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Comment by Jeffrey Michael Paganini 1 hour ago

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See Videos » Obama: 'Meaningful breakthrough' reached at talksBy MICHAEL CASEY and JENNIFER LOVEN, AP
posted: 30 MINUTES AGOcomments: 83With HP wireless printers, you could have printed this from any room in the house. Live wirelessly. Print wirelessly.
PRINT|E-MAILMOREText SizeAAACOPENHAGEN -President Barack Obama said the United States, China and several other countries reached an "unprecedented breakthrough" Friday to curb greenhouse gas emissions — including a mechanism to verify compliance — after a frenzied day of diplomacy at the U.N. climate talks.
The agreement, which also includes the developing nations of India, South Africa and Brazil, requires each country to list the actions they will take to cut global warming pollution by specific amounts, a senior Obama administration official said. The official described the deal on the condition of anonymity because specific details had not been announced.
The deal reiterates a goal that eight leading industrialized nations set earlier this year on long-term emission cuts and provides a mechanism to help poor countries prepare for climate change, the official said.
But it falls far short of committing any nation to emissions reductions beyond a general acknowledgment that the effort should contain global temperatures along the lines agreed to by the leading economic nations in July.
A European Union official said an overall agreement involving those nations not included in the deal that Obama announced was still being negotiated.
Obama suggested that the five-nation agreement would be adopted by the larger summit in its closing hours.
"I am leaving before the final vote," he said. "We feel confident we are moving in the direction of a final accord."
If the countries had waited to reach a full, binding agreement, "then we wouldn't make any progress," Obama said. In that case, he said, "there might be such frustration and cynicism that rather than taking one step forward we ended up taking two steps back."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel she viewed the outcome with "mixed feelings," adding that the negotiations were extremely difficult.
Obama spent the final scheduled day of the climate talks huddling with world leaders, including Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, in a bid to salvage the global warming accord amid deep divisions between rich and poor nations.
In announcing the five-nation deal, Obama said getting a legally binding treaty "is going to be very hard, and it's going to take some time."
"We have come a long way, but we have much further to go," he said.
The president said there was a "fundamental deadlock in perspectives" between big, industrially developed countries like the United States and poorer, though sometimes large, developing nations. Still he said this week's efforts "will help us begin to meet our responsibilities to leave our children and grandchildren a cleaner planet."
The deal as described by Obama reflects some progress helping poor nations cope with climate change and getting China to disclose its actions to address the warming problem.
He said the nations of the world will have to take more aggressive steps to combat global warming. The first step, he said, is to build trust between developed and developing countries.
The five-nation agreement includes a method for verifying reductions of heat-trapping gases, the official said. That was a key demand by Washington of China, which has resisted international efforts to monitor its actions.
"It's not what we expected," Brazilian Ambassador Sergio Barbosa Serra said. "It may still be a way of salvaging something and paving the way for another a meeting or series of meetings next year."
Obama had planned to spend only about nine hours in Copenhagen as the summit wrapped up. But, as an agreement appeared within reach, he extended his stay by more than six hours to attend a series of meetings aimed at brokering a deal.
New Zealand's climate change ambassador Adrian Macey called it "a modest deal."
"I see Kyoto as a first step," Macey said. "This another first step, a global first step."
More than anything, Macey found the U.N. process on climate change "appalling."
John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace UK, decried that "there are no targets for carbon cuts and no agreement on a legally binding treaty."
The two-week, 193-nation conference has been plagued by growing distrust between rich and poor nations. Both sides blamed the other for failing to take ambitions action. At one point, African delegates staged a partial boycott of the talks.
"We are ready to get this done today but there has to be movement on all sides to recognize that is better for us to act rather than talk," Obama had told the conference, insisting on a transparent way to monitor each nation's pledges to cut emissions.
Abandoning any hope of a comprehensive deal, a group of about 25 countries had sought agreement on a two-page political statement setting out critical elements, key among them the mobilization of $30 billion in the next three years to help poor countries cope with climate change and a scaling up to $100 billion a year by 2020.
As negotiations evolved, new drafts of the document, titled the Copenhagen Accord, emerged with key clauses being inserted, deleted and reintroduced with new wording.
In the end, the statement set no overall emissions targets for rich countries.
South Korea's chief negotiator, Rae-Kwon Chung, said one of the sticking points was a clause saying the combined emissions of rich and poor countries should be cut in half by 2050. Some developing countries opposed that target, fearing it would "define their carbon space," he said, declining to identify them.
With the climate talks in disarray, Obama and Wen met twice — once privately and once with other world leaders present — in hopes of sweeping aside some of the disputes that have barred a final deal. Officials said the two leaders took a step forward in their talk and directed negotiators to keep working, but the degree of progress was not immediately clear.
Wen skipped a high-level meeting a second time and sent another envoy instead.
Later Friday, Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton held talks with European leaders, including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Reporters asked how negotiations were going as Obama walked into the meeting. "Always hopeful," he replied.
Many delegates had been looking to China and the U.S. — the world's two largest carbon polluters — to deepen their pledges to cut their emissions. But that was not to be.
Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren, negotiating on behalf of the 27-nation European Union, blamed the impasse on the Chinese for "blocking again and again," and on the U.S. for coming too late with an improved offer, a long-range climate aid program announced Thursday by Clinton.
The U.S. got its share of blame.
"President Obama was not very proactive. He didn't offer anything more," said delegate Thomas Negints, from Papua New Guinea. He said his country had hoped for "more on emissions, put more money on the table, take the lead."
Obama may eventually become known as "the man who killed Copenhagen," said Greenpeace U.S. Executive Director Phil Radford.
Money to help poor nations cope with climate change and shift to clean energy seemed to be where negotiators could claim most success. Pollution cuts and the best way to monitor those actions remained unresolved.
China and the U.S had sought to give the negotiations a boost Thursday with an announcement and a concession.
Clinton said Washington would press the world to come up with a climate aid fund amounting to $100 billion a year by 2020, a move that was quickly followed by an offer from China to open its reporting on actions to reduce carbon emissions to international review.
—
Associated Press writers John Heilprin, Arthur Max, Seth Borenstein and Karl Ritter contributed to this report.
—
Find behind-the-scenes information, blog posts and discussion about the Copenhagen climate conference at http://www.facebook.com/theclimatepool, a Facebook page run by AP and an array of international news agencies. Follow coverage and blogging of the event on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/AP_ClimatePool
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
2009-12-18 19:17:37
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TrishnWalt
6:53PM Dec 18 2009
Obama is an unprecidented idiot - promising to spend money we don't have on a problem that does not exist. And let's PO China in the bargain, since they only hold 90% of our debt - and we can't borrow anywhere else for programs we cannot afford. Unprecidented? You bet.
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MUpthegrov
6:11PM Dec 18 2009
If this clown uses the word "unprecedented" one more time to describe his inept dealing I think I will scream!! The only unprecedented thing about this administration, other than the fact that he is half black, is his unprecedented use of the word unprecedented to try to give himself some credibility!!!!


