Climate 411

Claim:

“Cap and trade legislation fails the test of government that works. The cost of this policy will be certain, massive and immediate. The benefits of these policies will be dubious, miniscule and decades in the distance. I really do believe that before we take a plunge of this magnitude, people should talk it over, think it through, take a deep breath and consider whether there’s a better way to achieve goals we all agree on.”

— Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels speaking at an energy summit in Indianapolis, IN, May 27, 2009.

Truth:

First of all, cap and trade has already been proven as successful government policy. It was used in the 1990 Clean Air Act to reduce the pollution that causes acid rain.

The results? Well, the sulfur dioxide cap worked so well that The Economist crowned it “probably the greatest green success story of the past decade.” (July 6, 2002).

In the 1990s, the acid rain cap and trade program achieved 100% compliance in reducing sulfur dioxide emissions. In fact, power plants participating in the program reduced SO2 emissions 22% — 7.3 million tons — below mandated levels.

All this has been achieved at a fraction of the cost estimates. Prior to the launch of the program, costs were estimated to run from $3-$25 billion per year. After the first 2 years of the program, the costs were actually $0.8 billion per year and the long-term costs of the program are expected to be around $1.0-$1.4 billion per year, far below early projections.

The doom-and-gloomers were wrong then. And they’re wrong now.

As for taking a deep breath and talking it over, Governor Daniels may be new to the debate, but global warming has been a known and serious problem for decades.

Environmental Defense Fund first starting working on the threat of global warming in Reagan era. The Kyoto Protocol was negotiated more than 10 years ago. The McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act was first introduced in 2003. And there have been three votes in the Senate on moving forward on a cap and trade bill.

We’ve had ample time to debate the pros and cons. Governor Daniels may not want to move forward on this policy. That’s his right. But, he owes it to his constituents and the American people to base his arguments on facts, not misleading and baseless hyperbole.

Today, in an ad running in four Capitol Hill publications, the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) is calling on Energy and Commerce committee members to advance the American Clean Energy and Security Act.

USCAP is a coalition of businesses and environmental organizations that have come together to call on Congress to cap carbon emissions. With the introduction of the American Clean Energy and Security Act, USCAP released a statement [PDF] on the legislation, and followed with this landmark coalition ad.

The ad references USCAP’s Blueprint for Legislative Action, which spells out how a cap on carbon emissions will protect the U.S. economy and our environment.

The Energy and Commerce committee is expected to vote the American Clean Energy and Security Act today.  We have been following the mark-up of the bill, and debunking the nay-sayers latest myths. Stay tuned for more updates.

This bill would give the “global warming Gestapo” the power to throw senior citizens out of their homes, if the homes are not up to energy-efficient building standards. “A senior citizen whose home is destroyed by a tornado .. and she wants to rebuild .. if she doesn’t rebuild according to the rules in this bill .. she is declared an unlawful occupant of her own home.” —  Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA-01)

First of all, state and local laws already require construction to meet current codes when homes are built or re-built. So, there’s nothing new here.

And it’s a good thing — it’s how we make sure homes are safe, healthy, livable and efficient. It’s also how we make sure senior citizens (and everybody else) aren’t taken advantage of by shoddy or unscrupulous builders.

What the Waxman-Markey bill does is set some broad national efficiency targets for new construction. The bill leaves it up to cities, states and building code associations to decide how to meet them — based on local weather and climate, cost-effectiveness for the region and local preferences.

In other words — pretty much the same system we’ve got now.

More importantly, the national efficiency targets require that code changes are cost effective and save people money on their power bills. Senior citizens would appreciate lower utility bills at least as much as anyone else. They would be unlikely to argue strenuously against a provision that will immediately reduce their monthly expenses and will ultimately put more money in their pocket.

As for “global warming Gestapo” .. we don’t think cute alliteration justifies anything that offensive.