Defending the Clean Air Act on the Web and in Congress

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My last post was on the arguments for climate change and my admitting to having little interest in engaging in the all to often flaming rhetoric that makes up the blogosphere. It is a different matter when our elected representatives are doing it, that we have to live with. The Environmental Defense Fund had warned us that Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) had submitted a "resolution of disapproval" that demanded opposition because of its intention to eliminate the Clean Air Act's ability to protect Americans from global warming.This attack would put public health at risk and jeopardize long-overdue action to hold the biggest polluters accountable, reduce America's oil dependence and jump-start a vibrant clean energy economy.The Supreme Court ruled that global warming pollutants are covered by the Clean Air Act and the EPA has begun carrying out the law by taking steps to limit global warming pollution from vehicle and from large power plants and factories.

Fortunately, I have two Senators who support my views on the environment and work to make positive change. I am going to include the information that they provided me in its entirety even though the general rule of blogging is not to have overly lengthy posts.

From Senator Barbara Boxer

Dear Mr. Dowling: Thank you for writing to me in opposition to a proposal that could overturn the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) global warming endangerment finding. I share your opposition to this proposal.

As you may know, on December 7, 2009, the EPA issued a finding that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. However, there are efforts underway to curtail the EPA's authority by repealing the agency's finding. I believe that such efforts are misguided and would greatly undermine the Clean Air Act, a landmark environmental law that has safeguarded the air we breathe for decades.

Debating over what to do about unchecked global warming is fair, and the Senate will continue to evaluate the best tools for addressing greenhouse gas emissions, but repealing an endangerment finding based upon years of work by America's leading scientists and public health experts is not appropriate. On January 11, the Majority Members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) united together in opposition to the effort to overturn EPA's endangerment finding and urged all of our Senate colleagues to do the same. I believe that my colleagues and I will be successful in blocking this ill-conceived proposal.

Throughout my tenure in Congress and now as Chairman of EPW, I have worked to uphold our important environmental laws and lead the way in our fight against global warming. In my continuing efforts, Senator John Kerry and I proudly introduced the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S.1733), which would establish strong greenhouse gas emission standards, promote clean energy, and create millions of new jobs. Our bill would also ensure that the Clean Air Act and other landmark environmental protections are not weakened as we work together to fight dangerous global warming.

S.1733 was passed by the EPW Committee on November 5, 2009, and provisions of our bill will now become part of a comprehensive clean energy and climate package for consideration by the full Senate. Be assured that I will work to defeat all attacks on our environmental protections and keep working to see a clean energy and climate change bill signed into law.

Again, thank you for writing to me. Please feel free to write to me in the future about this or any other issue of concern to you.

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

From Senator Feinstein

Dear Mr. Dowling:

Thank you for writing to express your opposition to efforts by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) to reverse the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare, and block the EPA from regulating those emissions. I appreciate hearing your thoughts on this issue, and I welcome the opportunity to respond.

As you may know, last year, Senator Murkowski proposed an amendment to the fiscal year 2010 Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (P.L. 111-88) that would have prohibited the EPA from using any funds to enforce the Clean Air Act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources. Although Senator Murkowski's amendment did not receive a vote, you may be interested to know that I spoke out against the amendment on the Senate floor and have included my remarks for your review.

Additionally, Senator Murkowski has introduced a resolution of disapproval (S.J. Res. 26) to prevent the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act, even though such regulation is necessary in order to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Massachusetts v. EPA decision in 2007. Under the Congressional Review Act, Congress has the authority to disapprove of a regulatory rule issued by an agency by enacting a joint disapproval resolution within 60 legislative days of receiving the rule. The resolution must be signed by the President in order to overturn a rule. Senator Murkowski has also indicated that she may offer a similar measure to limit federal action on climate change to legislation that would increase the national debt limit (H. J. Res. 45).

Please know that I share your support for taking strong action to address climate change, and I appreciate hearing your concern about efforts to weaken the EPA's regulatory authority under the Clean Air Act. In my view, the United States needs multiple tools to protect public health and the environment from the impacts of climate change. While I believe that regulating the largest greenhouse gas emitters under a new cap and trade system would be more effective and less expensive than regulating these sources under the existing Clean Air Act, I believe Congress must ensure that the EPA has tools to reduce emissions from large-scale emitters in the United States in a way that minimizes costs to consumers. Again, thank you for writing. If you have additional questions or comments, please contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841. Best regards.

Senator Dianne Feinstein

Statement in Opposition to the Murkowski Amendment #2530 H.R. 2996, the Interior Appropriations Bill
September 24, 2009

Mrs. FEINSTEIN.

Mr. President, I know Senator Boxer, the chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, has an hour reserved to come and speak.

First, I will respond to the comments of the distinguished Senator from Alaska. I hope she will understand there are many of us who have viewed her amendment with substantial alarm, for reasons that I thought I might spend a few moments speaking about.

Essentially, as I understood the amendment, which was blocked from coming to the floor, it attempted to prohibit the EPA from using any funds to enforce the Clean Air Act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources.

The proponents have argued that their only goal was to protect small family-owned farms and businesses from overly burdensome regulations. Yet the amendment would have gone much further. In fact, it would actually exempt some of the Nation's largest commercial emitters from climate change regulation, including huge industrial facilities, such as power plants and refineries.

I am very pleased that this amendment is not before us today. The underlying rationale, as I understand it from the amendment, is groundless. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has made it clear that the agency will not use the Clean Air Act to regulate either small businesses or family-owned farms. I was prepared, should the amendment have come up, to put down a side-by-side amendment that would have clearly exempted any farm, as well as any business, that emits under 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year.

