DC Hill Update 4/06/2010: Obama Administration Expands Offshore Drilling, Congress Still on Recess

With Congress on recess, this week was marked by big news from the Obama Administration, including a disappointing announcement about offshore oil drilling and a more encouraging one about mountaintop removal coal mining. Meanwhile, 1Sky supporters turned out in impressive numbers to "storm" in-state Congressional offices nationwide, demanding that members of Congress oppose the "Dirty Air Act" proposals currently under consideration. The congressional recess continues this week, but many senators remain hard at work on climate policy: Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) remain busy promoting their CLEAR Act, Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) recently introduced an outline for his new bill, and Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) are still working hard to hammer out the details of their comprehensive climate and energy bill by the week of April 19-23 in time for Earth Day.

Obama announces expansion of offshore drilling

Last Wednesday, President Obama announced that he will expand offshore oil drilling for the first time in decades. This will lead to new oil and natural gas exploration off parts of the east coast of the US, in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and the northern coast of Alaska. See this map for details.

While the announcement may help garner support from Senate moderates for a comprehensive climate and energy bill, progressive senators and climate advocacy groups (including 1Sky) are extremely critical of the new plan, suggesting it could cost the President their support. While some offshore drilling proponents praised the new proposal, others said does not go far enough. Some analysts think that Obama may have mistakenly played a risky bargaining chip before key votes were promised in return and that the political move could backfire.

Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) voiced his support for the new offshore drilling proposal: "Alaska's energy companies should be pleased with the green light from the Obama administration to proceed toward oil and gas development in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas."

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) vehemently blasted the new plan: "Giving Big Oil more access to our nation’s waters is really a Kill, Baby, Kill policy: it threatens to kill jobs, kill marine life and kill coastal economies that generate billions of dollars. Offshore drilling isn’t the solution to our energy problems, and I will fight this policy and continue to push for 21st century clean energy solutions."

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) said immediately that President Obama's new announcement does not go far enough to open up coastal waters to oil exploration and drilling. There's a range of opinions on the implications of Obama's new drilling plan.

1Sky Campaign Director Gillian Caldwell expressed deep disappointment regarding President Obama's decision to lift a 20-year ban on offshore oil drilling: "This dramatic increase of the scope of offshore drilling throughout the coastal United States puts our fragile coastal environments, as well as billions of tourism dollars, at risk -- while still doing relatively little to address our long term energy challenge or our race against time to fight runaway climate change."

Following the announcement, Royal Dutch Shell is moving forward with plans to drill for oil in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas off the coast of Alaska.

Administration moves forward with Clean Air Act Vehicle Standards and Mountaintop Removal Restrictions

In much better news, the Obama administration formally adopted the "cars rule" last week by finalizing new nation-wide fuel economy standards. Under the rule, automakers will be required to make vehicles that average at least 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016 and greenhouse gas emissions will also be explicitly regulated for the first time ever, with expected emissions reductions of 21% by 2030. This rule will result in tremendous benefits for automakers, consumers, and the planet.

Last Thursday, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced stricter rules aimed at curbing the impacts of mountaintop removal coal mining. Specifically, a new limit on the salinity level of streams will now factor into the Clean Water Act permitting process for mountaintop removal mining operations. This will likely make it more difficult for mining companies to obtain mountaintop removal mining permits and consequently the destructive practice may become less prevalent.

According to Jackson, "The people of Appalachia shouldn't have to choose between a clean, healthy environment in which to raise their families and the jobs they need to support them. That’s why EPA is providing even greater clarity on the direction the agency is taking to confront pollution from mountain top removal."

Defending the Clean Air Act from Legislative Attacks

There were no new developments on the "Dirty Air Act" front this week, with the exception of a continued exchange between Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, who continue to spar over the importance of regulating old dirty coal plants under the Clean Air Act and the detrimental impact of "Dirty Air Act" proposals introduced by Murkowski and other members of Congress.

Last week, 1Sky supporters and allies with umbrellas and ponchos "stormed" in-state congressional offices to draw a line in the sand with respect to the Clean Air Act. Participants demanded that their elected officials publicly commit to opposing all recent legislative attacks on the Clean Air Act, and they expressed their disappointment at the offices of current "Dirty Air Act" co-sponsors.

Storms in Missouri, Arkansas, Maine, South Carolina, Michigan, Colorado and Massachusetts were among the most successful so far, with more storms in the forecast for the next few weeks.

In other good news: as a direct result of 1Sky storms in Michigan's 7th District (Michigan) and in Denver, Colorado (Colorado), both Representative Mark Schauer (D-MI) and Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) made public commitments to oppose all Dirty Air Acts. If you're a constituent, make sure you call and thank them for standing up for healthy air and the clean energy economy.

Comprehensive Climate and Energy Legislation

With Congress on recess, the main development with respect to comprehensive climate and energy legislation last week was President Obama's offshore drilling announcement and the impact that it may have on Senate votes for a climate bill (discussed above).

Last week, Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) released the outline of a new "Practical Energy Plan" which draws on a number of existing energy and climate-related proposals. Most of the measures outlined in the plan are far from adequate, but the draft does include some reasonable provisions, like the strong building standards that 1Sky supported in the house-passed bill.

Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) continue to promote their CLEAR Act, with Collins most recently suggesting that it could be paired with a stand-alone energy bill passed out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last spring.

According to E&E news, Senate staff are busy writing legislative text of the bill that Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) are expected to release during the week of April 19-23.(subs. req'd)

Last week, fourteen senators publicly urged Kerry, Graham and Lieberman not to override state and regional greenhouse gas reduction plans. (subs. req'd)

Now that the health care debate is over, climate and energy legislation has moved up to a more prominent place on the political agenda. All the work on various climate bills that went largely unnoticed over the last several months is now gaining attention in the Senate.