DOWN WITH THE CLOWN!
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MahalApril
4:18PM Dec 18 2009
The time for talking is over. What we need now is ACTION by the US Militarily to takeover the incompetent Obama Administration and the corrupt Congress to prevent irreversible destruction of our country militarily and economically. Then all of Obama's adminstration cabinet members,advisers,associates,czars and Congress should be arrested,tried and executed by a firing squad of the US Military.They are all out of touch and out of control.
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SWilli9709
2:31PM Dec 18 2009
OH YAH! we are now among the poorest nations, THANKS OBUTTHEAD...HUNGRY OUT OF A JOB or a HOUSE....EAT THE CHANGE.....
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Vpqueen
1:34PM Dec 18 2009
C'mon home Obama. They're laughing at you over in Copenhagen, and worse yet, Hugo Chavez is ridiculing you. Being that Iran has seized an oil well in Iraq, you had better come home and put them on double secret probation.
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HAMMFAM1
1:33PM Dec 18 2009
Who is going to keep an accounting on where this money goes?? The UN, hah. This money will go into the pockets of dictators and tyrants who could care less about the environment. I would like to see what Al Gore's recycling bin looks like at his weekly trash pick up. Mine is overflowing. I bet he doesn't even look at his trash or give one damn. He wants to line his pockets by aligning himself with these alarmists and the companies that will profit from cap and trade.
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TSmith5152
12:44PM Dec 18 2009
What an utter waste of time and ENERGY. President Obama has lost his clout among this nation and others as well. His home nation is on the brink of economic disaster due to his policies. His report card is showing failing grades and he has lost the faith of the people that put him in power. It appears to be the case of "pass anything" just to say he did something. Good or bad. The real problem is, he is willing to throw us all under the bus to stand there and say "this is good". compare campaign speeches to the results of today. You will find two different people.
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MONROE LAW
12:17PM Dec 18 2009
I can't wait for the climate "scientists" to fudge the data on the net, net carbon footprint of getting a collection of hot air artists together in one place.
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Comment by Jeffrey Michael Paganini 18 hours ago

Dear Jeffrey,

Thanks for taking action! By sending a comment to the public register you are demonstrating that there is broad public support for the EPA's work to hold big polluters accountable.

The most important thing you can do now is ask your family and friends to join you. It's easy! Just copy and paste the message below into a new email.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Hold Big Polluters Accountable

Hi--

Right now, only a handful of sources, including coal power plants, are responsible for more than half of all US global warming emissions. I just send a comment to the public register supporting the EPA's Big Polluters rule, which is a major step toward holding these facilities accountable.

You should join me! Check it out:

http://action.sierraclub.org/bigpolluters


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for all that you do,

Mary Anne Hitt
Sierra Club Big Picture Campaign

Comment by Jeffrey Michael Paganini 18 hours ago

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kristina Johnson, Sierra Club
(415) 977-5619


Sierra Club Pushes for Expanded Habitat to Help Panther Survive Global Warming
Sea Level Rise, Storms, Threaten Current Habitat

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Sierra Club today is calling on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to help the Florida panther survive global warming by protecting its habitat. In a petition filed today, the Sierra Club proposed a critical habitat designation that includes migration corridors and additional land that will help panthers adapt to sea level rise, stronger hurricanes, and other impacts of global warming.

"In many ways, the Florida panther is like the polar bear of the South. Because of its low-lying and exposed habitat, the panther is extremely vulnerable to global warming," said Sierra Club Representative Frank Jackalone. "In order to survive sea level rise and other impacts of climate change, panthers need to be able to migrate to new ground."

Florida panthers were listed as an endangered species in 1967, and at times as few as six Florida panthers have been thought to remain in the region. Today, that number is up to between 90-120 panthers, but unchecked development is whittling away at the limited habitat that remains.

Although the Florida panther is protected under the Endangered Species Act, it is still not protected from the single greatest threat to its survival-loss of habitat. Environmental groups like the Conservancy of Southwest Florida have already called on the Fish and Wildlife Service to take an important first step in designating critical habitat for panthers.

"Of what remains of essential panther habitat, continued threats of fragmentation and development further the plight of the panther and jeopardize its recovery from the brink of extinction," said Conservancy of Southwest Florida representative Andrew McElwaine.

Climate change will intensify threats to the panther’s current habitat, making the need to protect that vital core area from other pressures-like runaway sprawl-even greater. However, protecting only the habitat where panthers currently live will still leave them trapped on islands of protected habitat, much of which is vulnerable to storms and sea level rise brought by global warming.