Let me point this out. Stationary industrial sources account for over half of the U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to EPA. These are the leading cause of climate change, and they must be reduced if we have any hope of containing the worst impact of climate change.The amendment would have hampered the administration's effort to tackle one of the biggest pieces of the emissions puzzle: large industrial facilities. It would have been a major setback.

Thirdly, the amendment would effectively overturn the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Massachusetts v. EPA. In that decision, the Court found that the Clean Air Act requires the EPA to determine whether the emissions of greenhouse gases may be reasonably anticipated to endanger public health or welfare and then comply with the Clean Air Act requirements designed to protect public health from dangerous pollution. Upon completion of an endangerment finding, the Clean Air Act requires EPA to control greenhouse gases from both stationary and mobile sources.

Many argue -- and I happen to agree -- that regulating the largest greenhouse gas emitters through new legislation, establishing a cap-and-trade system, would be more efficient and less expensive than regulating these sources under the existing Clean Air Act.But until Congress enacts climate change legislation, EPA has a legal obligation to follow the Clean Air Act. So if one does not want EPA to take action under the Clean Air Act, then this body should want to pass a cap-and-trade bill.

The chairman of the EPW Committee, Senator Boxer, has been working very hard to put together a bill which has an opportunity to pass this Senate.

The point is, if we do not want the Clean Air Act to prevail, then the cap-and-trade bill is the only way to go. That is a clear incentive for the Senate and the House to pass a bill.

EPA has released a draft endangerment finding which it is going to soon finalize. Yet the amendment would have blocked EPA from completing the endangerment finding and from complying with its legal obligations to protect public health. The repercussions would have been major. It means EPA would not be able to complete a joint rulemaking with the Department of Transportation to increase corporate average fuel economy, which we call CAFE, and create a tailpipe emissions standard for automobiles.

That would have been a major problem. It would block implementation of the 2007 fuel economy law which I authored with Senator Snowe and which took us a long time to get passed and enacted.

By undermining the negotiated agreement between States and the Obama administration, the Murkowski amendment would also have likely resulted in States moving forward with their own tailpipe emissions standards which automakers have fought for years as too onerous. This would have stopped California and 14 other States and the District of Columbia from moving forward with implementing tailpipe emissions standards.

This amendment is vigorously opposed by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which includes General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler, the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, and the United Auto Workers. To that end, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record at the conclusion of my remarks a letter from the Auto Alliance and the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, finally, the amendment would send the wrong signal to the rest of the world about the Senate's intentions on climate change. It would suggest that we want to ignore the clear imperative to act, despite the efforts of the administration to motivate the international community in advance of the Copenhagen summit.

There is some concern also about small emitters. EPA is not planning to regulate small emitters. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has clearly stated on several occasions that the agency will not regulate small emitters.

She said it in her confirmation hearings, she said it again at Senate budget hearings, and she reiterated that comment when she appeared before the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on EPA's fiscal year 2010 budget just a few months ago.

In fact, Administrator Jackson has sent a draft deregulatory rule to the Office of Management and Budget for review which would establish clearly that all but the very largest sources of greenhouse gas will be preemptively exempted from the stationary source permitting requirements in the Clean Air Act.

She has no intention of regulating small sources that emit under 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide or any small farm. 25,000 metric tons is a very high threshold. According to EPA, it is equivalent to the emissions from burning 131 trainloads of coal per year -- these would be exempted -- or burning 2.8 million gallons of gasoline annually. The 25,000-ton threshold would exempt every small source, focusing only on 13,000 of the largest emitters in the United States.

Let me say that again. The 25,000-ton threshold which EPA intends to proceed with, and which my side-by-side amendment would have had as one of the two criteria, would exempt every small source, focusing only on the 13,000 largest emitters in the United States. EPA intends to only regulate the largest facilities, and these facilities are, almost without exception, already regulated under the Clean Air Act for emissions of other pollutants such as soot, smog-forming nitrous oxides, or acid-rain-inducing sulfur dioxide. Let me now explain why the Murkowski Amendment would impact the joint EPA-Department of Transportation rulemaking on automobile greenhouse gas emissions.

This rulemaking is of critical importance, and the regulation implementing this law was negotiated by the White House in cooperation with automakers, the States, and labor. But according to a letter I received from EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson last night, the impact of the Murkowski amendment "would be to make it impossible for the EPA to promulgate the light-duty vehicle greenhouse-gas emissions standards that the agency proposed on September 15, 2009."

She writes: Because of the way the Clean Air Act is written, promulgation of the proposed light-duty vehicle rule will automatically make carbon dioxide a pollutant subject to regulation under the Clean Air Act for stationary sources, as well as for light-duty vehicles. The only way that EPA could comply with the prohibition in Senator Murkowski's amendment would be to not promulgate the light-duty vehicle standards."

These standards are something Senator Snowe and I have worked for at least 7 years now, beginning with the SUV loophole and ending with the bill that became law, would be totally undermined. By undermining the negotiated agreement between States, the amendment would also likely result in States moving forward with their own tailpipe emissions standards.

As I indicated before, in 2002 California enacted a landmark law to reduce tailpipe emissions standards by 30 percent for all new sedans, trucks, and SUVs by 2016.
I also stated that 14 other States -- namely, Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia -- have adopted or announced their intention to adopt California's greenhouse gas emissions controls.

