Climate Blogs Exposed--Senator Specter, Obama's 100 Days, America's Green Achievements

This week the Democratic party welcomed former Republican Senator Arlen Specter into the party. While Specter has made it clear that he will not be an automatic 60th vote for cloture, his shift in parties does help the Democrats overcome the Republican filibuster! Dave Roberts from Grist writes on the implications of Specter's switch for climate legislation:

So what are his positions on climate change? Roughly those of a conservative Democrat. He voted against the McCain-Lieberman climate bill twice and declined to vote for cloture for the Lieberman-Warner climate bill last year. He said that the latter bill contained “very difficult standards which I, candidly, do not think are attainable.” As an alternative he has pushed a bill co-sponsored with Sen. Jeff Bingaman, the “Low-Carbon Economy Act,” which has weak targets, free permits, automatic off-ramps, and all the rest of the kinds of provisions that neuter a climate bill.

Given that the Waxman/Markey climate bill is considerably more ambitious than Lieberman-Warner—and likely will remain so even after being hashed over by the House’s conservative Dems—there is every likelihood that Specter, along with many other conservative Dems like Bayh and Nelson, will vote the bill down, or at least weaken it until it’s worthless.

Additionally, this week President Obama announced a new national energy education initiative that will focus on inspiring and training Americans in our shift to a low carbon economy. In his speech, Obama declared the importance of tackling climate change and the role the next generation is going to play in continuing to develop green energy solutions. It's Getting Hot in Here reports on Obama's speech:

"There will be no single Sputnik moment for this generation’s challenges to break our dependence on fossil fuels… But energy is our great project, this generation’s great project… the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation will be launching a joint initiative to inspire tens of thousands of American students to pursue these very same careers, particularly in clean energy. It will support an educational campaign to capture the imagination of young people who can help us meet the energy challenge… And it will support fellowships and interdisciplinary graduate programs and partnerships between academic institutions and innovative companies to prepare a generation of Americans to meet this generational challenge.”

From the money allocated for green solutions in the economic stimulus package to the planting of an organic garden at the White House, President Obama's first 100 days have brought about a lot of green changes to our society. Kate Sheppard writes on Obama's first 100 days:

Perhaps the biggest environmental breakthrough was the economic stimulus package, which contained $62.2 billion in direct spending on green initiatives and $20 billion in green tax incentives, including money for renewable energy, efficiency, improved energy transmission, smart-grid technology, low-income housing retrofits, rail transit, and green jobs training.

The next big green moves came in the administration’s first budget, which included an additional $15 billion in investments in energy and efficiency projects, and increased funding for rail – on top of the $8 billion for Amtrak in the stimulus – in order to create a “world-class passenger rail system” across the country.

According to the latest Gallup poll, nearly 80% of Americans believe President Obama will do a good job protecting the nation's environment. Despite the best efforts from the GOP to instill fear in the minds of Americans shifting over to a green economy, Climate Progress reports, "Americans support greenhouse gas regulation even if it could substantially raise energy prices." The post goes on to say:

For instance, the new Washington Post/ABC poll of 1,072 Americans (here) found:

While majorities across the board support government regulation of greenhouse gases, it peaks among liberals (88%) and under 30s (80%), vs. 61% of conservatives and 64% of seniors. Support also ranges from 85% of Democrats, 65% “strongly,” to 64% of Republicans, 39% strongly. Concern about its cost is broader, and stronger, among those who’d presumably be hit hardest — lower-income adults.

A new NBC/WSJ poll of 1,005 Americans (here) asked the question more directly, and also found the public supports strong action in spite of the cost:

Charging a fee to companies that emit greenhouse gases, which might result in higher utility bills, and using the money to provide tax cuts for middle-income families

Approve 58%
Disapprove 35%

Would you approve or disapprove of a proposal that would require companies to reduce greenhouse gases that cause global warming, even if it would mean higher utility bills for consumers to pay for the charges?

Approve 53
Disapprove 40

Check out the video from the latest Gallup poll here:

Well, that's all for this week. Let us know in the comments below if we've missed anything important!