Red, Green, and Blue

When the U.S. Congress passed the Energy Independence and Security Act last December, the bill included a passage that could effect Canada’s oilsands, and that has the Canadian government nervous.

The law prohibits federal procurement of fuels that produce more global warming emissions than conventional sources. Canada is concerned because the fuel taken from the oilsands is considered alternative fuel under the new energy act and it produces more global warming emissions than other sources. It complicates things because U.S. firms have major investments in the oilsands and the U.S. government currently gets a lot of fuel from there, so the U.S. essentially passed a law that could jeopardize this arrangement. In the province of Alberta, the oilsands represent the second largest oil reserve on the planet after Saudi Arabia.

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Will we survive George W. Bush’s presidency? Not if you think clean air is necessary for your life and the life of the planet. Last week, Bush overruled the EPA’s efforts to set lower smog-forming ozone limits. Bush actually ordered the agency to increase the limit!

According to the Grist, “the EPA set both the ‘public health’ standard (how much ozone is permitted in one place at one time) and the ‘public welfare’ standard (consideration of the long-term effect of ozone) at the same level.” Before Bush’s command, the EPA had planned to make the “public welfare” standard more stringent, though not as low as their scientists were recommending. Bush’s orders sent the agency scrambling to avoid conflict with past EPA statements on the harmful effects of ozone. Read the rest of this entry »

Giuliani Firm to Do Legal Bidding

A Navajo Nation enterprise has filed a lawsuit against the US Environmental Protection Agency Tuesday for dragging its feet on an air permit for a proposed coal-fired power plant. Dine Power Authority of the Navajo Nation and Houston-based Sithe Global Power have partnered to build the $3 billion, 1500 megawatt Desert Rock plant. The group filed for a permit back in 2004 and is still awaiting a final decision. “Time is money,” said Steven Begay, the general manager of DPA. Begay added, “Sithe is spending money, and we’re spending money. The longer we wait, the more money we spend … and we don’t want to do that. We want to move forward.”

Sithe has alredy invested about $20 million in the project and the lawsuit claims the tribe is losing $5 million per month in tax revenue for each month the permit is delayed. The investor group announced in January that they would be suing the agency, and that they would be represented by friend of ‘big energy,’ Giuliani and Bracewell. Apparently Rudy Giuliani will find ways to assert his political will, even if he can’t be President. Read the rest of this entry »

Law Helps Smooth Way For “Clean Coal”

Last week, Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal signed a bill that recognizes that surface owners control the underground pore spaces where carbon dioxide could be stored or sequestered. A companion bill, gives the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality the authority to regulate the long-term storage of carbon dioxide.

“With the signing of these two bills today, Wyoming puts itself in the forefront of carbon sequestration legislation. This is a forward-thinking approach to protect both Wyoming’s economy and Wyoming’s environment.” Gov. Freudenthal called the legislation a “groundbreaking” framework for carbon capture and sequestration

Earlier this year, Freudenthal told the Joint Judiciary Interim Committee that the Wyoming Legislature had an opportunity to lead the nation in regulating long-term carbon capture and sequestration. Read the rest of this entry »

Editor’s note: Political cartoons are a staple of editorial pages and other websites focused on politics, and we’re delighted to bring you the first of our own series of cartoons from our own “Mean Joe Green” Mohr.

Of course, we greenies would love a presidential candidate that took a strong-handed, common sense approach to addressing the myriad of environmental issues facing the planet, and did so with the energy and intensity it deserves.

We don’t.

But we do have these three…

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America drives! With an average of 2.28 vehicles per U.S. household, and the average American commuting 33 miles per day to work, we are definitely a country that drives. The majority of U.S. cars on the road are fueled by oil. A large percentage of U.S. Oil is currently purchased from foreign countries. It is safe to say we are a country that drives dependent on other countries providing the oil to fuel our vehicles. With war raging in the Middle East, the price of oil constantly climbing and Americans still driving there is heated debate over what can be done to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil. This week the Institute for Local Self Reliance released a report entitled “Driving Our Way to Energy Independence” specifically covering The Energy Independence and Security Act signed by Congress in December 2007.

