Federal Climate Actions
The Georgetown Climate Center strives to strengthen state-federal partnerships and to maximize efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop the clean energy economy at all levels of government. The Center works closely with federal officials and informs stakeholders about the potential effect of federal actions on state revenue and programs. As part of that effort, the Center tracks and analyzes federal climate legislation and regulation.
News and Updates
The Georgetown Climate Center has created a state-focused overview of the recently unveiled “Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Accountability Act,” which aims to reform offshore oil drilling regulation, strengthens tools to prepare for and respond to an oil spill, creates a national energy efficiency building retrofit program (Home Star), creates rebate and incentive programs for natural gas vehicles and electric vehicles, and funds the Land and Water Conservation fund.
Click here to download the state-focused overview....
Citing a lack of bipartisan support Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Thursday that upcoming energy legislation won’t include a cap on carbon emissions or a renewable energy standard. Instead, the Senate will move forward on scaled-back legislation that promotes natural-gas vehicles, improves energy efficiency in houses and businesses, and responds to the Gulf oil spill.
The announcement leaves states and the EPA to lead efforts to reduce the greenhouse gases that result in climate change – at least for now.
Washington Governor Chris Gregoire expressed her disappointment Thursday with the federal government’s inaction, but pledged that Washington and other states would move ahead.
“Despite the lack of federal action,...
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) informed Senate committee chairmen Thursday that he plans to move comprehensive energy legislation in July.
He also said he wants to gather ideas on how to deal with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico before July 4 so they can be included in a comprehensive energy package.
From Politico:
“Among the actions I think we need to explore are ensuring that the oil companies’ are held accountable for their actions and the damages caused by their operations. This may require adjusting current law to more accurately assess and address the damages caused by failures, to ensure the swift and...
Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) plans to unveil climate and energy legislation in the next week that would achieve about half of the 17 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions called for by President Obama by 2020.
From Reuters:
Lugar's legislation would cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions through a mix of better fuel efficiency for vehicles, using more renewable fuels for those cars, making new homes and commercial buildings more energy efficient and expanding nuclear power generation.For heavy-polluting coal-fired power plants, they would be excused from investing in expensive scrubbers over the next few years and in return would voluntarily retire the plants in 2020....
Thirteen states signed onto a letter today in opposition to the Murkowski resolution that would overturn the EPA’s endangerment finding and effectively strip the agency of its ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
From the state letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY):
Over the past four decades, the CAA has delivered tremendous public health and environmental benefits, including significant reductions in lead, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter and other pollutants. We believe that USEPA regulatory oversight of GHG emissions under this statute will...
A Senate vote that seeks to overturn the EPA's "endangerment finding," which enables the agency to regulate greenhouse gases, is scheduled for June 10, lead sponsor Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said Monday.
The announcement came after Murkowski reportedly reached an agreement with Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on the timing for the floor vote.
From ClimateWire:
...
“Reid and I have agreed on the time,” Murkowski said yesterday. “Until it’s typed down in language, nothing is locked in solid, but the agreement that we have that was reached this afternoon was to go for the 10th.”
At a Rose Garden ceremony today, President Obama directed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to create a new national policy to increase fuel efficiency and decrease greenhouse gas emissions from all medium- and heavy-duty trucks in model years 2014-2018.
Currently, trucks consume more than two million barrels of oil every day and emit 20 percent of greenhouse gas pollution related to transportation.
The President also called for a strengthening of standards for cars and light-duty trucks made in 2017 and beyond....