The amendment would have been a major roadblock in efforts to improve fuel economy standards for vehicles. I don't think we can bury our head in the sand when it comes to climate change.

I would like to conclude by reminding my colleagues that it makes no sense at this particular point in time to put on the floor a major amendment which well could have devastated both the EPA and any effort to get to cap-and-trade legislation when, in fact, the EPW Committee is struggling to write a comprehensive bill which has an opportunity to pass this body.

Again I say, if people do not want the Clean Air Act prevailing, then the only way you can do that is with a cap-and-trade bill. That is the way the committee of this body is proceeding. I believe it is the correct way.

I believe our Nation is in serious jeopardy, as is the rest of planet Earth, with global warming. I believe it is real. Just this week, the Journal Nature published a new paper that found rapid deterioration of the ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica. Yesterday on this floor, I showed the deterioration in the Arctic. I showed the deterioration in Greenland. I showed the deterioration in the Chukchi Sea. I showed the deterioration off Barrow, AK. It is happening all over the world.

The Flat Earth Society cannot prevail. I think there is a real danger signal out there for planet Earth. We know we cannot reverse it. We know that greenhouse gases do not dissipate and go away after a period of time in the atmosphere. We now know these gases that began during the Industrial Revolution are still present in the atmosphere, and we know that the Earth is not immutable, that it can change. We look at other planets and we see that they have changed over the millennia. What we do here to protect our planet Earth for the next generations is so key and critical.

This discussion has to be joined in an appropriate way, and an appropriate way is when a cap-and-trade bill is produced by the Environment and Public Works Committee and the chairman of that committee is on this floor and the bill is open for amendments and there is a free flow of debate and discussion.

I believe the science is real. I pointed out yesterday we have a project in intelligence whereby the satellites are tracking deterioration in the ice shelves of the world. I hope to present more of that information when there is a bill on the Senate floor.

Sincerely yours,
Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator

Further information about my position on issues of concern to California and the Nation are available at my website http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/. You can also receive electronic e-mail updates by subscribing to my e-mail list at http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ENewsletterSignup.Signup.

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• U.S. Chamber of Commerce Asks Court to Review EPA Carbon Ruling (businessweek.com)

Getting Down to Basics and Helping Where We Can

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My exploration of paradigm shifts moving from an individual level to a global level has always been predicated on a belief in the human right and ability to transcend circumstances. Before establishing the Millennium Development Goals we need to start with the basic premise of Human Rights. Everyone should have the right not to be hungry, not to be uneducated, not to suffer from disease and to have the economic tools necessary to achieve this.

To achieve this though there needs to be a more basic definition which is provided by Youth for Human Rights International which has the highest click rate by eight times on my FeedBurner account. This is something people care about.

- What Human Rights Are. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Do you know what Human Rights are?
  

  Every person is entitled to certain rights – simply by the fact that they are a human being. They are "rights" because they are things you are allowed to be, to do or to have. These rights are there for your protection against people who might want to harm or hurt you. They are also there to help us get along with each other and live in peace.

Trouble is that I am still a slacktivist and because of pressures (budget cuts/layoffs) from my real life/day job I did not participate in the Amnesty International letter writing campaign [This changed the next day/post]. I feel a sense of guilt and frustration about this. I did get a chance to communicate with my two Senators a few weeks ago on an important issue that I am told helps Amnesty International's on-the-ground efforts, even slacktivists try to help in their own way.

Senator Barbara Boxer Senator Dianne Feinstein

I urge you to take an important step for human rights and a crucial step for women's rights by supporting Senate consideration of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The Women's Convention is the best instrument for advocating effectively on behalf of women's human rights in Afghanistan and around the world. CEDAW is the only treaty to provide an international standard for promoting the basic human rights of women. The Convention provides important measures to ensure the full development and continued improvement of women's human rights at home and abroad by addressing such issues as violence against women, access to education and health care and equal protection under the law.

The past several months have underscored the fundamental importance of the protection of human rights, and particularly the protection of women's rights. The overwhelming adoption of this Convention by more than 185 countries serves to counter claims that in any culture discrimination, domestic violence, and other forms of oppression are acceptable.

I ask you to support Senate consideration of CEDAW during this Congress. Please tell me how you intend to address this issue.

Sincerely
Brian Dowling

I received an answer from Senator Boxer a week ago.

Dear Mr. Dowling:

Thank you for writing to me in support of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). I appreciate the opportunity to hear your views.

Since first joining the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1999, I have been a strong advocate for U.S. ratification of CEDAW. In 2002, the committee voted to approve CEDAW. Unfortunately, this treaty has not yet been brought before the full Senate for a vote.

I believe that the American effort to promote human rights and equality for women around the world will be much more effective and credible if we join with other nations and ratify CEDAW without further delay. That is why I am very pleased that we now have a President who has publicly pledged his support for CEDAW and has encouraged the Senate to take action.

Because I feel so strongly about CEDAW, I will continue to fight for its ratification in the U.S. Senate.

Thank you for contacting me about this important treaty. Please do not hesitate to contact me again about this or any other issue of importance to you.

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

Maybe Senator Boxer should go to Copenhagen

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I have said before that Senator Boxer is a leader in the Senate when it comes to environmental legislation. Some of her most significant work as been on the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S.1733). Below is a some history on the bill from its latest passage out of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to her original remarks introducing the bill.

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed a climate and energy bill sponsored by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and John Kerry (D-MA).

Th Environmental Defense Fund reminds us that Chairman Boxer and her colleagues deserve great credit for their commitment to move forward on solving our climate and energy challenges.

