 Climate Politics/Capitol Light© is a service of The JBS Group and Civil Notion
March 16-21, 2020 Editor's Note: This is a free version of the newsletter prepared for clients of the JBS Group. Energy and environment in the time of the coronavirus It's hardly a surprise that the coronavirus pandemic is controlling politics up and down Pennsylvania Avenue from Capitol Hill to the White House. The president assumed a more somber tone during the week, although he continued to make misstatements about the pandemic and what the government was doing about it. For example, a claim he made about a malaria drug offering a cure to the coronavirus was later "clarified" by medical staff as Trump’s being “hopeful.” Not a connection that jumps immediately to mind, the pandemic is having significant energy and environmental implications. The global lockdown has reduced air pollution as industries stand idle. One study estimates that two months of reduced pollution levels in China have saved 77,000 lives. The Guardian reported that Venice's hundreds of canals had been emptied of speeding motorboat taxis, transport, and tourist boats. The chugging Vaporetto water buses now run on a reduced timetable. Even most of the gondolas are moored. The clarity of the water has improved dramatically. Cormorants have returned to dive for fish they can now see. At the Piazzale Roma Vaporetto stop, ducks have even made a nest. Someone has put up a sign saying, ''Don't tread on the duck eggs."
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Climate Politics/Capitol Light© is a service of The JBS Group and Civil Notion
March 16, 2020 Editor's Note: This is a free version of the newsletter prepared for clients of the JBS Group. The world is not doing well in its efforts to meet the existing voluntary goals of the Paris climate accord—targets that collectively were known to be inadequate from the day the accord first came into force. A projected 22 million people were displaced by extreme weather in 2019, up from 17.2 million the year before, according to the recently released World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) annual State of the Global Climate Report. The specialized United Nations agency used data from national meteorological and hydrological services across the globe to confirm that 2019 was the second-warmest year on record; 2015 to 2019 were the warmest five years on record; and 2010 to 2019 was the warmest decade on record. "Since the 1980s, each successive decade has been warmer than any preceding decade since 1850," according to WMO. In a foreword to the report, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote that the findings indicate the world is far from achieving the goals outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate and illustrate "the urgency for far-reaching climate action."  Climate Politics/Capitol Light© is a service of The JBS Group and Civil Notion
March 2, 2020 This issue of Climate Politics/Capitol Light focuses on a single piece of legislation—because of its significance. Look for the next issue of the newsletter to report on various climate-related Capitol Hill activities again. For the first time in a very long time, a significant energy bill will be debated in the Senate during the week of March 1st. The legislation, The American Energy Innovation Act (AEIA, S. 2657), is the product of a collaboration between Senators Murkowski (R-AK) and Joe Manchin (D-WV). Murkowski is chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (ENR), while Manchin is the ranking Democrat on the panel. In truth, the AEIA is more of a vehicle for portions of over 50 pieces of legislation that the Senate Energy Committee previously considered and cleared for a floor vote. As introduced, AEIA is an amalgam of measures sponsored or cosponsored by more than 60 Senators. The provisions are arranged under two titles--Innovation and Supply Chain Security. The first focuses on American leadership in the research and development of innovative energy technologies. The second aims to improve national security in critical areas and facilitate workforce development. (Click here for the 2 page summary of AEIA summary published by the ENR) 
Climate, Politics/Capitol Light©, is a service of The JBS Group and Civil Notion
February 23, 2020 The House is returning from its District work period and will reconvene on Tuesday, February 25th. The Senate is scheduled to reconvene on February 24th. It will cost more later. According to a report by the consulting firm Oliver Wyman, the financial services sector stands to lose up to $1 trillion if it does not react to climate change quickly enough and is forced to adhere to policy levers like a carbon tax. The group found that if taxes of $50 per metric ton of carbon were imposed across both the power generation and oil and gas industries, credit losses could amount to anywhere from $50 billion to $300 billion. (Reuters) Because the feds won’t. Takoma Park, Md., is considering implementing the nation's first total ban on fossil fuels, as part of a local government effort to address a perceived lack of federal action on climate change. The nonbinding proposal would ban all gas appliances, close fossil fuel pipelines, and relocate gas stations outside city limits by 2045 and cost the average homeowner up to $25,000. (The Washington Post) 3 for 3. Recent polling in Nevada by the League of Conservation Voters finds climate change second only to healthcare among Democratic caucus-goers’ priority issues, mirroring a trend in the first two voting states. For Latino voters in Nevada, climate change is the number one issue, the LCV polling found.
Climate, Politics/Capitol Light©, is a service of The JBS Group and Civil Notion
February 15, 2020 Climate Matters: Between a Republican Rock and a Hard Place House Minority Leader McCarthy (R-CA) announced the first tranche of Republican initiatives intended to combat climate change. Although modest by comparison to the magnitude of the problem or the Democrats’ CLEAN Future Act, the mere mention that Earth’s warming poses a problem is extraordinary given the denialist position of McCarthy and other Congressional conservatives a few short months ago. McCarthy and his House Republicans are leading off their defense of the environment with a package of proposals focused on carbon capture. Carbon capture is a natural or artificial process by which CO2 is removed from the atmosphere and held in solid or liquid form. Representative Crenshaw (R-TX) introduced H.R. 5864 to establish and support the research, development, and demonstration of advanced carbon capture and utilization technologies. Representative David Schweikert (R-AZ) put forward H.R. 5883 a bill to expand and make permanent the 45Q carbon capture tax credit. 
