Senator Murkowski Thinks Polluters Can Police Themselves

by Frances Beinecke on 06/07/2010 11:32 
Categories: Carbon and De-carbonization, Politics & Legislation, Climate
Tags: climate change, carbon, pollution + regulation, sen murkowski

This Thursday, lawmakers will likely vote on Senator Lisa Murkowski's resolution to undercut the government's authority to regulate global warming pollution.

I find it shocking that Senator Murkowski is moving forward with this resolution now--even as oil continues to flow into the Gulf of Mexico seven weeks after BP's Deepwater Horizon blowout.

Not only could the resolution prolong our oil addiction by delaying America's shift to cleaner energy, but it will also undermine one of the government's most effective tools for holding polluters accountable--the Clean Air Act.

Now is not the time to have faith in polluters' ability to police themselves. 

Yet despite all of BP's broken promises about its safety measures and ability to clean up offshore spills, Senator Murkowski thinks we should trust polluters to handle the problem of global warming too. She doesn't want the EPA to get involved with limiting global warming pollution from power plants, oil refineries, and cars.

Indeed, her resolution would void recent EPA efforts to reduce dangerous pollution, including new standards to cut carbon emissions and improve fuel efficiency for new cars, SUVs, and light trucks--standards that also will save billions of gallons of gasoline.

Murkowski's resolution would knock the EPA rules of the picture, sacrificing a quarter of the fuel savings expected from standards set together with the Transportation Department.  And that means consumers will buy 18.9 billion gallons of gasoline and spend around $56.7 billion at the pump that they wouldn't have to if the EPA retained its authority.

That may be good for the oil industry, but it's' not good for Americans' health or pocketbooks.

Instead of indulging industry's desire to dump carbon pollution into the air without limit, Senators should be working on cleaner, safer solutions.

They should pass comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation that retains the EPA's ability to enforce pollution reductions. This is the most effective way to cut pollution, protect our oceans, and reduce our dependence on oil. 

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Cozy Financial Relationships Between Environmentalists and Oil and Natural Gas Companies

by Rod Adams on 05/28/2010 05:10   5 comments , 741 views
Categories: Environmental Policy
Tags: climategate, national wildlife federation, environmental groups, industry ties

A friend who has heard me discuss my theories about the relationships between mainstream Environmental groups and fossil fuel extraction and marketing companies sent me a link to an article titled Polluted by profit: Johann Hari on the real Climategate. He included a rather amusing subject line on the email "Red meat for Rod" and addressed it to a small group of people who also have been subjected to my "wild" and somewhat contra-intuitive theories.

The article discusses how some large environmental groups decided to start taking corporate cash with the good intention of using it as a tool to do more effective advocacy for their particular issue. According to Johann Hari, the actual practice has not worked out as initially envisioned, and some organizations have lost disillusioned members as their coffers have swelled with the polluter's contributions.

Yet as we confront the biggest ecological crisis in human history, many of the green organizations meant to be leading the fight are busy shovelling up hard cash from the world's worst polluters – and simultaneously burying science-based environmentalism. In the middle of a swirl of bogus climate scandals trumped up by deniers, here is the real Climategate, waiting to be exposed.

There are some juicy bits of evidence and examples in the article. Here is a sample to whet your appetite before you go and read it for yourself.

Christine MacDonald, an idealistic young environmentalist, discovered how deeply this cash had transformed these institutions when she started to work for CI (Conservation International) in 2006. She told me: "About a week or two after I started, I went to the big planning meeting of all the organisation's media teams, and they started talking about this supposedly great new project they were running with BP. But I had read in the newspaper the day before that the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] had condemned BP for running the most polluting plant in the whole country... But nobody in that meeting, or anywhere else in the organization, wanted to talk about it. It was a taboo. You weren't supposed to ask if BP was really green. They were 'helping' us, and that was it."

One quibble that I have is that Johann Hari attributes the trend of accepting contributions from polluters to Jay Hair of the National Wildlife Federation. My research has revealed decisions by people like Michael McCloskey that predate Hair's tenure with the NWF. McCloskey rose to be the Sierra Club Executive Director before the first Earth Day in 1970 and was an active leader in the organization for more than 40 years. He detailed his actions to place the organization on "firm financial footing" that included accepting corporate donations in his book titled In the Thick of It.