"In the face of global warming, protecting the places where panthers live right now just isn't enough," Jackalone said. "We need to help the few remaining panthers migrate, adapt, and survive."

The Department of Interior recently made a formal commitment to help wildlife survive global warming by encouraging interagency cooperation and long-term planning for adaptation.

Through its Resilient Habitats program, the Sierra Club is encouraging federal and local efforts to help wildlife adapt to global warming, as well as working to protect the migration corridors that will be necessary for animals like the Florida panther to survive climate change. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org/resilienthabitat

Comment by Jeffrey Michael Paganini 1 day ago

In Spain was fun, lots of action...

Comment by Jeffrey Michael Paganini 1 day ago

Actifist of the year,

Comment by Jeffrey Michael Paganini 1 day ago

Using Renewable Energy Some might look at a pile of garbage and see...well, a pile of garbage. At SC Johnson, we see an opportunity.

We use garbage, waste palm shells and wind to help power our facilities, cutting greenhouse gas emissions and use of fossil fuels. Here's a look at three of our key projects.

From Landfill Trash to Energy Treasure

In 2003, we built our first cogeneration turbine in Racine, Wisconsin to provide power for our largest global factory. At 2.2 million square feet, the Waxdale plant is the home of well-known products from brands like Windex®, Glade® and Scrubbing Bubbles®.

While SC Johnson and other companies have been tapping landfill resources for decades, Waxdale used new technology to create electricity for power and generate steam to heat operations. Using only landfill gas, the turbine produces 3,200 kilowatts of electricity and 19,000 pounds of steam per hour.

It was so successful that in 2004 we announced plans to build a second turbine for Waxdale, using a mixture of landfill and natural gas. The two turbines combine to generate the entire daily base load of electricity for Waxdale, as well as 50-100% (depending on the season) of the steam needed for operations. See it in action here.

Best of all, the turbines significantly reduce our reliance on coal-fired electricity and eliminate 52,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year. That’s like taking 5,200 cars off the road or returning 298 railroad cars full of coal to the ground annually.

Power from Waste Palm Shells

Indonesia is another place where we’re putting someone else's waste to good use. In 2007, we launched a biomass initiative using palm shells, the remaining waste of the palm oil industry, at our factory in Medan.

As a waste product, palm shells are often burned under uncontrolled conditions. By using them as a fuel source, SC Johnson transfers them back into the value chain with minimal environmental impact. Palm shells also work well as a biofuel. With our palm shell burner/boiler system, we’ve cut greenhouse gas emissions at our Medan factory by more than 15%, while reducing diesel fuel use by 80%.

Importantly, we’re making sure our supply of palm shells is sustainable and responsible, with supply chain policies that ensure the shells are purchased from a single, verified sustainable source.

Clean Gusts of Green Energy

In 2008, SC Johnson secured a clean source for 46% of the electricity required to run our Bay City, Michigan factory. Renewable wind power now replaces nearly half the factory’s annual purchase of coal-fired electricity. The plant, which produces Ziploc® brand bags, was one of the first manufacturing facilities in Michigan to switch to wind.

And what a difference it makes! The deal helps SC Johnson keep 29,500 tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere annually. The energy saved could supply 1,800 average homes in a year. And the CO2 reduction is like taking almost 3,000 cars off the road each year.

Similarly, this summer SC Johnson is completing an 80-meter-tall wind turbine that will help power our largest manufacturing plant in Europe, called Europlant. Located in Mijdrecht, The Netherlands, the plant produces brands such as Glade®, Duck® and Mr. Muscle®.

The first of its kind in the province of Utrecht, the new turbine is expected to produce about 6.1 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year – or about 66% of the energy required by Europlant annually. (About 45% of this demand will actually be fulfilled by the wind turbine; the remaining energy will be sold to the local grid for community use.)

The turbine is expected to eliminate about 3,900 tons of carbon dioxide annually for Europlant, as well as allowing the facility to use 655,000 kilograms less coal

Comment by Jeffrey Michael Paganini 1 day ago

Dear Mr. Paganini:



Thank you for writing to me in support of legislative action to fight climate change. I appreciate hearing from you.



I am very pleased to report that on November 5, 2009, a strong majority of the Environment and Public Works Committee voted to send the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S.1733) to the full Senate for consideration. S.1733 addresses a crucial issue of our time, and I look forward to continue working with my Senate colleagues to enact this important legislation.



I would like to share with you the remarks on climate change that I would have delivered at the international climate talks in Copenhagen had I been able to attend. You may also use this link to view the webcast of my speech on the Environment and Public Works Committee website.



Again, thank you for writing to me.



Sincerely,

Barbara Boxer

United States Senator





Senator Boxer's remarks delivered December 14, 2009:

The press of Senate business keeps me from attending the climate talks in Copenhagen, and requires me to stay in Washington, DC, so I have decided to speak today from the Environment and Public Works Hearing room, and deliver the speech I would have given in Denmark.

Mary Nichols, Chairman of the California Air Resources Board, has agreed to circulate my remarks among those in attendance in Copenhagen.



I: INTRODUCTION

As the nations of the world meet in Copenhagen to discuss the challenge of global warming, the United States brings to these discussions a strong record of effective action, built from the ground up.

Action by governors in dozens of states from coast to coast.

Action by over 1000 mayors in every state of the Union.

Action by the President and the Environmental Protection Agency.

And action in both Houses of the United States Congress with better and better news from the Senate every day.

There are those - including my Ranking Republican Member on the Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Inhofe, who are determined to claim that the U.S. will not take action to reduce global warming.

Sen. Inhofe, who has said that global warming is the biggest hoax ever perpetrated, says he's going to tell the participants in the Copenhagen talks that there will not be serious action to address climate change in America.

He is entitled to his opinion, but he is not entitled to his own facts.

