Spirituality and Ecological Hope

Fostering Ecological Hope

Today from Margaret Swedish:

It was our hope that a new majority in Congress would change the political profile on the crisis of climate change.  That hope appears to be warranted now in the House where the new Speaker, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, has proposed the creation of a new Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

Pelosi made the announcement during a press conference celebrating the completion of legislation promised by the new Democratic leadership in the first 100 hours of the new House session.  She said the intention was to “raise the visibility” of the climate and energy crises that loom on our horizon.

The new committee would not have legislative authority, and Pelosi has challenged the committees that do to come up with proposed legislation by July 4. 

One can imagine the Democratic leadership clanging the bell for energy independence on our national Independence Day, should they succeed in writing some good legislation by then.

What I look for from the new committee is high profile hearings with some of our top climate scientists and renewable energy experts finally having an opportunity to make the case for drastic changes in federal policies that address these critical issues.

The move is not without controversy, even among Democrats.  In fact, fractures among Democrats are already being felt, and Pelosi will need to be at her best in negotiating around competing turf while holding her party members’ feet to the fire to do what needs to be done to start significantly cutting US carbon emissions.

To start with, Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is miffed because he believes these issues lie within the jurisdiction of his committee.  It is also the case that Dingell is a long-time defender of the interests of the auto industry in this state and has vigorously opposed legislation to raise fuel efficiency standards in the cars and SUVs we drive.

Meanwhile, Pelosi’s choice to chair the new committee is Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), described by the Wash. Post as, “a vociferous critic of the oil and gas industry”  — which bodes well for some serious discussion on how we begin to move beyond the oil and gas energy era.

Meanwhile, this proposal comes in the wake of a House vote to repeal tax breaks to oil and gas corporations given them by the Republicans in 2004.  Good work! 

Any real policy change proposals will meet with staunch resistance, and these measures must still pass in the Senate, before ending up on Bush’s desk — the president who, along with his vice-president, is wedded to the oil and gas industry.  He has already said he opposes increased taxes on the industry and that he opposes mandatory carbon emission reductions.

But whether or not any of this becomes law under the current White House regime, it will place these issues at the top of the agenda as the next election campaign unfolds.  This is all to the good.  The Republicans will be forced to defend any votes that would impede meaningful policy to address the global warming/climate change crisis that threatens all of us.

There is good news over in the Senate as well, where the new chair of the environment and public works committee, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), is laying out a process for getting new legislation through the Senate that would place tough mandatory caps on carbon emissions.  This article, from an interview with Boxer, explains how she intends to proceed.

Meanwhile, as we wrote earlier this week, Bush knows he can’t be silent on this.  We’ll see what he has to say Tuesday in his State of the Union address, whether or not he is ready to get serious about climate change. 

Because, while he has dawdled, or been coddled by the fossil fuel industry and climate change deniers (and vice versa), much of the world is running right passed him.  Individual states, scores of nations, and now even corporations, are realizing how much trouble we are in.  Here’s an interesting column from the Financial Times regarding the quickening trickle of corporations that are beginning to take climate change seriously, realizing what this could mean for their bottom line, even, yes, even, well, Exxon Mobil, one of the biggest funders of the global warming deniers.

And, one more bit of news from today’s papers, the Wall Street Journal had a story today regarding a new coalition forming between some corporations and some environmental groups intended “to boost pressure on Congress and President Bush next week to address climate change more rapidly.”  The coalition includes Dupont, Alcoa, General Electric, and Duke Energy.  Some pretty good clout there, hard to ignore.

They will hold a news conference on Monday, so stay tuned.  Says the WSJ:

[The coalition] will suggest that Congress and the administration move quickly to address global warming through steps such as capping greenhouse gas emissions and discouraging construction of conventional coal-burning power plants, which are a big source of carbon dioxide emissions.

The WSJ makes you pay for just about everything, so let me quote this article (”Firms press Washington on climate,” by John D McKinnon) at a bit longer length, with your forbearance.

     While the US rejected the Kyoto accord that created greenhouse gas caps and an emission-credit trading system for developed countries in Europe and elsewhere, some executives believe such regulation is inevitable here.  They want more certainty about the future, as they plan for capital investments.

     Many of the big-name corporations involved in the effort already have emerged as advocates of addressing climate change more rapidly…

     The group’s formation shows the unity that is emerging on climate change between some of the country’s biggest manufacturers and its most influential environmental groups…

 Okay, but all of this needs a huge push from you and me – voters, community groups, churches, educators, etc., etc.  Pelosi is going to face a lot of opposition and resistance, including from within her own party.  It will be up to all of us to make climate change one of the major issues of the current political cycle, leading up to the 2008 election.

You have representatives in Washington.  Let them hear from you.