Time for Action on Energy!
Cross-posted at DailyKos
I just wanted to drop by Daily Kos to give all of you an update on the energy bill. To no one’s surprise, the Republicans are throwing sand in the gears and trying to block any meaningful progress. The energy bill, as it stands, is not nearly strong enough, so there are a number of amendments that must be adopted to give us a bill that actually gets us started on that path of dealing with our energy crisis and our climate crisis.
When we tried to bring up the Bingaman amendment last night that requires the use of alternative energy sources, the Republicans in the Senate simply refused to vote up-or-down on it, essentially demanding that the amendment get 60 votes to even be considered. They were trying to put everything on hold and block progress. The procedural details of what they’re doing and our responses get pretty arcane pretty quickly, but, as I type this, we’re locked in a battle to move all of this forward.
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It’s amazing to me that some people still refuse to see the gravity of the situation staring us in the face, with the best science telling us we may only have a decade to act before the climate crisis reaches a dangerous tipping point. But there are the same interests throwing up the same roadblocks. Take CAFE standards – I and many others are demanding that the standards be raised to 35 mpg by the end of the next decade, with light trucks and SUVs included in that and other mandatory requirements for medium and heavy trucks. And we want to close the loopholes that allow automakers to miss even those targets. But the Bush Administration has written to Congress that they are opposed to ANY numerical requirement in the statute. Think about that for a moment … they say they want fuel economy to get better, but they don’t want to put any numeric requirements about what that means. And they want medium and heavy trucks exempted from even that!
Another area where I’m pushing is to require that at least 20% of our electricity come from renewable sources by 2020. This has been a part of my energy plan since 2002, and I mentioned this over and over (and over) during the campaign in 2004. There has been significant support for this change now in Congress, but there are still the powerful interests arrayed against it.
Dogmatic refusal to consider new approaches to this crisis can have such enormous consequences, it boggles the mind how people can do it.
There’s been some articles and talk indicating the big fights were going to be over some of the same tired issues of the past—but that’s not entirely true. Sure, there is once again a proposal to drill in ANWR – and we once again will strongly fight that. But overall, there are significant steps being taken, and now there’s a leadership in the Congress that wants action on this. In addition to the CAFÉ standards, I’m fighting to get more conservation and efficiency throughout the economy, and we have a bill pending to make the Capitol complex green, so that the federal government can be a model of how to make workplaces environmentally friendly not a glaring example of “do as I say not as I do” politics. While I strongly oppose any bills promoting coal-to-liquid technology, I’m also fighting to make our most widely used electrical generating fuel, coal, cleaner with carbon capture and sequestration pilot projects and research funding. And I’m working to ban the building of any new coal-fired plants without that technology.
All of these proposals have significant support in Congress, and, unlike in the last couple of Congresses, the leadership is behind my efforts to get real votes on these issues and force some change.
But I’ve learned starting way back when I was working as an activist on the first Earth Day that environmental change doesn’t happen without a lot of activism from Americans. There are too many monied interests defending the status quo because they think it makes them more money. They don’t want to upset their old balance sheets by embracing the new economy and the prosperity that will flow from abundant clean energy.
There are lots of business people who do recognize that and many sectors of our economy are already leaping ahead of the federal government on these questions. (Fred Smith of Fed Ex testifies today in front of my committee about the importance of raising fuel economy standards.) But the entrenched interests (especially Big Oil) still hold sway with many in Congress. So the activism of ordinary Americans is desperately needed to tip the scales decisively in favor of a new direction. Call your Senators today and tell them that you want a new direction. Tell them that you want CAFE standards raised, that you want at least 20% of our energy to be from renewable resources, that you want significant action on energy policy.
Thanks for your time. Being in the thick of all of the floor fights, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to respond to any comments today, but I’ll try, and I’ll at least read through them all at the end of the day.