• the urgent need
  
• end our addiction to imported oil,
  
• create jobs
  
• cap the pollution that causes global warming

encouraged by the announcement yesterday that Senators Kerry, Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) will work together to craft a bipartisan bill to bring America greater energy independence and cap pollution.

Dear Friend:

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which I chair, has opened an intensive three-day schedule of legislative hearings on the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, S.1733, a bill aimed at creating new, clean energy jobs, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and curbing the production of greenhouse gases. I am pleased to share with you my opening statement, available at this link. If you would like to see all of the testimony from the hearings, and see video or a live feed, please use this link.

Sincerely,

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

Dear Mr. Dowling:

Thank you for writing to me in support of clean energy legislation to fight climate change. I appreciate hearing from you.

I want to share with you the statement I made when Senator John Kerry and I introduced the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S.1733).

Sincerely,

Barbara Boxer

United States Senator

Senator Boxer's statement on the introduction of "The Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act" on September 30, 2009:

I am very pleased to stand with my colleagues, national security leaders, veterans, business leaders, workers, environmental organizations, religious leaders, wildlife protectors, energy companies, state and local officials and so many others as we introduce the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act.

This bill addresses major challenges of our generation:

.protecting our children and the earth from dangerous pollution;

.putting America back in control of our energy future;

.creating the policies that will lead to millions of new jobs; and

.through our example, inspiring similar actions around the world to avoid an unstable and dangerous future.

As Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, I want to thank so many of my colleagues and their staffs, on and off the committee.

Senator Kerry's staff and my office have been a team, working together for weeks and weeks, and often late into the night. Colleagues and staff on the EPW Committee have been very important in this effort and their work is reflected.

We built on the successful House effort. Our bill has stronger targets in the short term and we have expanded our coalition in the business community.

In our bill, the basic promise to consumers has been kept. The promise to regions that rely heavily on fossil fuels has been kept as well.

The first major part of the bill includes authorizations, all of which would be eligible for appropriations and some which are eligible for both appropriations and allowances.

Some of these are enhanced from the Waxman bill; some are new. Here are some examples of these authorizations:

Investments in clean natural gas, new transmission infrastructure, nuclear R&D and worker training, and green economic development;

Agricultural and forestry offset opportunities;

Provisions to speed the transition to cleaner transportation, including investments in our transit systems, and incentives for efficient hybrid and electric cars;

Adaptation authorizations that include wildfire prevention, flood control, water infrastructure, and investments in coastal communities and wildlife protection.

Our bill gives a much stronger role to mayors and local governments.

The second major part of our bill sets up the Pollution Reduction and Investment incentives.

In this section we have strong principles laid out for market transparency and oversight and we set up an Office of Offsets Integrity.

Allowances in this section will be detailed in the chairman's mark.

We have put into this section a soft collar to address cost containment and limit speculation while maintaining the environmental integrity of the pollution cap.

And our bill does not add one penny to the deficit.

In closing, let me say that my state of California is going through hard times right now and it weighs on me every day.

But there is one bright spot. And that is clean energy jobs and businesses.

The Pew Charitable Trusts reports that 10,000 new clean energy businesses were launched in California from 1998 to 2007. During that period, clean energy investments created more than 125,000 jobs and generated jobs 15 percent faster than the California economy as a whole.

The latest economic study predicts up to 1.9 million new jobs in America if we pass our bill.

We know clean energy is the ticket to strong, stable economic growth ...it's right here in front of us...in the ingenuity of our workers and the vision of our entrepreneurs. And in studies and models.

The global clean energy market is estimated to reach two and a half times the size of the global personal computer market by the year 2020.

We know from venture capitalists that billions of dollars from the private sector will flow into this market.

Others will move ahead if we don't seize this opportunity.

If we do, we will be a leader in the world as we protect the earth and all who dwell here from a future that the world's most respected scientists agree is threatened if we do not act.

No one knows what challenges will face them in their time.

No one chooses their time. But you know what? This is our time.

Global warming is our challenge.

Economic recovery is our challenge.

American leadership is our challenge.

Let's step up right now.

Let's not quit until we have fulfilled our responsibility to our children and our grandchildren.

Thank you.

Tell Obama and the Senate to Take Bold Climate Action!

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I have done a few blogs discussing the upcoming Copenhagen meeting on Climate Change this December. So far things don't look optimistic, but as they say it is always darkest before the dawn. I am getting involved with another BloggersUnite event, this time 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more on that in another post. There are numerous avenues to take action whether full activist and going to Copenhagen to protest or slacktivist and simply clicking a petition button. I am trying for something in between.

The good folks at Care2 remind us that Barack Obama promised to take bold action on climate change. President Obama needs to stay strong -- we need a real climate bill calling for real change >> As world leaders prepare for the U.N. Climate Change Conference in December, it is critical that Obama steps up his efforts to pass strong and comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation here at home. Tell Obama to stay true to his word and transition us away from dirty energy >> I did, even though this video apparently says that he already knows. My words follow.

Failure at Copenhagen puts our planet on an unsustainable path. The questions of not now, when, if not us, who? cannot be ignored because it will not be the bottom billion of the world's economy that history will look to as they have no voice in this effort. It will be the leaders of the developed world and the leading economies who must answer. You have promised to work for the Millennium Development Goals, but none of the others matter if No. 7 Environmental Sustainability is not fulfilled.

Here are more reasons why from the Environmental Defense Funds (EDF).

With a climate bill pending in the Senate, the EDF tells us that they are doing everything we can to keep the pressure on for strong climate action.

