Climate 411

House Passes Energy Bill – Next Up: Climate

By Steve Cochran / Published: December 7, 2007

This post is by Steve Cochran, National Climate Campaign Director at Environmental Defense.

Yesterday, with the leadership of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the House passed legislation that will reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and promote energy efficiency. The bill is now in the Senate, where procedural votes are underway.

Speaker Pelosi has previously said that the energy bill passed yesterday by the House "will lay the groundwork for the Congress to move forward next year with comprehensive action to address climate change."

The Speaker is showing that she has the will – and the power – to produce real results in the House on issues important to the American people. We’re pleased that she has pledged to use that same focus to pass a comprehensive climate bill in 2008.

Posted in News / Read 2 Responses

Climate Legislation in the House?

By Carol Andress / Published: December 6, 2007

This post is by Carol Andress, Economic Development Specialist at Environmental Defense.

Climate Vote 2007

This post is part of a series on the work of the Environmental Defense Action Fund to enact an effective climate law. You can help by writing to Congress.

Last night’s committee passage of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act (CSA) means that the bill now can be considered by the full Senate – an important step towards enacting national climate legislation. But for a bill to become law in this country it has to be passed by both the House and Senate, and the House is lagging behind. (See our previous post for more on the legislative process.)

So while we celebrate last night’s Senate victory, we still have our work cut out for us in the House. The House Energy Commerce Committee has been tied up with the energy bill, and has not yet circulated a proposal on climate legislation. Now that a vote on the energy bill is imminent, it’s time for House leaders to turn their attention.

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Posted in Climate Change Legislation / Read 1 Response

Landmark Climate Bill Passes Senate Committee!

By Mark MacLeod / Published: December 6, 2007

This post is by Mark MacLeod, Director of Special Projects, Climate and Air Program, Environmental Defense.

Climate Vote 2007

This post is part of a series on the work of the Environmental Defense Action Fund to enact an effective climate law. You can help by writing to Congress.

Last night the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee passed the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act (CSA) of 2007, a comprehensive climate change bill that would set mandatory caps on U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. This landmark vote brings us one step closer to passing national climate legislation. (See my previous post for more on the legislative process.)

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How a Bill Moves Through Congress

By Mark MacLeod / Published: December 5, 2007

This post is by Mark MacLeod, Director of Special Projects, Climate and Air Program, Environmental Defense.

Operation Climate Vote

Part of a series on the work of the Environmental Defense Action Fund to enact an effective climate law. You can help by writing to Congress.

Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2007 (CSA) is the most promising climate change legislation we’ve seen yet. You may have heard that it’s "out of subcommittee" and "scheduled for mark-up on December 5th". But what does that mean?

The legislative process is complicated, but here is a basic overview of the process this bill is following, known as "regular order".

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Posted in Climate Change Legislation / Read 3 Responses

Links to Make You Laugh and Cry

By Sheryl Canter / Published: December 4, 2007

This post is by Sheryl Canter, an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.

Here are some links to interesting articles I ran across recently:

Six Degrees – Review from RealClimate of a new book that soberly assesses what will happen to the world at one degree increase in temperature, two degrees, etc. It’s alarming – but not alarmist.

The People We Have Been Waiting For – New York Times Op-Ed by Thomas Friedman that will make you laugh and cry. It ends on a wonderfully optimistic note (in case you’re feeling depressed about climate change).*

*There’s one small inaccuracy in Friedman’s piece. He says climate change will lead to “colder cold spells”. Actually, as the IPCC states, there are “warmer and fewer cold days and nights over most land areas.” The idea that weather will swing to colder as well as warmer extremes is a common misunderstanding.

Posted in What Others are Saying / Comments are closed

Help Developing Countries Cut Carbon, Not Trees

By Sheryl Canter / Published: December 3, 2007

This post is by Sheryl Canter, and Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.

In last Friday’s post on the Bali climate talks, Kyle mentioned giving countries incentives to leave their forests standing. This was also the topic of an excellent piece on NPR this morning, "Climate Experts Mull Payment to Stop Deforestation". Our own Annie Petsonk was interviewed for the story:

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Posted in International / Read 3 Responses