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Energy News June 10,2010

Editor's Choices

Mixed Outlook for Gas Reactors

By Dan Yurman - The future of high temperature gas-cooled reactors is taking different directions depending on where you look. In Europe a multi-national collaboration is working on plans for a site to build the Allegro Reactor. However, in South Africa the proposed "rescue plan" for the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor involves selling off the now unfunded project by auction.   » Continue...

From our sponsors

RWE Innogy, Stadtwerke München and Siemens build offshore wind farm Gwynt y Mor

RWE Innogy and Siemens have entered into a joint venture to build the offshore wind farm Gwynt y Môr (Welsh for "wind in the sea"). RWE Innogy will hold a 60% stake in this joint venture, Stadtwerke München 30% and Siemens 10%. The total investment amounts to more than two billion Euros, including the grid connection to the coast.  » Continue...

Most Important Climate and Energy Vote of the Year Tests Senate Direction

By Keith Schneider - Late last year when Senator Lisa Murkowski announced she would vigorously oppose any effort to use the Clean Air Act to regulate carbon emissions, environmental leaders in Washington understood the significance of the Alaska Republican's challenge. A loyal ally of fossil fuel developers, Senator Murkowski attracts more campaign financing from the oil and utility industries than all but two other Senate lawmakers, according to federal election records.   » Continue...

Shame on You, Carly Fiorina

By Marc Gunther - And then there's Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett Packard, who is running for the U.S. Senate in California, hoping to unseat the incumbent Democrat, Barbara Boxer. She is giving business a bad name, notably with a new TV ad about climate which is unfair, stupid and destructive.  » Continue...

Cozy Financial Relationships Between Environmentalists and Oil and Natural Gas Companies

By Rod Adams - A friend who has heard me discuss my theories about the relationships between mainstream Environmental groups and fossil fuel extraction and marketing companies sent me a link to an article titled Polluted by profit: Johann Hari on the real Climategate. He included a rather amusing subject line on the email "Red meat for Rod" and addressed it to a small group of people who also have been subjected to my "wild" and somewhat contra-intuitive theories.  » Continue...

Winners and Losers from the Gulf Oil Spill

By Geoff Styles - A comment on my recent posting on oil substitution opportunities in the aftermath of the Gulf oil spill got me thinking about potential winners and losers from the broad changes that seem likely to ensue from this disaster. Some of these outcomes would depend on new laws and regulations that could alter the basis of competition within the oil and gas industry, between it and other energy sectors, and between specific energy technologies. However, I also wouldn't discount the possibility of enduring changes in our perceptions of the oil industry and of the ways in which we use oil.  » Continue...

BP Station Boycotts: Who Gets Hurt?

By Jane Van Ryan - Anti-oil activists have found an outlet for their frustration over the Gulf oil spill. In several states this week, they are protesting, holding vigils, and calling for boycotts against BP. The demonstrations are likely to be similar to the protest held in Washington last Friday where Public Citizen and seven other activist groups waved signs, chanted and held a mock citizen's arrest of BP CEO Tony Hayward.   » Continue...

