Climate 411

The USCAP family has grown again.

Weyerhaeuser, one of the world’s biggest timber and paper products companies, announced today that it has joined the United States Climate Action Partnership.

That brings USCAP’s membership to 29 companies and NGO’s. The widely diverse members have all banded together to support passage of strong climate and clean energy legislation in Congress.

Weyerhaeuser joins such “strange bedfellows” as Shell Oil, Duke Energy, PepsiCo, General Electric, Natural Resources Defense Council, The Nature Conservancy– and, of course, EDF.

In a statement, Weyerhaeuser CEO Dan Fulton said:

The role of forest fiber in a low carbon economy will depend on the public policy concepts under debate in Washington, D.C. … we believe our membership [in USCAP] will help positively position sustainable forestry, biomass and forest products in these important policy discussions.

EDF is always happy to welcome another ally in the fight for a strong climate policy. We don’t always agree with Weyerhaeuser — or the other USCAP companies — on every issue. But the fact that such divergent voices all agree on this issue underscores how vital a climate bill is to our entire economy.

More details are in the New York Times and The Hill.

Our regular readers will remember this recent post about the launch of our 72 Hours for Clean American Power calling campaign. EDF joined forces with 10 fellow environmental organizations to flood the Senate with calls demanding action on climate change legislation.

We’re happy to say the campaign was a big success.  An amazing 300,000 of you called our Senate hotline during those 72-hours.

We can’t thank you enough for your efforts. You made sure that the Senate got your message: America needs a comprehensive climate and clean energy bill, and we need it now.

Lots of you have told us that you’d like to do even more.  Keep in mind that our 100,000 letter campaign is still going on. You can make sure your Senators get the same message in writing — that a climate and clean energy bill should be a national priority.

Chicago Transit Authority has laid off 1,067 workers and has drastically cut service. Photo courtesy of Flickr user: TheeErin

Over the last several months, we’ve written occasionally about the need to solve the impending transit funding crisis. For longer than that, we’ve worked around the country, but especially in California and New York, to find new and innovative ways to advance transit service. Lately, we’ve also implored Congress to provide emergency funding to keep drivers employed as legislators have considered jobs bills. 

So far, our efforts as well as the work of our allies, to keep drivers driving, mechanics working, the transit system available—and ultimately keep some of the worst tailpipe emissions in check—have been frustratingly unsuccessful.   

New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and countless other metropolitan regions are facing a transit disaster. Grappling with huge budget deficits as a result of public funding cuts, transit agencies are slashing service, laying off workers, and raising fares.  

• In New York City, the Metropolitan Transportation Agency, which operates the city’s buses and subways, as well as suburban rail lines, bridges and tunnels, is facing an $800 million deficit as a result of cuts in state aid and low payroll tax revenues. They expect to layoff 1,130 employees (out of their 70,000 person staff), including 500 station agents. The MTA has ended free fares for students and has reduced salaries by 10%.
• In Chicago, the Chicago Transit Authority has laid off 1,067 employees in order to balance a $300 million deficit.
• In San Francisco, the city expects to see a second fare increase in 4 months in order to balance a $12.1 million deficit, with additional service cuts. SFMTA plans to lay off 230 employees, 175 of which are bus and Muni metro drivers. 
• In Washington, D.C., where trains are bursting during rush hour, WMATA plans to lay off 60 employees and eliminate another 90 positions that are not filled. They also expect service cuts and fare increases to fill their $40 million budget gap.
• Just this weekend, in Sacramento, CA, the local newspaper reported that the regional transit agency is planning to put 300 workers on notice that they’ll likely be laid off as the agency grapples with a two-year $25 million deficit. Service after 8pm and on weekends could be cut as well. This deficit has been made worse as a result of state policymakers’ decision last year to shift the state fuel tax, designated for transit operations, to other important state services, which have been jeopardized by the overall state budget crisis.

And here’s an example of how these cuts add up, changing people’s commuting choices. Quoted from the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco resident MPR Howard, who has lived in San Francisco and ridden Muni for 28 years, will now be back behind the wheel:  

I will not be renewing my Muni disabled pass…. I will be putting my 45-year-old car (a 1965 Dodge Dart) back on the road. She may not be pretty or environmentally clean, but at least she gets me from point A to point B in a reasonable amount of time. I’ve given up on Muni. 

Confirmed U.S. Public Transportation Industry Layoffs, 2009-2010

* = Transit Manufacturer

** = Rescinded after passage of 10% provision in supplemental appropriations bill

Projected Upcoming Layoffs

 Prepared by the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Legislative Department. Updated March 1, 2010.  For more information, contact Jeff Rosenberg at jeffr@atu.org, courtesty of Scott Bogren at the Community Transportation Association of America (bogren@ctaa.org).   

Starting this Tuesday, we asked you to call your senators and demand clean energy legislation. We joined up with several other groups and challenged you to get as many calls in as possible within 72 hours.

You have already surpassed our greatest hopes by absolutely flooding the Senate: We believe we’ve collectively, across the whole campaign, sent more than 200,000 calls in to the Senate over the last 48 hours.  And we’re not done yet — the campaign ends tonight.

We’ve been busy here in D.C. working to get strong clean energy legislation passed. Our biggest weapon is your voice, so keep those phones ringing!

(And after you’ve called,  share this link with your friends and family.)