Green States v. White House

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Sat, 23 Apr 2005 11:36:25 -0700 (PDT)

This explains corruption in government

 

 

 

Green States v. White House

Jeff Rickert

April 22, 2005

 

Jeff Rickert is the field director for the Apollo Alliance.

http://www.apolloalliance.org/

 

Yesterday, just in time for Earth Day, the House of Representatives

passed an energy bill that demonstrates exactly what's wrong with

money in politics today.

 

Rather than facing our pressing energy and security problems, this

bill actually increases gas prices and causes imports to rise. It

rewards polluters with major subsidies and rolls back landmark

consumer protections. And it hurts workers and communities by failing

to invest in innovation and infrastructure, and by limiting states'

abilities to regulate. But while the halls of Congress are curiously

silent in the competition for good ideas, state governments are

leading the way.

 

For four years, the U.S. Congress has struggled to pass a Federal

Energy Policy Act. This year's version is virtually unchanged from

past versions, despite the political obstacles that have doomed it in

years before. The original energy bill was drafted following the

findings of Vice President Cheney's secret energy commission, which

jammed it full of controversial provisions that did little or nothing

to relieve our dependence on foreign energy sources. Meanwhile, the

price of gas has continued to skyrocket, averaging more than $2.20 per

gallon. Our dependence on OPEC nations for natural gas has increased

as well as home heating pressures rise, and natural gas becomes the

first alternative when traditional electrical plants are at capacity.

 

Little has been done by leadership in Washington to break the

political stalemate. Though good ideas have been proposed from both

sides of the aisle, those in charge of the bill's conception and

drafting have pushed forward with a bill that rewards oil and gas

companies, while failing to invest in the technologies and fuels of

the future that will shift our energy reliance back to domestic and

sustainable sources.

 

There is hope. While the politics in Washington rage on, leaders in

the states have been pushing groundbreaking legislation that lowers

energy demand, invests in alternatives, creates jobs and achieves a

healthier environment along the way.

 

The most recent amongst these is legislation signed into law this

April 1 by Washington governor Christine Gregoire. The legislation,

championed by Rep. Hans Dunshee in the assembly and driven by Sen.

Erik Poulson in the senate, is a first of its kind statewide Green

Building code, that requires that all public buildings over 5,000

square feet that receive state funding must meet LEEDS Silver

standards (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). The bill

enjoyed strong support from not only environmentalists, but from labor

unions and industry alike. The bill will lower public sectors energy

demand, create healthier schools and working environments, and new

jobs in the construction industry.

 

This is not the only place where progress is being made. This past

fall, Governor Ed Rendell signed Pennsylvania's Advanced Energy

Portfolio Standard. The bill requires that the commonweath generate 18

percent of its electricity from clean or renewable energy sources.

Governor Rendell, aims to not only diversify the commonwealth's energy

mix but also to drive economic development, particularly for its

beleaguered manufacturing sector. The strategy has already produced

results. Earlier this year, Spanish wind manufacturer Gamesa announced

that it would locate its North American headquarters in Philadelphia,

along with a new manufacturing facility in Johnstown, Penn.

 

In Nevada, Governor Kenny Guinn signed similar legislation that

requires the state to meet 15 percent of its energy demand from

renewable energy sources. With leadership from the Nevada AFL-CIO,

the legislation includes an innovative program to invest in

state-based solar production. Similar to Pennsylvania, the law aims

to not only build in-state generation capacity, but also to attract

the manufacturing capacity as well.

 

Last summer, the governors in Western Governors Association, led by

Governors Bill Richardson and Arnold Schwarzenegger, agreed to a

comprehensive energy plan for the west. The Western Governors

Association Clean and Diversified Energy for the West policy statement

calls for 30,000 megawatts of clean energy to be developed by 2015 and

an increase in energy efficiency by 20 percent by 2020. The policy

meets all of the West's need for generation and transmission over the

next 25 years. The governors also committed to an intensive study

into wind energy production in their states.

 

A similar initiative being explored is the Powering the Plains

Initiative, being developed by the Great Plains Institute for

Sustainable Development and the Consensus Council. This initiative is

convening elected officials in South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota,

Wisconsin, Iowa and the Canadian province of Manitoba. The project

aims to make the plains state the world leader in renewables by 2010,

with a special emphasis on the development of carbon-neutral coal

generation. These state leaders understand that clean, innovative and

renewable energy projects mean good jobs, community reinvestment and

new forms of rural economic development.

 

All of this activity is the tip of the iceberg. In Midwestern and

Plains states elected leaders are aggressively pursuing a new

generation of biofuels that produce alternatives to gasoline from

agricultural waste, while in the " rust belt, " the next generation of

good manufacturing jobs is likely to come from leadership on a new

generation of high-performance and highly efficient vehicles like

hybrid cars. But to make these efforts a success will require federal

leadership—like the commitment our nation made when we committed to

putting a man on the moon. The energy bill could have been the

opportunity to demonstrate this leadership.

 

Both Congress and our state officials represent the same constituents,

yet each has proposed a very different vision of our future. While

state officials want to deliver to the citizens who voted for them,

Congress delivered a bill for the corporate interests who fund their

campaigns. At the national level, corporate money trumps the

sustainable growth, high-wage jobs and local economic development that

the states find such an obvious solution.

 

We need an energy bill that makes the nation stronger, more prosperous

and less dependent on imported energy. This is a question of

leadership, of vision and of political will, and it is vital to the

future of our country that our elected officials find the courage once

again to lead.

 

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/green_states_v_white_house.php?dateid=20050422

 

This energy bill should send chills down your spine. It's hopelessly

out of touch with the needs of American citizens and rewards

polluters. Yet - this piece of crap passes? Why? The answer is -

and you already know the answer - is that congress is hopelessly

corrupt and merely acts as facilitators to rich and powerful

corrporations and individuals like Richard Mellon Scaife, Joseph

Coors, and the Walton family. Talking hasn't worked. We must vote

all the conpirators OUT OF OFFICE. THROW THE RASCALS OUT.