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I would like to see government agencies be required to replace their fleet vehicles with gas/electric hybrids, where appropriate. E.g., if sedans are needed and hybrid sedans are available (which they currently are), the agency must purchase a hybrid-type sedan. I’m not talking about dumping a fleet of perfectly good cars, but just as they need to be replaced, replace them with gas/electric hybrids.
The news this morning? The Democratic Congress has an approval rating as low as the President’s. Remember the Nader split of the progressive vote in 2000? Nader did not deliver the Presidency to Bush. The failure of Democrats in Congress to lead on important issues did, and we see it today as sharply as we did then. Attacking price gouging as ‘energy policy’ is ludicrous. The price of gasoline needs to be higher, only that will reduce its use. The only meaningful attack on oil company profiteering and climate change would be a tax on all carbon generating energy use and the end of oil company subsidies, and tax credits for true carbon alternative energy (not ethanol).
Bills ‘requiring’ progress by 2020 are ineffectual. So we do nothing until then and “oh gee, we didn’t make it, well maybe by 2040, and so on”. Pass bills that have 2008 standards with annual progress mandated and multi-billion dollar fines for failure.
Oh, and impeach Bush and Cheney, not just Gonzalez. All these guys have advocated what they refer to as a ‘unitary executive’ (AKA ‘King’) and a contempt for the Constitution of the United States.
I know you are playing a game of shaming the Republicans, and winning by getting the center. Think about losing, again, because you failed to act on the most pressing issues of the day!! Think about having voted to fund an illegal war, over and over again!!!!!!!
Just heard that Senator Kerry will be on Hardball TONIGHT, live at 5 pm Eastern, talking about the energy bill. Repeating at 7 pm.
Can we liveblog here?
Let’s do, KV.
For those of you who didn’t catch it at 5:00, I suggest watching at 7 (EDT). This one get’s a big thumbs up from me.
Stay for the whole thing, the best part’s in the second half.
Sorry, no spoiler. You have to watch.
Just saw your comment, GV! I’m going to try to run home in time, but can you tell us how far into the program the Senator appears?
If I don’t make it, I’ll just read everyone’s comments and wait impatiently for the video to go up, I hope, I hope!
I’m ready. I see Barnacle is sitting in for Matthews.
Are we safer then we ought to be? NO
JK on Hardball now. Barnicle sitting in for Matthews.
To the question if we are safer now than we were;
On a personal level, sure. Getting on planes, other forms of transportation, etc.
Overall, as a nation, no, we are less safe than we were. Al Qaeda is now in Iraq, weren’t there before. Hezbollah stronger, Hamas, etc.
JK on Scooter - As a former prosecuter, I’m not inclined to second guess. He’ll have to go through the appeals process.
Barnacle asking JK how much lower Bush’s poll numbers can go, and JK says the VP calls Bush the popular one, LOL.
Are we safer? JK says in the larger issue, profoundly NO.
North Korea, Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas ...
Our own CIA says our policy in Iraq is creating terrorists.
JK said that the real tragedy is that while the Senate is coming around to what he and Sen Feingold proposed last June,in the meanwhile, people are dying.
So true, Senator. We could be out of this mess by now if the Senate and Bush had listened a year ago.
B; Isthe war in Iraq part of the war on terror
JK; part of it because we made it part of it the wrong way. Central war on terror, Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc.
Is the war on Iraq part of the war on terror? It is in a way because we made it that way but the real war on terror is in Afghanistan, Pakistan…
Mission in Iraq circular mission; trying to prevent the violence we are essentially creating.
It will get worse the longer we stay. Political solution necessary, not military.
On accountability;
Rumsfeld eventually got fired, but not enough accountability; Abu Ghraib as an example. Media also to blame.
Iraq is worse than Vietnam.
“Iraq is worse than Vietnam.”
‘K, reporting for liveblog duty in the second half:
Q: Speech today on terrorism - is Iraq part of WoT?