You, like I did, can help by emailing your Senators and urging them to support a climate bill. I changed the default wording recognizing the fact that my Senators have been leaders in this effort, especially Senator Boxer.

Now is the time for the Senate to act. I strongly urge you to continue your ongoing leadership and support for strong climate bills and show our President that America is not only ready to support environmental legislation that helps our country, but that we are also ready to work with other countries to help heal our planet and create development that helps the bottom billion of the world's economy. The House has passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act, HR 2454. This historic bill will place a cap on carbon, invest in America's green energy future, create needed jobs, curb our global warming pollution, and help free us from foreign oil. We have an historic opportunity to cap global warming pollution and put people back to work unleashing America's green energy economy.

Here are some sobering facts about climate and water to inspire you to take action:

7: Number of great rivers in Asia fed by meltwater from Himalayan glaciers (Ganga, Indus, Brahmaputra, Salween, Mekong, Yangtze and Huang He).

2 billion: Number of people, mostly in India and China, who rely on meltwater from Himalayan glaciers for their fresh water.

2035: Date by which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and India's Energy and Resources Institute predict that much of the Himalayas could be glacier free.

66%: Amount by which the July-September flows would be reduced in the Ganga River if we lose the Himalayan glaciers.

37%: Amount of India's irrigated land is located in the Ganga region.

1 and 2: Respective rank of China and India as the world's producers of wheat and rice, food staples for all of humanity.

Sources for our climate and water facts:

• http://assets.panda.org/downloads/glacierspaper.pdf
• http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20081111/main5.htm
• http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/10/05/himalayas.glacier.conflict/index.htmlhttp://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/03/global-warming-melting-glaciers-shrinking-harvests.php
  

The Better of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Climate Change

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What is really better is that bloggers whether large institutional or small voice can help by doing what they are already doing, getting the word out and back again. In some cases, they can partner.

Jacklyn G. Rodney of the Fratelli Group recently sent me a hello, on behalf of the World Wildlife Fund and its "Act For Our Future" an integrated online and broadcast TV campaign to encourage the U.S. Senate to act on climate legislation.

Like Milestones for a New Millennium, we are also participating in Blog Action Day and we would like to join forces with you to spur Senate action on a climate bill this year. Your blog could help us reach more people and have a greater impact. In return WWF would like to draw our vast network of 1.5 million U.S. members to your site by cross-posting some of your content and links on our ActForOurFuture.org campaign site, as well as posting material on our campaign Facebook and Twitter pages.

I, of course, think that this great. The whole point of this blog is, beyond learning for myself, is trying to pass what I learn to whomever is interested. Apparently thousands are interested.

The “Act For Our Future” campaign strongly emphasizes the importance of reaching out to local Senators and asking them to vote “yes” on climate legislation. I strongly suggest that you take advantage and Act For Our Future. I was Supporting the Boxer-Kerry Climate Bill through Care2 before I knew about this opportunity.

For my efforts through Care2, I received the following reply from Senator Boxer's Office.

Dear Mr. Dowling:

Thank you for writing to me in support of clean energy legislation to fight climate change. I appreciate hearing from you.

I want to share with you the statement I made when Senator John Kerry and I introduced the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S.1733).

Sincerely,

Barbara Boxer

United States Senator

Senator Boxer's statement on the introduction of "The Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act" on September 30, 2009:

I am very pleased to stand with my colleagues, national security leaders, veterans, business leaders, workers, environmental organizations, religious leaders, wildlife protectors, energy companies, state and local officials and so many others as we introduce the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act. This bill addresses major challenges of our generation:

protecting our children and the earth from dangerous pollution;putting America back in control of our energy future;

creating the policies that will lead to millions of new jobs; and through our example, inspiring similar actions around the world to avoid an unstable and dangerous future. As Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, I want to thank so many of my colleagues and their staffs, on and off the committee.

Senator Kerry's staff and my office have been a team, working together for weeks and weeks, and often late into the night. Colleagues and staff on the EPW Committee have been very important in this effort and their work is reflected. We built on the successful House effort. Our bill has stronger targets in the short term and we have expanded our coalition in the business community.

In our bill, the basic promise to consumers has been kept. The promise to regions that rely heavily on fossil fuels has been kept as well. The first major part of the bill includes authorizations, all of which would be eligible for appropriations and some which are eligible for both appropriations and allowances. Some of these are enhanced from the Waxman bill; some are new. Here are some examples of these authorizations: Investments in clean natural gas, new transmission infrastructure, nuclear R&D and worker training, and green economic development;Agricultural and forestry offset opportunities; Provisions to speed the transition to cleaner transportation, including investments in our transit systems, and incentives for efficient hybrid and electric cars;Adaptation authorizations that include wildfire prevention, flood control, water infrastructure, and investments in coastal communities and wildlife protection.

Our bill gives a much stronger role to mayors and local governments. The second major part of our bill sets up the Pollution Reduction and Investment incentives.

In this section we have strong principles laid out for market transparency and oversight and we set up an Office of Offsets Integrity.Allowances in this section will be detailed in the chairman's mark. We have put into this section a soft collar to address cost containment and limit speculation while maintaining the environmental integrity of the pollution cap.

And our bill does not add one penny to the deficit. In closing, let me say that my state of California is going through hard times right now and it weighs on me every day. But there is one bright spot. And that is clean energy jobs and businesses. The Pew Charitable Trusts reports that 10,000 new clean energy businesses were launched in California from 1998 to 2007. During that period, clean energy investments created more than 125,000 jobs and generated jobs 15 percent faster than the California economy as a whole.

