Weekly roundup 10/1/10: Obama's chunky climate solutions

This week, we gauge reactions to President Obama's comments about climate action in 2011, we look back at a very ineffectual Congress (good and bad), learn why Californians need to defeat Prop 23 this fall, and give a shout-out to this weekend’s One Nation Working Together rally in Washington, D.C.

President Obama gave a Rolling Stone interview on the cusp of midterms elections and raised some hope when he discussed his stance on climate legislation. He told the magazine he will dedicate himself to the issue in 2011, but that it would need to be handled in “chunks”, not as one bill. New York Times Dot Earth blogger Andy Revkin reacted with “”deep skepticism.” Andrew Schenkel at Mother Nature News said stand-alone bills like RES and a cap on smokestacks could be signs of this “chunkiness” already happening. We asked our followers on Twitter and Facebook what they thought -- and got some very mixed reactions. What’s yours?

Congress recessed early this week, leaving a lot of work hanging in the wind until they return from elections. Congress leaving things in the balance certainly isn’t anything new and there is some good and bad to what they did leave in balance.

The good? Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) says Congress won’t act this year to block the Obama administration from regulating greenhouse gas emissions. Senate Republicans invoked Rockefeller’s “Dirty Air Act” on Monday, only to be shot down on the floor (whew!). Politico’s Darren Samuelsohn says this act is likely over for the year:

“A spokesman for Majority Leader Harry Reid declined comment Wednesday when asked if he will follow through with the floor vote commitment, most likely during the lame duck session. Majority Whip Dick Durbin told reporters there was limited time on the calendar after the midterm election.” [another whew!]

The bad? Well, any talk of a renewable Energy Standard (RES) bill is gone as well. Grist’s Randy Rieland says Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) introduction of his own RES bill puts a kibosh on Sen. Jeff Bingaman’s (D-NM) own RES bill. Greenwire’s Katie Howell says Bingaman is holding out for 60 votes. But with Sen. Durbin’s announcement of a tight lame-duck schedule, who knows. While 1Sky hasn't taken a stand on any RES bill yet, signs of bipartisan bills on climate is a step in the right direction. We hope.

Check out Think Progress’ fantastic piece on Prop 23, the measure to kill AB32, California's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. It was 113 degrees in Los Angeles on Tuesday; think that could stoke interest in killing Prop 23? 1Sky's own Nick Santos spoke out against the dangers of passing Prop 23 in his blog last week, so check his piece out as well. The anti-Prop 23 groups are gearing up for a tough month of pushing again this dumb and dangerous proposition. After you read the Think Progress piece, you’ll know why the fight is so important:

“The outcome of the Prop. 23 vote holds major significance not just for Californians, but for the entire country, and the world. California is the eighth largest economy in the world and contributes 1.5 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, meaning the dismantling of its global warming law will have serious ripple effects across the globe.”

Finally, we look forward to participating at Saturday’s One Nation Working Together rally in Washington, D.C., where thousand of progressives supporters from civil rights, union, faith, educational, peace, environmental, and ethnic groups and association will gather to call for all Americans to support the continued change we called for in 2008. Green jobs, new energy policies, education, immigration reform...a bevy of issues are on tap for this weekend’s rally. One week after the successful Appalachia Rising! rally in downtown D.C. and one week before 350.org's hugely anticipated 10/10/10 Global Work Parties, this rally promises to be a great one, too. Greenpeace USA’s Harry Waisbren says it could be a game changer for the climate movement:

“In the short term, I envision the One Nation Working Together march building momentum for the Global Work Party to stop global warming. The goals overlap, simply put. Putting America Back to Work will require Green Work, and after 10/2 we will, indeed, be Getting to Work on 10/10. Longer term, I also see the foundation that these two incredible events are establishing as helping Pull America Back Together. We need to build a unified effort to save the planet we all share, and it will take a green collar economy in which green jobs are available to everyone to accomplish it.”

The climate movement has seen a lot of activity lately, let’s hope the lame-duck Congress and our President will hear our messages from this month and truly "get to work" when they come back.