A: Not central part, we have made it part, center is in Afghanistan and NW Pakistan and 60 other countries.
Barnacle seems to think lots of Americans ask JK what is the mission in Iraq. Hm. JK: the mission that’s defined by the admin. is supposed to prevent chaos, but mission is circular- we are there to prevent chaos we’re now creating. We need change, admin doesn’t understand mission, escalation will not contribute to the political solution we need.
Q: Why are very few people being held accountable?
JK: Other than Rummy, you are correct. This admin snubs nose at accountability, and press moves on to stories like Paris and Anna Nicole instead of following story. No troop should die in Iraq because politicians won’t compromise. I think Iraq is worse than Vietnam, because it was a war of choice.
Q: Is Maliki playing us?
JK: Yes, he needs an ultimatum - he should fire those unwilling to reconcile and demonstrate leadership within a time limit, or US will stop supporting him.
Quote;
‘Iraq is worse than Vietnam, and the reason it’s worse is because came about as a war of choice, not the extension of a major ideological effort like the cold war, and I think that the deception and inadequacies of leadership have been far greater in the long run.’
Great interview. Good that he mentioned the fact that the media is distracting us with ‘infotainment’ instead of keeping focus on the real news.
Thanks for that, JK. Someone needs to keep them on track.
‘Crafty, Wow. You must type a whole lot faster than ... anyone. Nice work.
Just a request on the email to call representatives today on the energy bill and amendments being discussed today.
These emails ususually hit my box long after I’ve gone to work, or like today, come home and gone to bed.
Night before notice would allow some time to plan it into the daily schedule before it is too late.
Thanks.
Looks like this is being repeated one more time, maybe, at 3 am Eastern if anyone here missed it!
Just got this in an e-mail:
Is there any place in this country that is safe from the Bush/Cheney administration’s thirst for oil?
First it was the Arctic Refuge. Then it was our public wildlands. And now it’s our fragile coasts.
Tell the Bush/Cheney administration to put an end to their plan to drill off the coasts of Alaska, Virginia and Florida!
The administration intends to allow harmful new drilling in more than 84 million acres off the coast of Alaska, including an area closed to drilling after the disastrous Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. Federal officials have also proposed new drilling leases off the coasts of Virginia and Florida.
These areas are teeming with wildlife, including imperiled whales , sea otters and sea turtles . New drilling could destroy these sensitive coastal ecosystems and the wildlife and tourist economies that depend on them.
Our oceans are already under siege. Our marine wildlife can’t afford any more devastating oil spills. We need to stop this backward-thinking plan before it is put into effect.
If the Interior Department goes through with their plan, new drilling could begin in Alaska as early as July.
We don’t have a moment to spare - please send your message opposing the Bush/Cheney administration’s plan today!
Thank you for taking action today,
35 mpg by 2020? You’re joking. You’ve got to be joking because that’s laughable. Why not 100 mpg by 2020? Will we even have oil in 2020?
We need REAL REFORM. That’s why we elected a democratic majority. You have a mandate!
1. Bring back the electric car.
2. Require HOAs to allow solar panels on homes even if they don’t look pretty.
3. NO to this Immigration Reform bill! Our welfare system cannot afford it. SSA cannot afford it. They’re doing the jobs Americans won’t do? No, they’re doing the jobs Americans won’t do for those wages. And once they have legal status, they won’t do those jobs for those wages either. They are breaking the law. If we’re going to excuse people for breaking the law because deportation breaks up families, then why imprison felons? Doesn’t that break up families? Aren’t there tearful children in that story as well?
4. STOP the WAR. There will be no good outcome. Whether we stay or leave it WILL end poorly, and Bush will attempt to blame the democrats. We have to get out and we have to put the blame for the whole mess on Bush’s shoulders - right where it belongs.
5. Investigate, Impeach, Imprison the whole Bush Gang.
we should concentrate in making economy grow instead of taking care of the world. Easy to say I know… Armand rousso