The latest economic study predicts up to 1.9 million new jobs in America if we pass our bill.

We know clean energy is the ticket to strong, stable economic growth ...it's right here in front of us...in the ingenuity of our workers and the vision of our entrepreneurs. And in studies and models.

The global clean energy market is estimated to reach two and a half times the size of the global personal computer market by the year 2020.

We know from venture capitalists that billions of dollars from the private sector will flow into this market.

Others will move ahead if we don't seize this opportunity.

If we do, we will be a leader in the world as we protect the earth and all who dwell here from a future that the world's most respected scientists agree is threatened if we do not act.

No one knows what challenges will face them in their time.

No one chooses their time. But you know what? This is our time.

Global warming is our challenge.

Economic recovery is our challenge.

American leadership is our challenge.

Let's step up right now.

Let's not quit until we have fulfilled our responsibility to our children and our grandchildren.

Barbara Boxer

United States Senator

Related Posts:

• The Good of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Climate Change
• The Bad of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Climate Change
• The Ugly of the Good, the Bad and The Ugly of Climate Change

The Bad of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Climate Change

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Nobody could look at where we are in terms of achieving Millennium Development Goal 7. Environmental Sustainability and believe that we are in good shape. The Bad is that addressing climate change is still being put on the backburner by too may people and too many governments. The months leading up to the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference have seen a great deal of activity, the trouble is that most of it is in the streets and not the halls of government.

Here is some background. Neil MacFarquhar of The New York Times summarized the United Nation's session on climate change in this Video Library Player: U.N. Summit on Climate Change. He also covered Presidents Hu Jintao of China and Barack Obama, both of whom are acknowledging that a deal is an important goal, but are also stressing their own needs in U.S. and China Vow Action on Climate but Cite Needs. The problem is, has Neil MacFarquhar points out, that proposals lag behind promises on Climate.

At the start of October, New York Times ANDREW C. REVKIN was reporting that Obama Aide Concedes Climate Law Must Wait in U.S. / POLITICS|

An aide to President Obama said there was virtually no chance of a bill passing before global talks in December.

The Senate is a huge challenge — not impossible, but difficult,” Ms. Claussen said. “What we need is for the health care debate to conclude, and the president and the entire administration to work constructively and tirelessly to pass climate legislation as soon as possible.”

Thing are a bit better, thanks in part to activists and even slacktivists putting pressure on their government. According to Krittivas Mukherjee and Muriel Boselli of Reuters things are looking better at home, but Climate talks may go to last minute.

Reuters: UNITED NATIONS/LONDON (Reuters) - Official Washington sounded more upbeat on Monday than it has for weeks in sizing up U.S. President Barack Obama's chances of progress on a climate-change bill in Congress this year.
U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer predicted the committee she leads would approve a bill before a U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen in December while Obama's Energy Secretary Steven Chu said he hoped all of Congress would pass a law by then.

It is still a nail-biter at Copenhagen though.

NEW DELHI/ PARIS (Reuters) - The world may have to wait until the dying seconds of a U.N. climate summit in December for a global deal to channel business dollars into low-carbon energy, industry and analysts said on Wednesday.
Senior executives warned progress so far in U.N.-led climate talks was inadequate to guarantee the future of low-carbon markets which could transform how the world gets its energy.

Related Posts:

• The Good of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Climate Change
• The Better of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Climate Change
• The Ugly of the Good, the Bad and The Ugly of Climate Change

Tell President Obama the World Needs U.S. Action on Climate Change

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The folks from Change.org, who are leading the Blog Action Day effort 2009 Climate Change tomorrow, tells us that the United States produces more than twenty percent of all greenhouse gas emissions with just five percent of the world's population. The United States, it would seem logical to conclude, needs to limit greenhouse gases and build a clean energy economy in order to achieve a sustainable solution to our global climate crisis. This is an essential step in not only achieving Millennium Development Goal 7. Environmental Sustainability, but all of the Millennium Goals and especially 1. End Hunger.

World leaders are about to gather in Copenhagen to negotiate a response to global climate change. It is essential that the United States takes action, both at home with current legislation (Boxer-Kerry climate bill) and at Copenhagen or the efforts to curb emissions will be severely hampered. David Adam warns in CommonDreams.org that Key differences between the US and Europe could undermine a new worldwide treaty on global warming to replace Kyoto.

Back in September of this year President Obama made a Climate Change Speech at at the United Nations.

President Obama recognized that climate change is an urgent global threat. Tell President Obama that to make good on this promise to restore America's responsible leadership in the world, and that the world needs him to lead Congress in taking bold and significant action to reduce greenhouse gasses.

Click here to encourage Obama to show bold leadership on the climate now >

Dear President Obama,

This December world leaders will gather in Copenhagen to negotiate a global response to climate change. As a world leader in greenhouse gas pollution as well as clean energy technology, the United States needs to take bold action by implementing comprehensive clean energy policies to curb emissions.

We join others around the world in calling on you to lead the United States in taking bold and significant action to reduce greenhouse gasses.

Brian Dowling

Click here to sign your name

Supporting the Boxer-Kerry Climate Bill

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Blog Action Day is now two days away. I signed up to post something, this will be my third year being part of this joint effort to raise consciousness. This year the effort is in anticipation of the United Nations meeting in Copenhagen this December on a Climate Change Treaty.