I am here to set the record straight. America has already acted. We continue to act. And we are doing more every day.



II. STATE AND LOCAL ACTION

Let's look at my home state of California. If it were a separate country, it would be the world's seventh or eighth largest economy. A 2006 law requires action to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

Last month, the California Air Resources Board produced its first cap-and-trade blueprint, which would cap global warming pollution for about 600 of the largest emitters in the state. The plan includes offsets and other measures to ensure a smooth transition to a clean energy economy.

All together, 33 states - accounting for two-thirds of the U.S. population - are embracing action as part of regional or state-based cap-and-trade emissions-reduction programs.

A new report out last week shows that these state-level actions could cut the nation's CO2 output by 536 million metric tons by 2020. That's the equivalent of seven percent of our country's greenhouse gases produced in 2005.

The ten Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) have already held six auctions for carbon allowances, and 233 power plants are buying and selling pollution permits under an existing, operating cap-and-trade program.

If you look a little further to our north and west, another six states have formed the Midwest Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord, and are developing their own cap and trade system.

In the western states, the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) - comprised of seven U.S. states, including my home state of California, and four Canadian provinces - recently announced its recommendations for the design of a regional market-based cap-and-trade program.

In the Southeast, Charlie Crist, the Republican governor, signed a law last year authorizing the Florida's Department of Environmental Protection to develop a cap-and-trade program for emissions from electric utilities.

The actions taken by states are powerful evidence that our states are committed to participating in the clean energy transformation - and in the jobs and economic opportunities that come with it.

Our nation's cities are also taking action to cut emissions, reduce energy consumption. On October 2, the 1000th mayor signed the Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement, pledging to reduce his communities' carbon emissions seven percent below 1990 levels by 2012.

California is a leader in this wave of local action, too, with 135 mayors in my state taking part. In communities across the country, cities are turning their municipal fleets toward alternative fuels or hybrid power, making city buildings more sustainable, employing cleaner energy sources for power plants.

In Los Angeles, Mayor Villaraigosa has set a goal of 40 percent renewable energy for the city's water and power department by 2020, and the city aims to make its power generation entirely coal-free by then.

The programs our cities are putting in place are cutting global warming pollution and boosting clean energy demand right now. These are real changes that are already underway.



III. THE PRIVATE SECTOR IS ACTING

Business executives from leading American companies are also demanding we take action - now - to unleash the marketplace for clean energy technology.

Last month, Dow Chemical Company's vice president for government affairs said legislation that puts a price on carbon gives companies like his predictability to invest in new technologies that otherwise would not be viable, like manufacturing solar shingles or using CO2 to create fuel with algae.

The sooner we act, the better.

The Vice Chairman of GE testified before the EPW Committee that clean energy could become the dominant job creator of the 21st Century. He said, "Companies and countries that move quickly to seize that opportunity will reap the rewards going forward."

We know that clean energy is a proven job creator.

The latest economic study at the University of California at Berkeley predicts up to 1.9 million new jobs in America from a comprehensive clean energy bill. And once again, my state is demonstrating that these jobs are real.

Clean energy and energy efficiency jobs continue to be one of the bright spots in the California economy. On December 9th, the Los Angeles Times reported an analysis released by Collaborative Economics for the Next 10 organization that found green jobs increased by five percent - while total jobs declined by one percent - in California from January 2007 to January 2008. The study also found that between 1995 and 2008, green jobs grew at three times the rate of the overall California economy.

The Pew Charitable Trust reports that 10,000 new clean energy businesses were launched in California from 1998 to 2007. During that period, clean energy investments created more than 125,000 jobs and generated jobs 15 percent faster than the California economy as a whole.

These are solid, steady, good wage-paying jobs.

I'm talking about manufacturing jobs for steel workers and machinists, transportation jobs for truckers and rail workers, high-tech jobs for electrical engineers and software designers. Jobs building and installing solar panels on houses here in the U.S. can't be outsourced to other countries.

We have a choice. We can create jobs here by putting in place the policies that drive innovation. That is the best way to ensure that we do not stand by and watch as other countries create them overseas.

By 2020, the global clean energy market is estimated to reach $500 billion, some two and a half times the size of the global personal computer market. A Bloomberg News report this month found that clean energy is already estimated to draw $200 billion in investments worldwide in 2010.



IV. FEDERAL ACTION IS HAPPENING NOW

Last week marked an important milestone in the effort to address the challenge of global warming: The EPA found that global warming presents a danger to our people and our environment.

The endangerment finding that EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson released reflects the hard work of experts in both Republican and Democratic administrations.

The Obama Administration has done the right thing for the nation, for the planet, and - if you listen to our business community - for the economy.

The endangerment finding will set the stage for EPA regulations to curb global warming pollution from vehicles, and also makes it possible to address emissions from new and expanded power plants.

EPA has a crucial role to play in getting the process started. The Clean Air Act provides EPA with powerful tools for addressing greenhouse gases, and the Supreme Court found it is their responsibility.

The endangerment finding itself is clear: "The Administrator finds that six greenhouse gases taken in combination endanger both the public health and the public welfare of current and future generations."

The finding cites dangers to public health from "changes in air quality, increases in temperatures, changes in extreme weather events, increases in food- and water-borne pathogens." Threats to public welfare include ".numerous and far-ranging risks to food production and agriculture, forestry, water resources, sea level rise and coastal areas, energy, infrastructure . and ecosystems and wildlife."

In September, EPA finalized its Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule, which will, for the first time, require large emitters of heat-trapping emissions to begin collecting greenhouse gas (GHG) data under a new reporting system.

Following through on a plan announced in May 2009, the Obama Administration proposed rules in September that would set nationwide limits on greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles and require a nearly 40 percent increase in fuel efficiency for cars and light trucks sold in the United States by 2016.