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US Energy and Use of

What Fuels Our Energy Addiction: Understanding The Sources of Energy and How The U.S. Uses Each By Eric Corey Freed Eric Corey Freed Green Building & Remodeling for Dummies Eric Corey Freed is an architect, lecturer, and writer based in San Francisco, California, with 15 years of experience in green building. He is a practitioner in the tradition of organic architecture, first developed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Eric is founder and principal of organicARCHITECT, part architecture firm, part think tank. In addition to designing award-winning green buildings, the firm publishes its research and produces the annual organicAWARDS to recognize designs that are both innovative and environmentally responsible. During Eric's early years working in his hometown of Philadelphia and in New York City, noted architect and critic Philip Johnson cited Eric as "one of the real brains of his generation." After several years in Santa Fe, New Mexico, working with natural building materials, he moved to San Francisco in 1997 to join the heart of the green building movement.  In 2002, he was Founding Chair of Architecture for the San Francisco Design Museum, the exhibits of which were featured in Metropolis, ARTNews, and Newsweek. In 2005, San Francisco magazine named Eric the city's "Best Green Architect." Eric teaches in the Sustainable Design program he co-developed at the Academy of Art University and the University of California, Berkeley. He is on the boards of Architects, Designers & Planners for Social Responsibility (ADPSR), Natural World Museum, Green Home Guide, and West Coast Green, as well as the advisory boards of nearly a dozen other organizations. A much sought-after lecturer, Eric speaks extensively around the United States, giving nearly 50 talks a year, and consults directly to large companies seeking to transition into sustainability. His monthly column, Ask the Green Architect, is published by GreenerBuildings and syndicated to dozens of other publications. He is a regular columnist for LUXE Magazine and his work has been featured in Dwell, Natural Home, Newsweek, and Town & Country, among others.   The Energy Efficient Home Energy Hogs Energy Sources Home Energy Efficiency Insulation Lighting Features Daylighting Caulking and Sealing Energy-Efficient Windows Energy Efficient Appliances If you turn on a light switch, somewhere in the world, a generator has to produce that electricity. Utility companies did too good a job of making our use of energy simple and seamless. Most people don't know where this instantaneous energy comes from, or the journey it takes to get to them. The following table breaks down the sources for all our various forms of energy   If it seems a little off balance, that's because it is. We rely heavily on nonrenewable, fossil-fuel-based energy. We suck these fossil fuels out of the ground, and it continues to get harder and harder to find new sources of fossil fuels. In addition, the burning of these fuels causes global warming, pollutes the air and water, and continues to get more expensive. The money spent on finding new sources of oil can be better used to invest in renewable energy. Energy Source Used In Renewable or Nonrenewable? Percent Oil Transportation and manufacturing Nonrenewable 38.1 Natural gas Heating and electricity Nonrenewable 22.9 Coal Electricity Nonrenewable 23.2 Nuclear Electricity Nonrenewable 8.1 Propane Heating Nonrenewable 1.7 Biomass Heating, electricity, and transportation Renewable 2.9 Hydropower Electricity Renewable 2.7 Geothermal Heating and electricity Renewable 0.3 Wind Electricity Renewable 0.1 Solar Light, heating, and electricity Renewable 0.1 Oil  Americans love cars. Cruising down the open highway is woven into American life, like apple pie and baseball. But all this driving comes with a huge price. The gasoline that Americans use to move these cars is part of a 20-million-barrel-a-day oil habit. More than 55 percent of the oil Americans use is imported from other countries, many of which are economically and politically unstable. Americans' consumption of oil continuously increases, while the supplies of oil around the world are slowly running out. The pollution from cars and trucks produces more global warming and more air-quality issues. A third of greenhouse gas emissions are from gas burned in automobiles. Natural gas Like coal (see the following section), natural gas is a fossil fuel found in large underground deposits. Because it was created millions of years ago, we can't create more. Although natural gas is clean burning and gives off lower levels of air pollution than coal, gas still has the same issue that all fossil fuels have — what happens when we run out? Coal Coal is a combustible mineral found buried deep in the earth. Because coal is a fossil fuel, formed from the ancient remains of plants and dinosaurs, we can't produce more when we run out.   Unlike some of the other energy sources, the United States actually has an overabundance of coal — enough to last for centuries. In fact, the United States has so much of the stuff that it exports coal to other countries. Coal generates more than half the electricity used in the United States, and is the nation's largest single source of energy. Unfortunately, coal is also the biggest polluter in the United States. It is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and mercury poisoning in U.S. air and water. In addition, coal mining is one of the most destructive things people can do to an area. New technologies are being developed to reduce the pollution from coal production and burning. Sometimes incorrectly referred to as "clean coal," the process crushes the coal into a gas, and uses steam to treat the pollution and gas coming out of the flue. The nonprofit watchdog organization Greenpeace has labeled clean coal technology as "greenwashing" and not solving the real problems associated with coal. Nuclear Think of nuclear energy as a fancy way to boil water. Nuclear energy uses radioactive materials to create steam, and that steam powers a generator, which then makes electricity. Nuclear energy is the second largest source of electricity in the world. It's cheap and doesn't give off any air pollution. Unfortunately, dealing with the radioactive waste created by the creation of nuclear energy is a big problem — no one knows where to put it (or how). Plus, nuclear incidents, like Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, rare as they are, raise safety issues Hydropower (dams)   Hydropower comes from building a large dam across a river. To make electricity, the dam is opened and water flows into it, spinning the turbines to generate electricity. Because it uses water, hydroelectric power is considered to be a clean, renewable source of energy. Unfortunately, when the dams are built, low-lying rivers get turned into deep lakes and entire habitats are destroyed.