American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES)

Senate Climate Bill Keeps the Offset Faucet Wide Open

The leaky offset faucet
The leaky offset faucet http://www.co.carver.mn.us Polluters in the US may be able to wait another decade before having to turn the spigot on their emissions faucet. That's because the current Senate climate bill, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (a.k.a. Kerry-Boxer bill), retains the House provision that allows the use of up to two billion offsets, a huge threat to the integrity of the cap-and-trade scheme, not to mention the environment and climate-impacted communities. While Senate draft bill makes an effort to fix some of the loopholes around offset integrity left

U.S. Climate Legislation

2 billion offsets are allowed in the both the House and Senate bills
2 billion offsets are allowed in the both the House and Senate bills On May 21, 2009, the Energy and Commerce Committee approved H.R. 2454, "The American Clean Energy and Security Act" (ACES), by a vote of 33 to 25. The House of Representatives passed H.R. 2454 by a vote of 219-212 on June 26, 2009. This legislation, introduced by Chairman Henry A. Waxman and Subcommittee Chairman Edward J. Markey, seeks to create millions of new clean energy jobs, save consumers hundreds of billions of dollars in energy costs, enhance America's energy independence, and cut global warming pollution. The legi

Coalition Letter to Senator Barbara Boxer on Offsets

Barbara Boxer Official Photo
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Barbara Boxer Official Photo Chairman Barbara BoxerSenate Environment and Public Works Committee410 Dirksen Senate Office BuildingWashington, DC 20510 Dear Chairman Boxer: We respectfully ask you to limit total offsets in Senate climate and energy legislation to a constant 10 percent of the emissions cap. Although we believe that offsets should not be included in climate and energy legislation and recognize the particularly problematic nature of forest-based offsets, it is apparent that they will be a part of the bill emerging from your committee this fall. We understand that passing climat

Bad Deal Cut on Domestic Offsets

In order to secure votes for the climate and energy bill from representatives of agricultural states, Congressman Waxman cut a deal with Congressman Peterson, chair of the House Agricultural Committee. Waxman compromised on two major issues. On the first, Waxman agreed to a five year moratorium before the indirect land-use effects of ethanol are assessed. On the second, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will adminster domestic ag offsets, instead of the EPA. The EPA will be also given a role, although in what capacity is still unclear. This essentially means that t

Critics Fault Climate-Change Legislation

Monday, June 22, 2009
Originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle At the Joseph Farms dairy in Atwater (Merced County), farmers aren't just transforming milk into cheese. They've also figured out how to turn manure into fuel - and a paycheck. By storing waste from the dairy's 5,000 cows in a covered 7-acre lagoon and removing methane from it using sophisticated equipment, the farm is generating power that keeps refrigerators, lights and pumps running at its cheese plant. The project keeps the heat-trapping greenhouse gas methane out of the atmosphere, thereby netting the farm another payback in the form of

Offsets and the Truthy Targets of Waxman-Markey

Steven Colbert
Steven Colbert [Truthiness: The quality of seeming to be true, even if this contradicts evidence or rational thought - http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/truthiness] Explanations of the current version of the Waxman-Markey energy and climate bill (the American Clean Energy and Security Act or ACES) usually state that it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from US polluters by 17% below 2005 levels by 2020 and by 83% by 2050. (At the time of writing, the "current" version is the version passed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee). But this interpretation of the carbon tra

Spreadsheet Showing Impacts of Offsets Upon ACES Targets

Tuesday, June 16, 2009
This spreadsheet shows the impact upon the targets in the Waxman-Markey climate bill of allowing pulluters to use up to two billion offsets every year to meet emission reduction obligations. The bill is formally known as the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES). It was introduced by Representatives Waxman (D-CA) and Markey (D-MA).

Using Offsets to Push Climate Bill

Sunday, June 14, 2009
Originally published in the Albany Times Union WASHINGTON -- When Connie Patterson began expanding her Auburn. Cayuga County, dairy farm in the 1990s -- growing from 100 cows to a 950-cow operation -- she went from spreading manure over fields to housing the liquid waste in lagoons. But that, she soon discovered, was a pretty smelly situation. "It just sits in there, and it cooks, and it has a horrible odor," Patterson said. "It's like nothing you can believe." Patterson spent years searching for a solution, and ultimately installed an anaerobic digester to remove methane from the manure lagoo

Analysis of the Waxman-Markey Draft

Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Analysis by International Rivers and Rainforest Action Network of the first draft of the American Clean Energy and Security Act.

Coalition Global Warming Letter to Ways and Means

Tuesday, June 9, 2009
The Honorable Charles Rangel Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means United States House of Representatives 1102 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Dear Chairman Rangel, On behalf of the millions of members represented by our organizations, we are writing to urge the Ways and Means Committee to take legislative action that helps lead our country and the rest of the world in combating global warming. We believe that the environmental, economic, public health and international security threats of global warming require full and fair consideration by the multiple

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