by Tony Kreindler

Posted 7 months ago Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee next week will begin debating one of the most critical pieces of the Waxman-Markey climate bill: how the government will distribute the emissions permits, and the corresponding “allowance value,” under a cap and trade program for greenhouse gases. The formula Congress arrives at will be key to managing consumer costs.

As events unfold over the next few weeks, here are a few things to keep in mind:

40 Percent to Consumers. A group of key swing Democrats have requested that 40 percent of the allowances initially be given for free to the utility sector… Read More

Posted 8 months, 3 weeks ago With Congress moving forward aggressively to cap global warming pollution, opponents of strong climate legislation are muddying the economics to derail action.

First the good news: Congressional leaders have announced they will move forward with broad energy and climate legislation that will include a cap on global warming pollution -- the single most important step we can take to fight climate change.

The bad news: with Congress on the cusp of action, opponents are once again circulating analyses suggesting that a cap on carbon will hurt the economy and overburden consumers with higher energy costs. The latest making the… Read More

Posted 10 months, 1 week ago There's been a lot of buzz lately about the U.S. Climate Action Partnership and its new blueprint for a cap on global warming pollution. Last week, the diverse group of environmental nonprofits and leading companies from every sector of the U.S. economy unveiled a detailed plan for legislation -- the consensus product of two years of intense analysis and debate.

As a consensus document, it won't satisfy everyone's design for the perfect climate bill. Instead, it bridges the gap on the most important issues in the legislative debate, giving members of Congress clear guidelines for legislation that are… Read More

Posted 1 year ago In his most concrete policy proposal since the November election, President-elect Barack Obama last week said his administration will "mark a new chapter in America's leadership on climate change that will strengthen our security and create millions of new jobs in the process."

Obama said that will "start" with a federal cap and trade system to reduce global warming pollution, an approach that could create millions of jobs in the U.S.

If you're wondering what those jobs are, how will they be created, and who will get them, check out a just-released report from Duke University that for… Read More

Posted 1 year, 5 months ago Ken Ward takes a worthwhile look at the goalposts for U.S. climate policy in his argument for making 350 parts per million the new bright line for success. We agree that we need to aim lower than 450 ppm -- the world is at roughly 380 ppm now, and we're already witnessing adverse climate impacts.

But we part ways when it comes to how we're going to get there. Ward suggests that EDF's support for the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act can't be reconciled with a stabilization target below 450 ppm, because the bill as written wouldn't drive sufficient emissions… Read More

Posted 1 year, 5 months ago A quick post-mortem on this week's vote on the Climate Security Act, which was pulled from the Senate floor on Friday after its sponsors fell short of the 60 votes needed to proceed to final debate. I think I can safely sum it up in one word: progress. Read More

Posted 1 year, 6 months ago This is the latest in a series on why it is important to push hard for climate legislation this year.

Over the past few months, I've made the case for passing climate legislation in 2008: We don't want to squander the current momentum, we simply can't afford to wait, and while we do, we only prolong a dangerous catch-22.

Now we're finally on the doorstep of Senate action on a comprehensive climate change bill. Floor debate over the Climate Security Act (S. 3036) will begin Monday, June 2.

If opponents of meaningful action have their way, the… Read More

Posted 1 year, 8 months ago This is the third in a series on why we should push for climate legislation this year. See also Part I and Part II.

Why push for a climate bill in 2008? I've already offered some reasons in my previous posts: the politics will be much the same in 2009 (Okay, David offered that one), we don't want to squander the current momentum, and in any case, we simply can't afford to wait.

But if those aren't reason enough, here's another: The world is waiting for us to act. To solve the global warming problem,… Read More

Posted 1 year, 9 months ago This is the second in a series; the first is here.

We've covered two reasons Environmental Defense is pushing for passage of climate legislation in 2008 -- the politics will be very much the same in 2009, and we don't want to gamble away a good bill on the chance of a perfect one someday.

Today I'll look at a third reason: The price of waiting, even a year or two, is simply too high. Carbon dioxide concentrations are higher today than they've been in 650,000 years, and our emissions rate is increasing. It's crucial that… Read More

Posted 1 year, 10 months ago David Roberts has argued for waiting until 2009 to pass a climate bill. Environmental Defense is pushing hard for a bill this year, and I appreciate his invitation to explain why.

We agree that the political landscape in 2009 will be much like today's as far as climate change legislation goes: we'll have the same interest groups, a similar Senate line-up, and a crowded national agenda that threatens to divert politicians' attention. David outlined these challenges nicely a couple weeks ago, and we see things pretty much the same way.

So where do we part ways? The… Read More