I have been gathering material for a piece on Climate Control and Millennium Development Goal 7. Environmental Sustainability, but there is some information which should not be held for another two days. Recently, I wrote to my Senators in support of the Boxer-Kerry climate bill. It was, I admit, one of those online support letters provided by one of the progressive organizations to which I subscribe. I was respondent number 5,828. They are looking to reach 10,000. I also added my own "two-cents" to fulfill the purpose of this blog, and the fact that as Senator Boxer is my Senator, I would be asking her to support her own bill. So I added the following paragraph to the correspondence.

Now I fully realize that I am not only preaching to the choir, but to the one of the choir masters, but the relationship between environmental sustainability and economic sustainability in achieving world changing efforts such as the Millennium Development Goals is too apparent these days to be ignored. We need to do both, but we cannot go to Copenhagen or to Davos or some other conference claiming a leadership role until we have our own house in order. So even though you did not need to be asked, I am asking again.

The Senate's version strengthens bill passed by the House by:

• raising the 2020 target for greenhouse pollution reductions to 20 percent below 2005 levels.
• ensuring that revenues from carbon regulation goes to transit, bike paths and other green modes of transportation.
• giving the EPA the authority to regulate coal plants under the Clean Air Act.

The bill is being debated in committee, so if you think it needs to be made even stronger, you can tell your senators: Push for and pass a strong climate bill! >> At last count, they were at 7,006.

Upgrading Foreign Aid ONE important step in reaching the Millennium Development Goals

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The folks at ONE are reminding us that the law governing U.S. foreign aid policy was written in 1961, when Kennedy was president, roughly half of Africa was still under colonial rule, and the Beatles were just a bar band in Liverpool. I am basically just passing on what they said plus, as usual, adding a few links to provide more information.

So they want us all to take opportunity to bring our foreign assistance into the 21st century, so its is, as they say, better reflecting American ingenuity, generosity and values and more effectively fighting global poverty.

The idea is to call your senator(s) and tell them to "upgrade aid" now by cosponsoring the bipartisan Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009 (S. 1524):

Mine in California are:

• Senator Dianne Feinstein
  Phone: (888) 441-3347
• Senator Barbara Boxer
  Phone: (888) 441-3346
  

You can find instructions and talking points and report your call here:

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is set to discuss this bill next Tuesday, September 22. To get S. 1524 moved on to the full Senate, we need to show support now for making U.S. aid programs better and smarter. Call your senator(s) today:

Introduced by Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Richard Lugar (R-IN), S. 1524 strengthens our ability to identify which aid programs work and which don't. It empowers USAID—the U.S. agency responsible for international development—to improve staff expertise and strategic planning; increase transparency and accountability; coordinate U.S. development programs; and align those programs with what's important to beneficiaries on the ground.

The connection with the Millennium Development Goals should be obvious. If the United States is not taking a leadership position on this issue both financially and morally, it is not likely that we will make any real progress. As ONE states:

U.S. foreign assistance has saved millions of lives, and thanks to your support for results-focused initiatives such as PEPFAR, the Global Fund and the Millennium Challenge Account, many of our investments are making a difference. But the way much of our aid is organized and delivered leaves room for an upgrade.

Senator Barbara Boxer Speaks Up for the Millennium Development Goals

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I wanted to do a positive "things can and are getting better" article and have decided to post the email that I received from Senator Barbara Boxer. The letter is in its original form with some links added. Following the links does dampen the positive spin of the email somewhat, but it is good to know that my representatives have their heart in the right place. There are still plenty of negative and hard-road-to-travel posts waiting in my drafts, but for now at least we have an administration that is headed in the right direction.

Dear Mr. Dowling:

Thank you for contacting me to share your views regarding America's commitment to providing international humanitarian assistance.

Like you, I believe that the United States must take a leading role in alleviating poverty and creating initiatives to help improve living conditions for the less-fortunate throughout the world. Our financial commitment to fighting global poverty and disease not only demonstrates our dedication to easing human suffering but also shares our humanitarian values with the world.

I am pleased to report that the Senate has voted to fully fund President Obama's request for the Fiscal Year 2010 International Affairs Budget. S.Con.Res.13 includes $51.7 billion in funding, a significant and necessary increase over FY2009 funding levels. Please know that I will work to maintain this level of funding as the appropriations process continues.

In addition, I strongly support the Obama Administration's goal of doubling foreign assistance by 2012. To that end, I am very pleased with the Administration's request to double funding for agricultural development programs in developing countries, making these programs more efficient and alleviating food shortages around the world. This effort closely mirrors the Global Food Security Act (S.384), which I also support.

Throughout my tenure in Congress, I have been a strong supporter of humanitarian assistance to people in need around the world. That is why I strongly support international efforts to fight HIV/AIDS and advance the Millennium Development Goals - a series of objectives endorsed by all 191 member states of the United Nations that range from halving extreme poverty to providing universal primary education by 2015. I also strongly support efforts to fully fund The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a critical component of the United States fight against global poverty and disease.

Again, thank you for contacting me. Please know that I will continue to support humanitarian and financial assistance to people in need around the world.

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

Support Women and Girls around the Globe!

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This weekend, despite being the Fourth of July, was a matter of three's. I received three requests for support for issues involving Millennium Development Goal 3. Gender Equity. I was able to get a mention in each of the campaigns about Stand Up Take Action's focus this year on holding governments accountable for improving the status of women and their rights. Stand Up Take Action will be focusing on improving maternal mortality or hunger and nutritional status for women and girls in poor countries. The campaigns below focus on some of the other critical issues that must be faced if we are to achieve the Millennium Development Goals at the most basic level, family.