V: CONGRESS IS MOVING FORWARD

And Congress has taken important steps, too.

In February, we approved tens of billions of dollars for clean energy funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which included over $58 billion in funding for important clean energy priorities.

The Recovery Act includes funds for hands-on training for jobs installing solar panels, maintaining electric vehicles, and researching fuel cell technologies and putting people to work boosting the energy efficiency homes across America.

Just last week, Sapphire Energy - a San Diego company using algae to convert sunlight and carbon dioxide into renewable fuels - received more than $100 million in grants and loan guarantees through the Recovery Act. Those funds will allow Sapphire to create hundreds of jobs and expand their commercial scale facilities in New Mexico and advance their research activities in San Diego.

The House has also acted on a comprehensive plan. On June 26, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R.2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, by a vote of 219 to 212.

In June, the Senate Energy Committee passed S.1462, the American Clean Energy Leadership Act (ACELA).

And on November 5, 2009: The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act.

Our bill is a road map to avoiding the most dangerous impacts of global warming, getting us off our $1 billion a day foreign oil habit, creating millions of new jobs and ensuring the United States is a leader in the clean energy economy.

The Kerry-Boxer bill addresses major challenges of our generation:

o Creating the policies that will lead to millions of new jobs here in America;

o Putting America back in control of our energy future;

o Making our nation more secure and less dependent on foreign oil; and

o Protecting our children and the earth from dangerous pollution.



Provisions of the Kerry-Boxer bill and the Energy Committee's bill now will become part of a comprehensive clean energy and climate package for consideration by the full Senate. Majority Leader Reid is working with the chairmen of six committees (EPW, Energy, Commerce, Foreign Relations, Finance, and Agriculture) to craft a package for floor consideration.

Senators Kerry, Lieberman and Graham are hard at work building the bipartisan consensus that will be needed to pass comprehensive clean energy legislation. They announced the broad parameters of their bill, and they are dedicated to getting the votes needed to pass the bill in the Senate.

Senator Cantwell introduced a bill with Senator Collins, which I believe is a positive development, because the more Senators involved in discussing the issue, the better.

I was deeply moved by the recent statement of Senator Robert C. Byrd about the importance of working together to develop clean energy legislation that works for all regions of the country.

"To be part of any solution, one must first acknowledge a problem. To deny the mounting science of climate change is to stick our heads in the sand and say 'deal me out.' West Virginia would be much smarter to stay at the table."

Senator Byrd is right. We all need to stay at the table and find the answers, together. Solutions that will benefit West Virginia. Solutions that will benefit California. Solutions that create jobs for workers across the nation and protect children from coast to coast from pollution.

The need for action is urgent.



VI. THE SCIENCE IS CLEAR

The world's leading scientists continue to tell us that we must reduce carbon pollution now to avoid the most dangerous effects of climate change. And they continue to reaffirm those warnings despite the latest attempts by those opposed to action to undermine the public's confidence.

Just last week, a letter from 25 of America's most preeminent scientific experts - including eight members of the National Academy of Sciences - wrote to Congress to underscore the need for urgent action to reduce global warming pollution.

Here's what they wrote -

"We would like to set the record straight. The body of evidence that human activity is the dominant cause of global warming is overwhelming. The content of the stolen emails has no impact whatsoever on our overall understanding that human activity is driving dangerous levels of global warming."

And on Friday, December 4, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has reaffirmed the position of its Board of Directors and the leaders of 18 respected organizations, who concluded based on multiple lines of scientific evidence that global climate change caused by human activities is now underway, and it is a growing threat to society.

"The vast preponderance of evidence, based on years of research conducted by a wide array of different investigators at many institutions, clearly indicates that global climate change is real, it is caused largely by human activities, and the need to take action is urgent," said Alan I. Leshner, chief executive officer of AAAS and executive publisher of the journal Science.

I believe the recent focus on stolen emails from a British university has further focused attention on global warming.

Nothing that we have seen to date on the stolen emails contradicts the overwhelming body of scientific work, which shows that global warming caused by human activity is real and serious. The Associated Press investigation of the emails found the same thing. More than anything, the emails reflect the intensity of feelings on both sides associated with the debate between the dissenters, and the vast majority of leading experts.

Unfortunately this debate got personalized by both sides.

For a long time the dissenters have used emotional language to characterize the scientists and others who have called for action on global warming. Some scientists have reacted in kind. Earlier this year, Senator Inhofe called business leaders who support action on climate change, "a few corporate prostitutes." The website JunkScience.com called the business leaders "carbon criminals" and put their faces on "Wanted" posters.

It is unfortunate that personal animosity entered this debate, but we must listen to what the science is telling us.

The science is clear, the challenge is real, and the time to act is now.

A recent commentary on public radio a few days ago on the Copenhagen talks summed up the key points. Fred Fiske is a long-standing commentator with public radio.

The threat posed by global warming is serious - "rising sea levels, drought, disease, collapsing agriculture, and mass population migrations" are just some of what we are facing if we do not act. American business leaders know we need to act now - a company like Coca Cola, which relies on reliable local supplies of clean water, "is deeply concerned with the problem of water scarcity."

And finally the urgency of action is undeniable: "Reaching consensus - nationally, regionally, and globally - will not be easy. But if we are at all concerned with the habitability of the planet which we will bequeath to future generations, we must move forward."



VII. CONCLUSION

Two weeks ago, the President sent a strong signal to the world that this nation is serious about working with the international community when he proposed a U.S. target in the range of 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. The EPW Committee passed a 20 percent target, and the House passed a 17 percent cut, so the President's proposal is certainly credible and realistic, because it reflects the work of both Houses of Congress.

And I was pleased to see that the President plans to be in Copenhagen this week, with nearly 100 other heads of state, to participate in the crucial final stages of the negotiations.

