Move over Renewable Energy, the Republicans are back.
Cap-and-Trade is dead even though it was originally a Republican idea. Rather than adding new carbon taxes, cap-and-trade uses the free market to trade emission credits, but even that is now viewed as a "tax." If there's any chance for a Renewable Energy Standard, it will likely be broadened to a Clean Energy Standard, which includes nuclear and carbon sequestration from coal. Its goal would change from encouraging the growth of renewable energy to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through all available sources. That would be a "net negative" for renewable energy.
In a post-election news conference, President Obama said there could be opportunities to increase natural gas production and build nuclear plants, both of which are favored by the GOP. U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and a champion for addressing climate change and environmental concerns, is thinking a lot smaller about what Congress can accomplish. She's looking at applying clean energy incentives through the tax code and a possible program where landlords could get loans to retrofit apartment and office complexes.
But Thomas Pyle of the free-market Institute for Energy Research thinks there will be two years of hopeless wrangling over these issues.
One thing's for sure: a top priority for Republicans and some coal-state Democrats is to block the EPA from regulating carbon emissions. Even before the new Congress begins in January, Republicans could delay EPA action by including language in a short-term spending bill which would fund the government through February. Next year, they could attach language to longer-term bills. It would be hard for Obama to veto because it would shut down the government. And Republicans will press for more offshore oil drilling, especially in Alaska, both offshore and onshore in the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR).
Boxer says her job will shift to largely playing defense. "We've got to protect the EPA," she says, "to make sure they continue going after big polluters, including big carbon polluters. It will be contentious, but I think it's very healthy for the American people to see the debate unfold."
Could the debate unfold a bit differently this time?
The new US Congress is strongly tilted toward climate change skeptics. A
Pew Research Center poll shows 53% of Republicans and 70% of Tea Party Republicans find no evidence for climate change, compared to almost 80% of Democrats and a majority of independents who say there's solid evidence of global warming.
97% of climate scientists concur, however, that climate change is a fact and, for the first time, hundreds are teaming up to regain control of climate science messaging. The leading climate change organization, the
American Geophysical Union, is launching a Web service that provides journalists accurate scientific information about climate change. The project, which will be staffed by about 700 volunteers, will attempt to translate complex climate science into terms people can understand.
In a separate effort, scientists are recruiting colleagues for
2020 Rapid Response Teams. They will be deployed to any city, state or institution that makes a commitment to reduce carbon emissions 80% by 2020 and develop sustainable lifestyles and economies. Teams will help local leaders assess and reduce carbon footprints while creating jobs, and will synergize their efforts with counterparts nationally and internationally.
