Green Options

House Democrats negotiating a climate and energy bill have reportedly reached a compromise on a renewable energy standard that would require states get 15% of their electricity from renewable sources like solar, wind and biomass.

The Waxman-Markey bill that recently was introduced into the House has already caused quit a stir, and that was before someone found a provision tucked in it’s 600 plus pages that would make it legal to sue the Government if you suffer from Global Warming.

Senior US Representatives Henry Waxman (D-Calif) and Ed Markey (D-Mass) today released draft cap-and-trade legislation that would reshape US energy and climate policy through drastic cuts in emissions in the next 20 years and significant increases in renewables by 2025.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES), intended to “create jobs, help end our dangerous dependence on foreign oil, and combat global warming” according to the official announcement of the House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, centers around four titles:

• A clean energy title that promotes renewable sources of energy, carbon capture and sequestration technologies, low-carbon fuels, clean electric vehicles, and the smart grid and electricity transmission;
• An energy efficiency title that increases energy efficiency across all sectors of the economy, including buildings, appliances, transportation, and industry;
• A global warming title that places limits on emissions of heat-trapping pollutants; and
• A transitioning title that protects U.S. consumers and industry and promotes green jobs during the transition to a clean energy economy.

The bill seeks emissions reductions greater than those proposed by the president: calling for a 20 percent cut in emissions from 2005 by 2020 instead of the 14 percent included in Obama’s Feburary budget. It also calls for utilities to produce one-quarter of US electricity from renewables sources by 2025, and includes a federal low carbon fuel standard modeled on California legislation.

A high profile Congressional committee investigation has revealed that, since 2006, the outgoing Bush administration has dropped or stalled enforcement actions on more than 500 cases of severe water pollution.

George W. Bush's record on the environment is reminiscent of the alien invaders in Mars Attacks! Bush, like those Martians, plays the game of placation well when he's in front of a microphone. He's good at saying the right things, he calms our anxious green nerves, and he even occasionally comes close to sounding like an environmental visionary. But the moment we turn our backs, Bush pulls out his laser ray supersoaker gun and [...]