Our nation will be a full participant in crafting a global solution to this global challenge.

It is easy to say, "No." But I believe that would be missing a huge opportunity to launch a strong economic rebound and save our planet for our children and grandchildren.

We didn't ask for this challenge. But it is here, and we have a responsibility to face it.

And the best part is this: clean energy legislation will move us away from foreign oil and the billion dollars a day we pay for it, and it will lead us into a strong economic recovery and long term prosperity for our nation.

Comment by Jeffrey Michael Paganini 1 day ago

Visit PickensPlan

Comment by Jeffrey Michael Paganini 1 day ago

T. Boone Pickens likes to say he grew up “where the pavement ends, the West begins, and the Rock Island crossed the Frisco.”

Open land spread out around the young Pickens, who was born in Holdenville, an Oklahoma speck in the grand sweep of the Great Plains. His father, Thomas Boone Pickens, was a landman, working in the oil business as an oil and mineral rights leaser (Petroleum Landman), and his mother, Grace Molonson Pickens, ran the Office of Price Administration for the three-county area surrounding Holdenville during World War II, rationing gasoline and other goods for those counties.

Even the circumstances of his birth were unusual for Holdenville. As his mother was about to give birth to Boone, doctors told his father that complications had arisen, and that they could save only Boone or his mother. His father refused to accept the doctors' decision, sending a doctor in to study a rudimentary one-and-a-half-page text on Caesarean birth. The result: both mother and child survived the first Caesarean section in the history of the Holdenville hospital.

Pickens was a child of the depression, and through the example of his grandmother and parents learned lessons of frugality and the privilege of working. Even as a child, he showed a knack for expansion that would mark his later career. As a 12-year-old, he began growing a small concern (28 customers) into a 125-newspaper route by acquiring the routes on either side of him. “That was my first introduction to expanding quickly by acquisition—a talent I would perfect in my later years,” he says.

He learned the notion of risk-taking from his father and the value of hard work from his mother, both traits that would later serve him well. His mother was the family disciplinarian. A grandmother, Nellie Molonson, and aunt Ethel Reed lived across the driveway, and both were influential in his upbringing.

“My grandmother had great influence in the family, but hers was quiet,” Pickens recalls. “At some age, I noticed how everybody seemed to check in with her before any big decisions were made, well, they wanted to get my grandmother's opinion on which way it should go. My aunt was my schoolteacher — she taught fourth and fifth grade social studies, — so she had a continual check on me in school as to how I was doing and conducting myself.”

Pickens recalls encountering his grandmother sitting on her porch as he was hurrying off for a typical Saturday morning— a haircut, a showing of one of the cowboy shows, Bob Jones or Tom Mix or Ken Maynard, and perhaps a Three Stooges comedy at the Dixie Theater.

“I would be running down the gravel driveway, and I’d see her and slide to a stop,” he recalls. “I know this conversation took place a number of times. She’d ask where I was headed, and I’d explain that I was going to get a haircut at Apple's Barber Shop, and then to the show. And she’d ask if I had the money, and I’d reply yes that I had 50 cents, that my haircut was 25 cents, the movie 10 cents, and I’d have a nickel for popcorn. And she’d say, well, ‘a fool and his money are soon parted. Don't you ever forget that.’ And I’d say, ‘OK, grandmother. You told me that last week, and I'm not going to forget.’ She always wanted me to know that she thought I should return home with that extra 10 cents.”

One day while delivering papers, Pickens found a wallet that had fallen into some deep grass. It contained no money but the owner’s name was in it, and it was one of his customers a couple of houses away. When he got there, he knocked on the door and turned the wallet over to the owner, Mr. Jenkins, who was very appreciative. Mr. Jenkins gave him a dollar, calling it a reward for finding his wallet.

When he got home, the three women in his life were all out on the porch, talking. The excited young Pickens told them of his windfall, and how he had earned it.

“So when I got through telling the story, my grandmother said, ‘Sonny, take the dollar back,” Pickens recalls. “‘We're not going to get a reward for being honest.’”

He pleaded his case, but the women’s faces became even grimmer. “I really was a mouthy little guy, so this whole process took some time,” Pickens says. “I hung in there, pled and pled. Finally, I got on my bike and took the dollar back to him.”

In the interim, a thunderstorm had rolled in, and it started to rain before Pickens got back to Mr. Jenkins’ house. When he returned the dollar, Mr. Jenkins couldn’t understand why.

“I finally said that that’s the way it had to be because my grandmother and aunt and mother said so,” Pickens says. “By now, it's pouring down rain. And I get back to Burgess Street, which is a drainage street for this town, and the water is up to my waist. I push my bike across and got back home, and they're still there on the porch. And I came in, and I thought I'd get some sympathy because I’d almost drowned crossing Burgess Street, which somehow didn't excite anybody. I still remember how stoic they were. And finally, my aunt said, ‘If you had gone back when we first told you to, you could have been back before it rained.’ And that was all the sympathy I got. I went in and dried off.”

As a youth, his family moved to Amarillo, Texas, where he attended high school. After one year at Texas A&M University, Pickens transferred to Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University), where he earned a degree in geology in 1951. In 2006, after Pickens had bequeathed a NCAA record $176 million to OSU, Texas A&M's 12th Man Magazine included cutting Pickens from a $25-a-month basketball scholarship because he was too short and “not fast enough to scatter leaves” as one of the top 10 mistakes in Aggie history.

Pickens worked for Phillips Petroleum for three years before striking out on his own in 1954. With $2,500 of borrowed money, Pickens and two investors formed an oil and gas firm called Petroleum Exploration Inc., which focused on domestic oil and gas opportunities. Later, he formed Altair Oil & Gas Co. to pursue oil and gas exploration opportunities in western Canada. Both were predecessor companies to Mesa Petroleum, which he took public in 1964. Pickens built Mesa into one of America’s largest independent natural gas and oil companies. Mesa produced more than 3 trillion cubic feet of gas and 150 million barrels of oil from 1964 to 1996.

