Foreign Relations panel. You can watch a live stream of the hearing here.
1:11pm - Taking a quick lunch break, but I'll be back at about 2:30pm for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. The witness list:
The Honorable John Warner, Former U.S. Senator, Alexandria, VA
Vice Admiral Lee F. Gunn, USN (Ret.), President, American Security Project, Washington, DC
Sharon Burke, Vice President, Center for a New American Security, Washington, DC
Vice Admiral Dennis McGinn, USN (Ret.), Member, Center for Naval Analysis Advisory Board, Lexington Park, Maryland
Here's a link to their opening statements.
1:00pm - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) says as the Senate considers comprehensive climate & energy legislation, it's incredibly important to consider the cost of inaction. Says that's a great point to ponder as the hearing comes to a close.
12:59pm - Mayor Douglas Palmer (D-Trenton) points out the cost of inaction on climate change. According to an NRDC report, if we don't act now to curb global warming, the costs would pile up quickly -- $271 billion in 2025 alone (just 16 years from now) and nearly $2 trillion annually by 2100.
12:57pm - State Rep. John Lowery (D-AR) says he doesn't believe Environmental Protection Agency estimates that ACES will cost the average American about a postage stamp a day. What does he believe? His own intuition. "Reason tells you this is going to be very expensive," says Lowery.
12:48pm - Short version of Inhofe/Barrasso: This is not about Democrats vs. Republicans. This is about people in areas that tend to elect Democrats vs. people in areas that tend to elect Republicans. I'm pretty sure they think they're being clever.
12:45pm - Conservative media outlets like the Drudge Report flipped out last week when Sen. Barbara Boxer contradicted the head of the (Exxon Mobil-funded) Black Chamber of Commerce with documents from the NAACP. I assume those same outlets will be flipping out again today since Sen. Inhofe just told Trenton Mayor Douglas Palmer (who's black) to read documents from the Black Chamber of Commerce?
12:40pm - Sen. Inhofe says he's sure lots of American businesses will move to China if we limit carbon emissions. Does he care to tell us which businesses are so anti-American that they'd rather move to China than help protect Americans from the worst effects of global warming?
12:35pm - Now Sen. Inhofe claims to be looking out for poor people. I'm literally getting nauseous.
12:28pm - State Rep. John Lowery (D-AR) claims to "speak for the little man." Get out your shovels, he's about to lay it on thick.
12:21pm - Mayor Bill Euille of Alexandria, VA delivers his opening statement. Alexandria lies just across the Potomac from DC. Its Old Town neighborhood sits just a few feet above the Potomac and floods almost every spring as it is, with the worst recent flood coming as the remnants of Hurricane Isabel came through in 2003. How will Alexandria's residents, a divergent mix of the very wealthy and the very poor, deal with even more flooding as global warming fuels stronger storms and more intense hurricanes?
12:18pm - From Grist - Senate Minority Report on global warming not credible, says Center for Inquiry
12:14pm - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), former mayor of Burlington, welcomes current Burlington Mayor Bob Kiss.
12:13pm - Committee thanks the panel and takes a very quick break before the second panel, you can read all of this morning's opening statements here.
12:08pm - From Twitter: "cunctator #ACES Gov Bill Ritter (D-CO) says the pine beetle devastation got people to take action" (details on that here)
11:54am - Quick recap of the morning: Gov. Christine Gregoire (D-WA) and Gov. Bill Ritter (D-CO) have been the clear stars of the hearing so far, demonstrating how clean energy is creating jobs even in a time of economic slowdown. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) have been the main opposition, but have been unable to say anything other than "we must stick with our energy status quo." Good luck selling that to voters.
11:46am - Twitter's FootprintZero: Inhofe asks why Gov. Ritter is here, Boxer rolls her eyes I love it. #ACES
11:39am - Sen. Sanders gives Gov. John Hoeven (R-ND) for doubting the seriousness of our climate crisis. Gov. Hoeven tries to say there are questions about the cause of global warming but that we need to address it. How can you support a solution if you doubt the cause? Gov. Hoeven seems to be the king of trying to have it both ways today.
11:36am - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) references "the Saudi Arabia of solar." Once again, even though it's a positive reference, anytime anyone references anything being "the Saudi Arabia of" anything, it's a drink.
