After days of bad news about the climate bill, it's nice to see a fighting spirit coming from a stellar group of names associated with the environmental movement and combatting global climate change. There is a misconception among some liberals that because of the flaws in the climate bill, there is no backing from important environmental groups. In fact, the opposite is the case. All of the environmental groups who were on board for the House version of the bill (ACES) are fighting for the Senate version as well, and they are the most prestigious groups in the country. We are talking 1Sky, Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters, National Wildlife Federation, National Resources Defense Council, Union of Concerned Sciences, and John Podesta's Center for American Progress Action Fund. The entire list and letter can be found here. At the flip let's talk about the stakes of getting this bill passed this year.
As Greg Sargent notes, environmental groups are not going to sit around and be put at the back of the line once again. Greg:
The new push suggests there’s still a path forward on climate change, which could bring Graham back to the negotiating table. The letter also signals that the environmental community will adopt a confrontational posture towards any delay of climate action, saying that if the Senate places other priorities first, it will be sqandering a historic opportunity and committing a serious dereliction of responsibility.
Here are a few choice excerpts from the letter, which you can read in its entirety here.
Representing thirty-one national organizations and millions of Americans who support strong clean energy and climate change legislation, we write to urge the U.S. Senate not to squander the great promise of bi-partisan action we've witnessed over the last six months. This must be the year that the United States passes comprehensive climate and energy legislation into law in order to create jobs, strengthen our national security, and reduce carbon pollution. We can't afford to delay action any longer; we urge the Senate to take up a comprehensive energy and climate bill in June.
...
Without a bipartisan, comprehensive national clean energy and climate policy, America’s businesses are hamstrung and cannot make the investments that will create millions of jobs in the new clean energy sector. Without a comprehensive policy, we cannot achieve the reductions in carbon pollution that are necessary to protect the planet. Without a comprehensive policy, we cannot end the practice of exporting $1 billion a day for foreign oil and will remain at the whim of hostile regimes.
The United States Senate stands at a moment in history in which decisions made today will have a lasting impact on generations of Americans to come.
I can't overemphasize to you how important this issue is and that it needs to be done this year. Why? It already passed the House! But if it does not pass the Senate this year, then we are on to a new Congress, and it will need to pass the House again. As is historically the case, and even if things go reasonably well with midterm elections, Republicans are going to gain seats. How more likely are we going to pass a national framework to limit carbon emissions than this year? I just don't see circumstances improving. As to those disappointed in the actual bill, well, you do know there are just awful energy only bill proposals floating around the Senate, that will take the worst aspects of the climate bill and ... that's it. Just the worst parts, and none of the pieces to the bill that limit CO2 emissions. Do we really want this instead?
On the other side are Democrats such as Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), who favors taking a politically easier -- and, according to some reckoning, a more realistic -- path: passing a big energy bill that invests in cleaner energy but does not price carbon. A path that, Kerry rightly points out, would make it very difficult to pass a real climate bill later. The sweeteners that would probably be included in such an energy bill -- offshore drilling, nuclear provisions and other such things -- could not then be packaged with the less popular carbon-pricing scheme.
Going the energy-only route would be so inadequate, Kerry told me this week, that he would "probably" vote against an energy-only bill. And, he said, he would do even more than that. On the Senate floor, he would propose amendment after amendment derived from the comprehensive bill he is currently helping to draft. "It would be a very, very long process," he said.
That is the choice before us. Not Perfect Climate Change Bill vs. Current Climate Bill. But Current Climate Bill vs. Cheney-Returns-in-the-form-of-a-crappy-Energy-Bill.
John Kerry certainly hasn't given up on this bill. We know now the environmental groups sure as heck haven't either. Let's also remember what is at stake. Water shortages, increasing heat indexes (temps in Florida & Texas may reach 160 degrees by the end of the century), polar thaws, and of course:
Early Deaths. All those heat waves will take a serious toll on human health, with a significant increase in deaths due to high temperatures. The poor and the young will be most vulnerable.
The predictions, based on unchecked growth in carbon emissions over the next several decades, are scary. Equally scary is what has already happened. The assessment shows that over the past few decades, winters in the Midwest have warmed by a few degrees, and the number of winter days without frost has increased by about a week. Sea levels have already risen by 8 inches or more in some coastal areas of the U.S., and under the business-as-usual scenario, they could rise 3 to 4 feet by the end of the century — enough to put much of Florida, including the Everglades and the Keys, under water. "Much of the foot-dragging on addressing climate change reflects the perception that it is way down the road and only affects remote parts of the planet," says Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which contributed to the study. "This report demonstrates that climate change is happening now and in our backyard."
We cannot wait another year. The Senate must pass climate legislation this year.