by Chris Nava, VP for Political Action

While the furor over healthcare reform rages and occupies center stage on the national scene, two other pieces of important legislation are quietly moving forward in committee rooms in the Capitol. Among these is ACES, (the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009).

The bill, passed by the House earlier this summer amidst shouts of victory, is fraught with problems. In the last-minute wheeling and dealing loopholes were allowed into the bill that greatly weakened it. As it stands, the bill fails to set performance standards for existing power plants, and it allows polluters free range by allowing offsets that lets them off the hook. Moreover, it allows new coal plants (43 scheduled to be grandfathered in) to escape the climate bill CO2 standards. The environment is the clear loser in this bill.

It now falls on the Senate to come forth with a strong and effective version of the house bill. Clearly, the loopholes need to be addressed and elements of the bill need to be strengthened. The Senate is set to do just that. Senator Boxer and Senator Kerry are ready to introduce a comprehensive clean energy policy legislation that will not only protect the planet but will also jumpstart our economy by creating clean energy jobs.

The Senate committees have a very short time to pass the legislation before it comes to the floor for a full vote. It comes as no surprise that big oil and dirty coal are funneling millions of dollars into an effort to kill the bill. The tactics employed by opponents of health care reform are once again rearing their ugly heads. Lies and fear mongering are once again taking center stage. Opponents will stop at nothing to kill the bill. Their lobbying firms have already demonstrated this by forging letters to members of congress in a scheme to kill the ACES bill in the house.

Be aware that opponents will question the cost of clean energy bill. As a matter of fact, the Congressional Budget Office found that the cost to the average taxpayer is less than 50 cents a day. That money would allow investment in our own energy resources making us less dependent on foreign oil. That would make it $182.50 a year for each taxpayer! The American public already knows that the reason our utility bills have skyrocketed is because of our dependence on foreign oil.

Opponents will try to claim that clean energy legislation will kill jobs, greatly increasing unemployment. It should be noted that the labor groups, the AFL-CIO and the United Steelworkers all support clean energy legislation because they see it as a chance to revive our manufacturing sector. It is commonly acknowledge among the labor sector that clean energy jobs are labor intensive, and that clean energy investments create more jobs across all skill and education levels than comparable investments in fossil-fuel energy sources. Further, clean energy jobs provide opportunities for advancement and higher salaries, enabling workers to lift their families out of poverty

In a recent communication from the Sierra Club we are informed of attempts by Senators, who are in the pockets of the oil and coal industries, to add amendments to an upcoming appropriations bill that will restrict our ability to fight global warming. Read what these amendments would mean to passage of meaningful environmental legislation:

• Senator Murkowski wants to add an amendment that will strip all funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to fight global warming.
• Senator Vitter’s amendment proposes to gag the President’s well-respected climate change advisor Carol Browner.
• A third amendment aims to obstruct EPA’S ability to complete the Renewable Fuel Standards rule and hinders their ability to ensure ethanol fuel blends will not endanger air quality and public health.

We need to fight back! What kind of message are we sending to the world that the U.S. is not serious about curbing its global warming pollution? Are we to yield our leadership role in the world in solving the climate change crisis to China?

The time is now for those of us who support strong energy legislation to weigh in. Calls and letters to our Senators are critical. Here are some talking points you can use when writing or calling your Senators:

• Ask your Senators to exercise strong leadership in opposing these amendments, and to insure real reductions in pollution here in the US, instead of buying pollution “offsets” in other countries.
• Ask the Senators that $15 billion per year be devoted to clean energy research and development, a goal set by President Obama
• Ask that adequate funding be granted to clean energy technologies, as much as to fossil fuel industries.
• Urge that the Environmental Protection Agency authority to regulate global warming be preserved.
• Demand that loopholes to coal industry contained in the House bill be closed.

We are in a moment in history when our country has to choose to embrace a new energy future responsibly, or turn back to the same energy sources that have led us to this crisis and risk the life of our planet. Which will it be for each of us?