E2 Morning Roundup: China strikes back on green trade, California climate battle heats up, greens hit Kit Bond in new ad, and much more
The Hill’s Darren Goode has a nice primer on the expensive fight over Proposition 23, the ballot initiative that would kill the state’s landmark climate change law.
“Protecting California’s global warming law has become a top priority for environmental activists who are still smarting over the defeat of comprehensive energy legislation in Congress this year. If the law survives the ballot challenge, it could become a model for other states to emulate,” the piece notes.
Inside the money battle
Opponents of the ballot measure have outraised supporters about 2-1 and raised more than $16 million, including $5 million from billionaire asset manager Tom Steyer, co-chair of the “No on Prop 23” campaign.
The League of Conservation Voters and its sister organization, LCV Education Fund, have committed $1.2 million so far to defeat Prop 23, the group announced Thursday — more than they are spending on any candidate races this year.
Major oil industry companies are bankrolling the effort to pass Prop 23. Valero Energy Corp. leads the pack with a $4 million donation — about half of the total that has been raised by supporters. Tesoro Corp. has chipped in about $2 million, while a refinery subsidiary of Koch Industries Inc. — owned by the billionaire brothers and conservative political donors David and Charles Koch — has donated $1 million. Marathon Oil Corp. has contributed $500,000.
On tap Monday and this week: Turning the ‘smart grid’ into reality
Gridweek 2010 runs for several days this week in Washington, D.C. — a huge conference of federal and industry officials (among other stakeholders) working toward the complex task of creating a “smart grid.”
The phrase refers to the suite of technologies — receiving heavy stimulus law backing — that make the aging power grid more efficient, secure and adaptable to alternative energies like solar power.
The conference includes officials from the Energy Department, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Federal Communications Commission and executives with to power companies like Southern Co. and many others. It gets rolling Monday morning with a keynote address by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.
On tap Monday II: Enviro TV ad hits Kit Bond for trying to block EPA
The Environmental Defense Action Fund is launching a new TV ad Monday in Missouri markets that targets Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) for his efforts to slow or block Clear Air Act rules.
The 30-second spot by the Environmental Defense Fund’s political arm shows a young girl hooked up to a respirator, laboring to breathe. “Every year, air pollution cuts short the lives of 50,000 Americans,” the narrator states, noting it also increases hospital admissions and asthma attacks, especially among children and the elderly.
“So why is Senator Kit Bond trying to undermine America’s clean air rules?” the narrator asks. It concludes with text on the screen: “Senator Bond, please don’t weaken America’s clean air rules.”
Bond is among the lawmakers trying to thwart the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate greenhouse gases. While Bond is retiring, the weeklong ad is also a shot across the bow at other lawmakers seeking to block EPA efforts. The upcoming lame-duck session could include a Senate vote on legislation that would put upcoming EPA climate rules on ice.
China calls U.S. green trade probe a political ploy
A senior Chinese official is criticizing the U.S. for probing whether China’s support for domestic green energy companies is violating World Trade Organization rules.
“China’s top energy official said the U.S. was playing electoral politics with an announcement that it will investigate a union complaint that the Chinese government gives unfair subsidies to its alternative energy industry,” Bloomberg reports Monday.
“Does America want to get fair trade or a genuine dialogue, or get transparent information?” National Energy Administration Director Zhang Guobao said at a Beijing press conference last night, the news service reported. “I think not — it seems America’s main reason is to get votes.”
Al Gore attacks Massachusetts GOP candidate over climate change
Gore is backing incumbent Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) and criticizing his opponent’s views on global warming.
“In a video being sent to tens of thousands of Patrick supporters, Gore highlights comments [Charles] Baker made to the Globe in February, in which he dodged questions on his stance on climate change for days. Baker said he was not “smart enough’’ to understand the issue and declined to even issue an opinion,” the Boston Globe reports.
“Well, in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence, Charlie Baker’s statement is nothing short of unacceptable in my view from a candidate seeking the highest office in Massachusetts,’’ Gore says in the video, according to theGlobe. “The climate crisis is just as real as the economic one that has touched every single family, business, and government in our country.’’
Obama’s mixed grades on energy
President Obama gave a lengthy interview to The New York Times that touches briefly on the energy and climate agenda.
Obama notes the results have been mixed in the interview that explores how much the rough economy has set the tone for the presidency thus far.
“But we’ve still got some more work to do, and we still don’t have an energy policy that I think served us well over the long term,” Obama notes at one point.
Broad energy and climate legislation flopped in the Senate, but the stimulus poured tens of billions of dollars into various “clean” energy programs.
“We haven’t been able to deal with climate change so far, but we did make the largest investment in clean energy in our history over the last two years. And we’ve seen entire industries in advanced battery manufacturing or in solar power or wind power develop all across the country,” Obama said.
On tap Monday III: The midterm elections and cap-and-trade
The Natural Resources Defense Council will unveil polling about “energy and climate change issues and their impact on the midterm elections.”
The event comes as many vulnerable Democrats are getting hammered for their votes in support of House climate change legislation last year, but enviros argue these votes can be transformed into political winners.
BP sheds assets to pay for oil spill
“BP Plc’s asset sales to raise cash to pay for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill rose to more than $11 billion, and the disposal of other fields slated for sale may net the company about $19 billion more,” Bloomberg reports Monday.
“BP said in July it would raise between $25 billion and $30 billion over 18 months from selling oil and gas production assets outside key regions for growth. Today, it announced the sale of $1.8 billion of fields in Vietnam and Venezuela to its Russian joint venture TNK-BP.”
NYT hits Senate Republican hopefuls on climate denial
The New York Times editorial page looks at the climate views of GOP Senate candidates – and smacks Dick Cheney in the process.
“Former Vice President Dick Cheney has to be smiling. With one exception, none of the Republicans running for the Senate — including the 20 or so with a serious chance of winning — accept the scientific consensus that humans are largely responsible for global warming,” their editorial states.
“The candidates are not simply rejecting solutions, like putting a price on carbon, though these, too, are demonized. They are re-running the strategy of denial perfected by Mr. Cheney a decade ago, repudiating years of peer-reviewed findings about global warming and creating an alternative reality in which climate change is a hoax or conspiracy,” it adds.
-Ben Geman