Climate, Politics/Capitol Light©, is a service of The JBS Group and Civil Notion
February 8, 2020 A party in labor? Although Biden lost Iowa, he won the endorsement of the 775,000-member International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) while on his way to New Hampshire. It was an unusually early endorsement for the union. In 2008 and 2016, the IBEW waited until Obama and Clinton had more or less secured the nomination. It seems Biden’s poor Iowa showing was as unnerving for the union as it was for Biden. In making the early endorsement, IBEW president Lonnie Stephenson described ‘an urgency this year’ to pick a candidate aligned with their values. Stephenson was being polite. The fact is that Sanders scares the biomass out of the IBEW and a lot of other unions, including the United Mineworkers (UMW), North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU), and the AFL-CIO and many of its more than sixty union affiliates, representing 12.5 million members. Labor’s problem with Sanders can be summed up in three words—Green New Deal (GND). Sanders’ own plan builds on the GND and calls for a ten-year, nationwide mobilization that would eliminate the nation’s carbon footprint by 2030. Workers in the oil, gas, and coal industries hear and read those words as a pink slip. Biden—being the moderate he is—speaks of making the transition by 2050.  Climate, Politics/Capitol Light©, is a service of The JBS Group and Civil Notion
February 3, 2020 A Slippery Slope Over the past several weeks, I’ve included clips on the efforts of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to bring House Republicans in from the cold on climate change. McCarthy’s change of heart is likely attributable to polling numbers that clearly indicate Republicans are vulnerable on this issue with young suburban voters. The suburbs are showing themselves as fertile Democratic fields because of changing demographics. It is also likely that stoking this newly emerged effort to come up with policy and program proposals has been the Democrats’ climate focus—both in the House and on the hustings. Every contender for the Democratic presidential nomination has made climate defense a prominent part of their pitch to primary voters—to one degree or another. Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee have just released their 600-page draft of the Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for our Nation’s Future Act. (see below) It lays out a multi-faceted plan to reach zero-net fifty greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. It’s still a work in progress. With growing support for a federal response to climate change among young suburban Republicans, McCarthy believed it was folly to continue playing the denial card. The way he phrases it “for a 28-year old, the environment is the Number 1 and Number 2 issue.” It should also be recognized that there’s already growing Republican interest and support for a carbon tax—notably the Baker-Shultz plan. There is a growing number of college-based Repub-lican chapters that are actively advocating its passage. It’s an interesting partnership between old-line establishment Republicans and new-line young Republicans.  Climate, Politics/Capitol Light©, is a service of The JBS Group and Civil Notion
January 25, 2020 The Trump administration has gone to great pains to purge Obama-era science advisers from federal advisory boards and replace them with their own. Trump’s scientists seem to have the integrity many of his administrative appointees, e.g., EPA Administrator Wheeler lack. The administration is going to have a tough time defending its actions in court. It’s possible that administration lawyers are counting on courts deferring to agency expertise in these matters. It is equally possible that they don’t care. The hole in this strategy is that the administration’s own scientists are unwilling to validate wishful facts. In the clips below, Wheeler and Trump are both called out on their statements about what a proposed rule will and won’t do, as well when the world can expect to begin feeling the impacts of global climate change. Is it any wonder that 1,600 scientists have left government since Trump took office? Although rarely spoken of, part of Trump’s legacy will be the shambles the executive branch will be upon his departure.  Climate, Politics/Capitol Light©, is a service of The JBS Group and Civil Notion
January 21, 2020 Impeachment continues to dominate the news in Washington. The Senate is in session and is currently debating the rules of engagement in the trial phase of Trump’s impeachment. It will be a while yet before the actual trial begins. There some contentious to be answered, e.g., will witnesses be allowed to testify? If yes, who. Will they be asked to testify in person or by video or written questions and answers. As rigged as the outcome seems to be, there’s a lot riding on the optics for both Republicans and Democrats. The full House is back next week. This week members involved in the impeachment proceedings are the ones hard at work. Tree’s company. Trump tried out a new storyline in his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It involved both a rejection of prophecies of doom and reforestation. “Fear and doubt is not a good thought process because this is a time for tremendous hope and joy and optimism and action…But to embrace the possibilities of tomorrow, we must reject the perennial prophets of doom and their predictions of the apocalypse,” Trump told his audience. 
Climate, Politics/Capitol Light©, is a service of The JBS Group and Civil Notion (#39)
January 16, 2020 Congress Rules-- Impeachment and the pending Senate trial are understandably sucking most of the oxygen out of Capital City. Senate committee chairs are still deciding if hearings are feasible once the trial starts. Rules are that Senators must sit in their seats for the entire time. They won’t be allowed their cell phones, or to talk to their neighbors, or read any material not directly asso-ciated with the proceeding. The hearings are expected to go into February. Trump will likely be giving his State of the Union address while the trial is still going on. It should be interesting to see how he will handle facing 230 of his accusers in Speaker Pelosi’s House. It appears that House Republicans are meeting to discuss putting together their own climate crisis package in response to the CLEAN Future Act that was put together by Democratic mem-bers of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. (See here for a detailed discussion) Although they won’t admit it, it does seem they are worried about having no response to the Democrats in an election year. |
AuthorJoel Stronberg, MA, JD., of The JBS Group is a veteran clean energy policy analyst with over 30 years’ experience, based in Washington, DC. Archives
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