11:33am - Sen. Inhofe says to Gov. Bill Ritter (D-CO) I'm "wondering why you're here." He tells Ritter that Colorado shouldn't be focusing on all these nonsense good-paying, stable clean energy jobs and should instead be focused on developing expensive, water-intensive oil shale. When DC environmentalists urge states to support clean energy, we're told it's "big government." So what is it when Sen. Inhofe tells the governor of Colorado how to run his state? Gov. Ritter stands by Colorado's clean energy policies. Inhofe gives Ritter a dismissive "that's fine," completely ignores his answer, and launches into his next question/mini-tirade.
11:27am - Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) lays the smackdown on the Spanish study that not one but three Republicans quoted, pointing out that the author is a senior fellow at an Exxon Mobil-funded institute. More on that thoroughly-debunked study from Media Matters. (Question: Even though it was a positive, factual reference to Spain, do we get to drink anyway? I say yes.)
11:18am - Short version of opening statement of Gov. John Hoeven (R-ND): Give us lots of taxpayer dollars in the hopes of developing clean energy, but stop trying to make sure you're getting something for your money with all this talk of carbon caps.
11:13am - Very strong closing to Gov. Gregoire's statement. Wanted to transcribe part of it for you:
With the permission of the Chairs, I would like to add one additional document to be made a part of the record. This document is a statement of principles signed by a bipartisan coalition of 31 governors from every corner and region of our country. Our coalition calls on Congress to pass comprehensive energy policy legislation that breaks our dependence on foreign oil by making investments in using energy more efficiently and producing more clean energy here in the United States. These steps will generate the very green jobs we've been talking about today.
11:11am - Gov. Christine Gregoire (D-WA) says it's critical we teach America's workers "new skills for the 21st century economy."
11:04am - Gov. Bill Ritter (D-CO) says the state's move to clean energy is "energizing our economy even in the worst downturn in 75 years." While the national economy continues to stumble, Gov. Ritter says Colorado's unemployment rate has been steady for four months now, thanks to clean energy's stabilizing effect. Gov. Ritter says this is about turning climate challenges into economic opportunities.
11:02am - Opening statements wrap up, now we're moving to witnesses (full list below).
10:57am - Short version of Sen. Crapo - sure, I like talking about how I support clean energy and limiting carbon emissions in theory, but this actual bill that supports clean energy and limits carbon emissions would destroy America.
10:55am - Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) references Spain. Thank god I don't have any Peak Organic Amber Ale handy or I'd be hammered already.
10:49am - Sen. David Vitter (D-LA) references Spain! Drink!
10:42am - Sen. Barrasso says we can't pass ACES if it does anything to affect ... the soda ash industry. I'll use Sen. Barrasso's own figure and say soda ash employs 20,000 people in America. So we can't pass a bill that will create 1.7 million jobs because ACES might affect 20,000 jobs? Is it just me or is that absolutely crazy?
10:39am - Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) is bashing the stimulus. Can someone tell him we're talking about ACES? kthxbai.
10:16am - Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) says ACES will make American steel uncompetitive. Has he talked to the United Steelworkers? They like ACES.
10:12am - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) says America sends $450 billion every year to other nations to buy their oil.
10:11am - Sen. Inhofe quotes James Hansen bashing cap-and-trade. Yet more proof Jim's been great with the science, not so good with the politics.
10:10am - Sen. Inhofe references Spain! Global Warming Denier Drinking Game, everyone drinks! Too early? Use your coffee instead.
10:08am - Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) says "cap and trade supporters see rural America as wasteful" but says people who oppose clean energy and climate action are "real people with real jobs and real families." Inhofe says this is "not partisan" but a matter of "policy of the coasts" vs. "policy of the heartland."
10:05am - Sen. Barbara Boxer opens the hearing by saying clean energy will help create jobs and save money all across America.
9:59am - Here's today's schedule:
Full Committee and Subcommittee on Green Jobs and the New Economy joint hearing entitled, "Clean Energy Jobs, Climate-Related Policies and Economic Growth - State and Local Views."
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
10:00 AM EDT
EPW Hearing Room - 406 Dirksen
Opening Remarks
Panel 1
Gov. Bill Ritter (D-CO)
Gov. Chris Gregoire (D-WA)
Gov. John Hoeven (R-ND)
Gov. Jon Corzine (D-NJ)
Panel 2
Mayor Robert Kiss (Progressive - Burlington, VT)
Mayor William D. Euille (D - Alexandria, VA)
State Rep. John Lowery (D - Arkansas House of Representatives)
Mayor Douglas Palmer (D - Trenton, NJ), Past President, U.S. Conference of Mayors