Comment by Jeffrey Michael Paganini on December 16, 2009 at 4:05pm

Resources
The Facts About Energy Exploration
Decades of experience has proven that offshore energy exploration is safe, and advanced technologies make it even safer.
Between 1980 and 1999, offshore operators have produced 7.4 billion barrels of oil in U.S. waters, according to the U.S. Coast Guard,[1] with a release rate of less than 0.001 percent. [2]


Natural seepage of petroleum from the Earth introduces about 150 times the amount from OCS oil and natural gas activities. [3] “In North America, the largest and best known natural seeps appear…[in] the Gulf of Mexico and the waters off southern California.” [4]

According to the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS), “The environmental record of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) program has been outstanding – there has not been a significant platform spill in the last 35 years.” [5]

Offshore oil and gas producers are subject to stringent regulatory oversight; they operate under 17 major permits and must follow 90 sets of federal regulations.

Multiple environmental safeguards for offshore exploration are in place. Technological advances have significantly reduced potential for releases during production. New offshore platforms and wells feature extensive blowout prevention and well controls. All offshore wells have storm chokes that detect damage to surface values and shut in the well to prevent spills. Blowout preventers located at the seafloor have sensors that continuously monitor subsurface and subsea-bed conditions.[6]

Environmental safeguards for offshore exploration have been proven in the most demanding circumstances – including last year’s Gulf Coast hurricanes that hit the heart of the U.S. energy industry:

Almost 3000 offshore platforms were in the direct path of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Despite that exposure and the destruction of 113 offshore platforms and damage to 460 pipelines, MMS reported that there were no significant oil spills from offshore platforms.[7]
“There were no accounts of spills from facilities in the Federal OCS that reached the shoreline, oiled birds or mammals, or involved any discoveries of large volumes of oil to be collected or cleaned up,” according to MMS. [8]
The offshore oil losses reported as a result of the hurricanes (17,652 barrels (bbl))[9] is less than one percent of a single day’s production in the Gulf of Mexico (1.5 million bbl).[10]
Over the same two month period during the 2005 hurricane season, natural seepage of oil from the Earth sent 10 times as much oil (170,000 barrels) into the Gulf of Mexico as offshore platforms contending with the massive storms.[11]
Safety technology worked properly: Spills in the Federal OCS from the hurricanes were minimal “due to the successful operation of the safety valves that are required to be installed at least 100 feet below the mudline in each wellbore, of which no failures have been identified as of July 2006,” according to MMS.[12]
Procedures were executed properly as well: “All OCS facilities in areas threatened by the storms’ approach were shut in prior to the hurricanes so that oil losses were mostly limited to the oil stored on the damaged structures or contained in the individual damaged pipeline segments,” according to MMS.[13]
Energy production rigs often become “artificial reefs” that benefit marine life and fishing industries. According to MMS, “Recycling retired natural gas and oil structures (platforms) as artificial reefs has proven to be an effective tool for fishery management. Fish, fishermen, divers, fishing support industries, coastal communities, the petroleum industry, and others have all benefited when retired and obsolete production platforms, already popular with offshore fishermen, are reevaluated and converted for continued use as fishery enhancement resources in the marine environment.” [14]

According to the Nature Conservancy of Texas, “Several of our preserves are home to ongoing oil and gas operations while at the same time providing excellent habitat for wildlife.” [15]

Natural gas is just that – a natural gas that dissipates into the air. That makes natural gas exploration and production especially safe. Natural gas contributes to a cleaner environment while acting as a bridge to the alternative energy sources of tomorrow.
Natural gas “is the oldest and lightest of the fossil fuels.” It is “non-toxic,” and “readily dissipates when not confined. Natural gas is lighter than air and dissipates rapidly in open areas.” Natural gas is “colorless” and “odorless.” [16] Allegations of “spills” of natural gas affecting beaches have no scientific basis.

“Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel. Complete combustion of natural gas produces only heat, carbon dioxide and water vapor. When used in place of more polluting energy sources, it helps improve air and water quality.” [17]

As a clean, efficient energy source, natural gas can help bridge the gap between the energy needs of today and the alternative energy sources of tomorrow. It is important to remember that many of the alternative energy sources being considered – including ethanol and hydrogen – themselves rely on large amounts of natural gas. If Congress is serious about exploring exciting new energy sources that require natural gas, it must get serious about expanding access to natural gas supplies.[17]

Over the past two decades, the federal government looked to natural gas as a cleaner fuel for power generation. As a result, U.S. demand for natural gas went up significantly. Since the 1990s, there has been a 35 percent spike in natural gas consumption by the utility sector. If Congress continues to drive up demand for natural gas, it must provide greater access to supply.

The solution to America’s natural gas crisis is conservation, efficiency, alternative energy sources and expanded supplies of natural gas.
Renewable sources of energy are part of the solution, but cannot alone meet America’s energy needs. According to the U.S. Minerals Management Service, “Despite a continuing emphasis on expanding renewable sources of energy, petroleum products and natural gas are projected to account for about 61 percent of domestic energy consumption in 2030, only slightly less than today’s share.” [18]According to MMS, “Much of the growth in the Nation’s energy demand will have to be met by OCS production, especially from new frontier areas in the Gulf of Mexico, if further increases of imported supplies are to be avoided.” [19]

Conservation, efficiency and fuel diversity are important and should be supported in federal policy. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 did much in these areas. In order to ensure that these beneficial provisions are carried out, Congress needs to fully fund them through the appropriations process.