The Change.org Team in partnership with friends at the United Nations Foundation wrote me about the Afghan Women Empowerment Act introduced by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA).

Young women and girls account for one-eighth of the world's population. And even though many are the primary caregivers and breadwinners in their household -- most still do not enjoy even basic human rights.

This situation is especially acute in Afghanistan, where despite efforts by the U.S. government, the United Nations, and others to improve the lives of women and girls, many still lack access to basic health care and schools. Many face violence and intimidation, daily. And Afghanistan has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world.

You can ensure these basic rights for the women of Afghanistan by asking your senator to support The Afghan Women Empowerment Act introduced by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA). This bill is critical as the maternal death rate for Afghan women is tragically high -- with one mother dying for every 56 births -- because it provides equipment, medical supplies and other assistance to health care facilities to reduce maternal and infant mortality. The bill also funds programs to protect women and girls against sexual and physical abuse, abduction, trafficking, exploitation, and includes emergency shelters for women and girls who face danger from violence.

They also sent me an invitation to make the pledge "to Support H.R. 1410: Newborn, Child, and Mother Survival Act of 2009 that was originated from the Hunger Site".

Every year, more than 9 million children die from preventable and treatable diseases, and more than 536,000 women die from pregnancy and birth-related causes around the globe. These deaths can be prevented if health services are provided to parts of the world where they are most needed. This is a good investment: ensuring not only the survival but the good health of women and children now means reduced health costs in the future and higher productivity in communities.

Care asked me to send a letter to my Senate representatives asking them to take immediate action and co-sponsor the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2009.

60 million girls around the world are married before the age of 17 -- many to men more than twice their age or older? Child marriage is a human rights violation that puts young girls at risk and keeps them mired in poverty. When a girl is forced to marry at a young age, it diminishes her chance at an education, endangers her health and puts her at increased risk of lifelong poverty. Young brides are more likely to become young mothers, and girls under the age of 15 are five times more likely to die of childbirth than a woman in her 20s.

The Millennium Development Goals may be only eight in number, but they cover hundreds of different issues being addressed by thousands of people in hundreds of organizations. Makes sense to me that if we can create some cross-fertilizations regarding these challenges and issues, we should.

Actions both nationally and globally for sustainable economics

Sphere: Related Content I got two calls to action supporting a Green Economic Recovery. The folks at Change.org sent me the following action to get behind which focuses on the national level. You need to become part of Change.org to participate, but that's worthwhile in itself. My online generated letter went to Congresswoman Grace Napolitano , Congressman Gary Miller , Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator Barbara Boxer.

Dear Brian,

We wanted to send you an important action alert in support of a campaign by the Union of Concerned Scientists for a strong climate bill.

Congress just passed a stimulus package that includes strong provisions promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency -- an important down payment on our country's transition to a cleaner energy future.

But the science is clear and it's urgent: to prevent the worst effects of global warming, Congress must go further, and it must act now. Comprehensive climate policy can curb global warming while breaking our dependence on oil and putting Americans back to work.

Sign the petition and tell your representative and senators to make passage of a strong climate bill a top priority today.

Thanks,

- The Change.org Team

"We must break our dependence on oil and curb global warming by implementing a strong climate policy.

Tell Congress to Pass a Strong Climate Bill

Congress just passed a stimulus package that includes strong provisions promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency-an important down payment on our country's transition to a cleaner energy future

But the science is clear and it's urgent: to prevent the worst effects of global warming, Congress must go further, and it must act now. Comprehensive climate policy can curb global warming while breaking our dependence on oil and putting Americans back to work.

Tell your representative and senators to make passage of a strong climate bill a top priority today.

I also signed another Avaaz petition on the same issue, but they are taking it to a global level with the G20 meeting in London next week. The Avaaz message is available below. -------------
Dear friends, Within days, world leaders are meeting at the London G20 Summit to tackle the global economic crisis -- we desperately need them to agree to invest in a green recovery and a bold global rescue package of stimulus, regulation and fundamental reform. But without a massive outcry for bold action in the next few days, our leaders could fail this historic test. So we're launching an emergency petition to the London Summit -- it will be delivered direct to summit officials and leaders and in a thousands-strong march this weekend, follow this link to add your voice: A global depression could threaten everything we care about -- breeding poverty, war, environmental devastation and threatening our jobs and our children's futures. But there is a way to stop it -- a powerful, coordinated rescue package where governments agree to invest in a green recovery together, make funds available to prevent vulnerable emerging economies from collapsing, properly regulate global financial markets and democratise institutions like the International Monetary Fund. Leaders are far from consensus on this kind of bold global action - that's why we're pressing them with this citizens' call and taking to the streets. The world's media will be in London to cover the summit, and with thousands of Avaaz members in green hard hats and carrying flags and banners on our behalf, the march will get big coverage and grab leaders' attention. Everyone who participates will also have a chance to vote on the principles and reforms needed to rebuild the global economy -- and all our demands will be delivered to the G20 summit, so please sign the petition now: http://www.avaaz.org/en/global_economic_rescue/97.php?cl_tta_sign=4d4afc3f4ff0068aea884c03bfc4048c In 1933, world leaders met in London -- and failed to stop a global depression that lasted a decade. In 2009, the people of the world must be right there challenging our leaders, demanding that they get it right.

With hope and determination,

Paul, Graziela, Ricken, Paula, Ben, Brett, Luis, Alice, Milena, Iain and the whole Avaaz team