Senate gets cracking on clean energy and climate

Will they stand up to the fossil fuel lobby and deliver real solutions?

After months of tough deliberations, today Senator John Kerry (D-MA), Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) released a discussion draft of their major climate and clean-energy legislation.  Along with the CLEAR Act introduced by Senators Cantwell (D-WA) and Collins (R-ME), this proposal sets the stage for comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation this year.
 
The oil catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico highlights the unbearably high costs of fossil fuel dependence.  Even after the gusher is capped, the environmental, economic, and security disaster of oil and coal addiction will worsen until Congress stands up and delivers a serious national commitment to a clean energy revolution.  

Today, Washington State leaders urge Congress and the President to move swiftly and decisively to enact comprehensive national climate and energy policy.  A good policy will drive our transition to a clean energy economy -- creating millions of new jobs, reducing dependence on fossil fuels, and restoring American leadership in the global economy.

Climate Solutions’ Policy Director KC Golden:

After the Gulf oil disaster, there’s no place to hide, and there can be no further excuses for delay.  And with comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation now before Congress, America finally has a serious chance to take control of our energy future. To get it done, the Senate will need to strengthen these proposals and resist the powerful interests favoring fossil-fuel-dependence-as usual.

The cures for this dependence – clean energy, transportation choices, and greater efficiency – are gaining economic traction. America needs jobs, and the clean energy future is hiring.

Our economy is losing over $1 billion per day just to import oil.  The strongest possible driver for good new American jobs is to take these energy dollars back and reinvest them in our communities.  It’s not just about creating a thriving new green sector; it’s about reclaiming a giant, perpetual dividend for the whole economy – every home, business, and factory that uses energy.

Chronic addiction to fossil fuels is the driver behind both the Gulf oil disaster and the rapid disruption of the climate.  Despite a relentless campaign of deception, the actual data – temperatures, emissions, impacts – show unequivocally that climate disruption is here, harder and hotter than scientists projected.  Only a full-bore clean energy revolution can stop it short of epic catastrophe.

This is a generational call – the test of our determination to leave our kids a healthy future.  We need to ace it.