The nation has abundant natural gas resources that could be used to help end America’s natural gas crisis and meet the nation’s energy needs.
“The [Interior] Department's Minerals Management Service puts the latest OCS “total endowment” of natural gas resources at 633 trillion cubic feet. “Total endowment” is “known resources” plus “undiscovered resources.” [20]

“According to the MMS data, the interim update's mean estimate pegs gas resources in the gulf's eastern planning area at nearly 32 tcf.” [21] That would bring enough natural gas to market to heat ten million homes for 45 years. The OCS accounts for 23 percent of all domestically produced natural gas.

Longstanding moratoria prevent us from determining America’s actual natural gas reserves. “There is more uncertainty in resource estimates for those areas of the OCS subject to long-standing moratoria or presidential withdrawal. In areas like the north, mid- and south Atlantic, most of the west coast, and portions of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the last acquisition of geophysical data and drilling of exploration wells occurred more than 25 years ago and in some cases nearly 40 years ago.[22]

“The Nation and the energy debate would benefit from a better understanding of the resource potential, including the gas or oil “proneness” of areas, and the ability of the OCS to contribute significantly toward meeting future domestic demand.” [23]

A low percentage of drilled vs. leased areas does not indicate that there are large amounts of resource available, but not being drilled. When a lease sale occurs, it takes time to prepare for drilling. And when drilling does begin, the drilled area is still surrounded by substantial undrilled areas as producers explore how much resource is there.
Because of regulatory and technical requirements, drilling does not occur immediately after a lease sale. Before drilling, seismic activity and analysis take place and “the Secretary [of the Interior] solicits comments from coastal State Governors and localities, tribal governments, the public, the oil and natural gas industry, environmental groups, affected Federal agencies and Congress…The entire process takes from 18 to 36 months to complete.” [24]

State-of-the-art technology for detecting hydrocarbons allows industry to drill one portion of the area and relinquish the other part back into the inventory to be leased. MMS collects information that estimates or predicts the oil and natural gas potential of an unexplored area, which is sold to oil companies. “Industry uses the geophysical and geological data to determine which blocks have potential for economic accumulation of oil and natural gas.” [25]

President Bush, members of Congress and Governors have hailed alternative energy sources as key to America’s energy future. But the nation’s pursuit of ethanol, hydrogen and other alternative sources isn’t possible without natural gas.
Natural gas is used for ethanol production. Ethanol uses corn as a primary feedstock, and corn requires large amounts of fertilizer, which is produced from natural gas.

Natural gas is used to make methane for hydrogen. Most hydrogen is produced from natural gas. Natural gas is mostly methane (CH4). Hydrogen is made by breaking the bond and creating hydrogen and carbon monoxide. More natural gas is needed to supply a growing market for fuel cells and hydrogen fuels.
Hydrogen is used to create clean diesel. Refiners are able to remove soot from diesel fuel by introducing hydrogen made from natural gas. The hydrogen bonds to sulfur molecules and the new hydrogen sulfide bonds are removed, thereby removing most of the soot-forming content of diesel fuels.

Electric utilities use natural gas to generate clean power. Federal regulations have made natural gas the “fuel of choice” for electricity generation. This has driven up demand for natural gas. Consumption of natural gas by electric utilities grew 42 percent between 1997 and 2005, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Natural gas is a raw material used to make lighter-weight cars, wind power blades, solar panels and energy-efficient materials.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] “Hurricane Katrina’s Effect on Gasoline Supply and Prices,” Hearing Before the Committee on Energy and Commerce, U.S. House of Representatives, September 7, 2005, p. 143.
[2] “Leasing Oil and Natural Gas Resources, Outer Continental Shelf,” U.S. Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, 2006, p. 5.
[3] Ibid.
[4] “Oil in the Sea III: Inputs, Fates, and Effects,” National Academy of Sciences, 2003, p. 2.
[5] U.S. Minerals Management Service, “Report to Congress: Comprehensive Inventory of U.S. OCS Oil and Natural Gas Resources,” February 2006).
[6] “Environmental Benefits of Advanced Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Technology,” U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy, p. 41.

[1][2][3][4][5][6]
[7] “Estimated Petroleum Spillage from Facilities Associated with Federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Activities Resulting from Damages Caused by Hurricanes Rita and Katrina in 2005,” U.S. Minerals Management Service, August 8, 2006.

[8] Ibid.

[9] “Estimated Petroleum Spillage from Facilities Associated with Federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Activities Resulting from Damages Caused by Hurricanes Rita and Katrina in 2005,” U.S. Minerals Management Service, August 8, 2006.

[10] “Industry’s Daily Production Gains Narrow in Gulf of Mexico,” Greenwire, September 7, 2005.

[11] Source: National Ocean Industries Association.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Ibid.

[13][14] MMS Web site, http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/offshore/egom/rigsreef.html, Gulf of Mexico Region Offshore Information.

[15] Ibid, p. 60.

[15]
[16] “Safe Energy, Safely Delivered,” Canadian Gas Association, February 2005, p. 1.

[17] Ibid., p. 1.
[18] “Report to Congress: Comprehensive Inventory of U.S. OCS Oil and Natural Gas Resources, Energy Policy Act of 2005 – Section 357,” U.S. Minerals Management Service, February 2006, p. 5.

[19] Ibid, p. 5

[20] “Report to Congress: Comprehensive Inventory of U.S. OCS Oil and Natural Gas Resources, Energy Policy Act of 2005 – Section 357,” U.S. Minerals Management Service, February 2006, p. vii.

[21] Ibid.

[22] “Report to Congress: Comprehensive Inventory of U.S. OCS Oil and Natural Gas Resources, Energy Policy Act of 2005 – Section 357,” U.S. Minerals Management Service, February 2006, p. 69.

[23] Ibid.

[24] “Leasing Oil and Natural Gas Resources, Outer Continental Shelf,” U.S. Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, 2006, p. 10.
[25] Ibid. p. 14

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