The effort by Congress in 2007 attempts to transform our current transportation system by mandating higher vehicle efficiency, an increase in production of biofuels, and efforts in renewable electricity. More pie in the sky rhetoric? Well I believe that depends on us, the people, the citizens, innovators, entrepreneurs and activists in our country. American history teaches us about a people who sacrificed their lives settling in a new land, willing to give up convenience for their future. No, we don’t have to settle in a new land. I doubt we will have to give up too much convenience. The technology is available and we are able to transform our current dependence on oil to renewable energy sources.

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I don’t know if you caught it, but the whole Hillary Clinton-Barack Obama flap over NAFTA exposed a dirty little secret: The North American Free Trade Agreement isn’t about American jobs or cheap Mexican labor—it’s about Canadian oil.

Think as far back as two weeks ago. I know you can do it. Remember, Britney’s dad started taking control of her life… everyone you know bugged the hell out of you by constantly saying: “I drink your milkshake…”

Anyway, back then, Hillary and Obama were campaigning among blue-collar crowds in Ohio when news broke out that someone from the Obama camp called the Canadian government and reassured them that the tough talk on NAFTA was all just an act. Later, it was revealed that Hillary probably made a similar call.

All of which begged the question: Why would they care so much about Canada if this was about NAFTA? Hasn’t Uncle Lou told us time and time again that NAFTA is all about Mexico: its cheap labor, and its non-existent regulations, which entice American factories to relocate south of the border?

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Presidential election campaign 2008 is well underway. And already the grade school politics are brought to the election playground.
In recent news, both Democratic front runners, in an attempt to woo voters, called for renegotiations of NAFTA. They also threatened to pull out of the trade agreement if U.S. demands aren’t met. Clearly a case of, “do what I want because our economic and military might can beat up your economic and military might.”

The North American Free Trade Agreement, has been under scrutiny since its inception.

Thankfully we have Republican Candidate John McCain to defend this groundbreaking trade agreement.

NAFTA isn’t perfect. It was the first time a free trade agreement existed among such economically disparate countries. It was definitely a great experiment, and a lot has been learned from the results. There is no denying that there have been significant advances in a globally sustainable market that was enabled by NAFTA.

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The Republicans and Democrats will not only be battling it out in the presidential elections this fall, but they are battling it out over who can hold the “greenest” (or is it the most greenwashed) national convention in late summer. From recycled fiber carpet to biodegradable plates, each political party is trying to outdo the other with its eco-friendly and “sustainable” conventions.

The Democratic National Convention will be held in Denver, Colorado in August 2008. The party states:

The DNCC has a tremendous opportunity to educate the public and Convention attendees on making individual life choices that are environmentally sustainable. We intend to lead by example in this effort, with organizers applying green planning principles to every decision made in the lead-up to Convention week.

The Democrats will be offsetting the carbon created by the convention, using B20 biodiesel in all their generators, purchasing renewable energy certificates, using sustainable materials, and planning local river clean-ups and tree planting projects in the area. Read the rest of this entry »

Obama Replies, “Scoreboard!”

As Barack Obama chalked up another primary victory Tuesday in Mississippi, Hillary Rodham Clinton challenged rival Barack Obama on his record on energy policy. Campaigning in Pennsylvania and speaking in the state capitol, Clinton accused Obama of being all talk and no walk, by suggesting that he voted for the 2005 Cheney-crafted Energy Policy Act. A bill that Clinton claims is lining the pockets of big oil as the cost of gas nears $4 per gallon.

From the AP:

“Today my opponent is here in Pennsylvania talking about energy policy,” Clinton said. “That’s great, except in 2005 when we had a chance to say no to Dick Cheney and his energy bill, my opponent said yes and voted for it.”

“When it counted, I said no, he said yes,” said Clinton, adding that the measure was stuffed with “tax subsidies and giveaways” for oil companies and slowed the development of renewable energy.

“I gotta tell you, there’s a big difference between talk and action, but if you’re gonna talk, you ought to mean what you say so people can count on it,” Clinton quipped.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton replied that the Illinois senator voted for the energy bill in 2005 because it raised taxes on oil companies and boosted investment in alternative energy sources.

Photo Credit: Joe Crimmings Photography

Associated Press

Washington Post