Highlight of the Week

Senate Discusses Clean Energy Legislation With Base of Diverse Support

Progress on an energy bill meant to bolster the American economy and mitigate the effects of global warming has been swift in the Senate, where the discussion has taken on an inclusive tone of late.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has officially joined that discussion, part of a recent trend of African American groups' increasing visibility in the climate change fight.

The NAACP resolution, which was ratified during a legislative session of the NAACP Centennial Convention, contained a pledge “to work with the National Wildlife Federation” to support legislation that curbs global warming pollution. Calling on our nation’s elected leaders, the resolution vows to “ensure that the response to climate change can take a higher ground than business as usual – one that ensures that we capture the real public benefits from the new energy economy.”

The declaration has already made waves in Washington: Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-CA), referenced the NAACP’s resolution in a committee hearing last week and drew the support of Jerome Ringo, a past chair of the National Wildlife Federation and the first African American to chair a major national environmental organization.

“The NAACP has opened a new front in the fight for clean energy,” said Ringo, current president of the Apollo Alliance. “When the United States negotiates an international treaty in Copenhagen this year, Americans must be united in our commitment to curb global warming pollution. NAACP is signaling that unity will include the African American grassroots.”

"Although everyone feels its effects, the impacts of global warming are disproportionately severe among communities of color," said Marc Littlejohn, manager of diversity partnerships at the National Wildlife Federation. "We need to protect low-income Americans, who spend a much larger share of income on energy-related expenses. We need to help Americans working in carbon-intensive industries transition to clean energy jobs."

Contact: Aileo Weinmann at 202-538-5038 or weinmanna@nwf.org

Instant 'Tea': Faux Protest Tactics Revealed

It appears that some of the 'tea party' protests springing up across the U.S. are less a product of raw populist indignation than a coordinated smokescreen operation.

An organization calling itself the “Tea Party Patriots” recently launched a campaign urging its members to misrepresent themselves in calls to U.S. Senate offices. “When you write or call, please make sure you are armed with a city name and zip code in the home state of the Senator you are calling,” a recent action alert urged members. The email then admitted, “They may not want to hear from you without this information.”

Adam Kolton, the National Wildlife Federation’s director of Congressional and federal affairs, said of the effort:

“This email just confirms what we’ve suspected for some time about the opposition to the American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act – it’s Astroturfing in the phoniest possible sense, not a real grassroots movement. Now we know they’re are going so far as to urge people to lie to Congressional staffers, hoping to create an illusion and look like more than what they really are – a small group of hardcore obstructionists."

Contact: Miles Grant at 202-797-6855 or grantm@nwf.org

Happening This Week

Tuesday, July 21:

Committee hearing on Climate Change and Global Security: Challenges, Threats and Diplomatic Opportunities, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, 2:15 PM, 419 Dirksen

Wednesday, July 22:

Hearings on nomination of Samuel D. Hamilton to be Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior, Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, 10:00 AM, 406 Dirksen

Wednesday, July 22:

Hearings to examine the role of agriculture and forestry in global warming legislation, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, 1:00 PM, 325 Russell

Quote:

"The bill will be introduced when we get back, after we get back, as soon as we get back…we're going to use the extra time we have to make it the best it can be."

—Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), forecasting swift Senate action after the August recess.

Economic Message of the Week
China and U.S. Launch Joint Clean Energy Research Project

The earth's leading greenhouse gas emitters are taking substantive steps toward clean energy innovation.

The United States and China announced plans on a joint clean energy research center, a compromise project aimed at developing clean building and vehicle technology and fostering a more convivial air between the two countries.

The project, which will be driven by headquarter facilities in both countries, is a significant part of the effort to lobby China to promote development of solar, wind, biofuels and other clean energy in the private sector, already a burgeoning movement.

One of the initiative's main proponents is U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Secretary Chu, who urged China to set carbon emission targets for the year 2050, also warned that the rising sea levels that will result from global warming would displace more people in China than in any other country.

In addition to spurring clean energy development within China, U.S. officials pushed for a more open network for international communication: Commerce Secretary Gary Locke appealed to leaders of the new partner nation to avoid forcing trade barriers on clean energy technology: "We need to empower U.S. and Chinese entrepreneurs and innovators to create and collaborate free from artificial trade barriers."

Project Links Global Warming to National Security Threats

Former Senator John Warner (R-VA) teamed up with the Pew Environment Group last week to announce a new project highlighting the links between national security threats and global warming.

"Leading military and security experts agree that if left unchecked, global warming could increase instability and lead to conflict in already fragile regions of the world," said Warner. "We ignore these facts at the peril of our national security and at great risk to those in uniform who serve this nation."

The project will bring together experts on science and military policy to evaluate joint strategies for preventing global warming and protecting national security interests.

This won't be the first venture to investigate the connection between climate change and national security: The National Intelligence Council, a projection arm of the Central Intelligence Agency, recently reported that global warming could threaten energy resources, damage military facilities, increase food shortages, and strain the economy, all of which would greatly burden national defense. Director Dennis Blair told Congress this year that "global climate change will have important and extensive implications for U.S. national security interests over the next 20 years."

Obama Announces Investment in Community Colleges

President Obama has announced the American Graduation Initiative, outlining a bold plan to strengthen our nation’s nearly 1,200 community colleges and put America on track to having the highest college graduation rate of any nation in the world.  Speaking recently at Macomb Community College in Warren, Michigan, the President outlined his new community college initiative, acknowledging that America’s economic strength depends on the education and skill of its workers.

Kevin Coyle, Vice President of Education and Training, said today:

 “National Wildlife Federation with its 20 years of work in campus sustainability applauds the President’s new initiative to invest in America’s community college system, a critical delivery system for educating and training Americans for jobs in the emerging clean energy economy.”

“The American Graduation Initiative provides a tremendous opportunity to invest in our country’s economic recovery through education and training for green jobs at community colleges.”

“Our clean energy economy will transform every profession and sector of the workforce, ranging from designing energy efficient buildings to manufacturing new components for solar panels and wind turbines to assessing how climate change will impact flood insurance, finance, and real estate.”

Contact: Patrick Fitzgerald at 202-870-0824 or fitzgeraldp@nwf.org