We have an uphill struggle ahead of us. It is absolutely critical to America and Earth’s long-term prosperity – in fact, our long-term viability, that the US take a huge step towards a strong global response to climate change.
 
Climate science is not debated by anyone who matters anymore – we can win this fight with all the foot-dragging deniers kicking and screaming the whole way, so I say let them go. The policy, the economics, and the “how to” on the clean energy revolution, on the other hand, are areas of much controversy. We all need to get a whole lot better at articulating not just why we must act, but what policies will spark a clean energy revolution, how action or inaction will affect our economy, and just how we’re going to transition to 100% clean energy.
 
Some excellent resources to these ends:
 

• The Citizens Guide to Climate Policy – an accessible, comprehensive guide to climate policy approaches from Middlebury students Ben Wessel and Lois Parshley
• Renewable Energy in America – an interactive map of all the renewable energy potential and renewable energy facilities planned and present from NRDC
• Real Climate Economics – a great compilation of scholarly economic work related to climate
• The Breakthrough Institute – rethinking and reframing the clean energy revolution
• Sub-prime Carbon – A Friends of the Earth report on the potential pitfalls of carbon trading

The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 passed the House of Representatives Friday afternoon, with only one vote to spare. We owe Chairmen Waxman and Markey their fair due for getting this done – molding a bill that reduces US emissions 83% below 2005 levels by 2050 and that 217 other members of the house will actually vote for  is impressive. Its passage is groundbreaking. But the bill itself isn’t.

As soon as we’re done congratulating Mr. Waxman, Mr. Markey and the other 217 representatives on the “yes” side, we owe it to ourselves and future generations to light a fire under them, the rest of the House, the Senate and President Obama.

ACES isn’t good enough. It isn’t smart enough. And gosh darn it, people who fully understand the science and economics of climate and energy don’t like it. But that’s the sorry state of the US Congress today – even with a handsome Democratic majority, legislators are still more concerned with dirty industry’s short-term profits than they are with the long-term feasibility of our modern economy. This bill compromises our economy and our environment for political necessity. To the credit of Chairmen Waxman and Markey, the slim margin of passage tells me they compromised almost exactly as much as was needed to get this done, and not a bit more.

The environmental community was anything but united behind this bill. While dirty industry allies like NRDC and Environmental Defense Fund celebrated the bill as the end-all, be-all policy, organizations like 1Sky, Energy Action Coalition and Focus the Nation urged passage of the bill with steep caveats – calling it out for its weaknesses and demanding improvement. To the left organizations like Greenpeace and Congressmen like Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) opposed the bill, protesting its weakness and potential for financial corruption.

In order for the passage of this bill to go down in history as a step forward, it must be followed by bigger steps, bolder steps, truly transformational decisions at every level of government and in every sector of society. This won’t be easy. Conventional wisdom says the Senate is a much more conservative body than the House, with the interests of dirty energy and dirty industry even more deeply entrenched.

Passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 would be an enormous step forward towards a more just and prosperous clean energy future, but for America to fully address the challenges and opportunities we face, its passage must be the first step of many.
We urge strengthening of the legislation to do the following:

1. Increase the Renewable Electricity Standard (RES)
2. Allocate more permits to clean energy investment and green jobs programs
3. Restore EPA’s authority to regulate point-source emissions
4. Reduce the quantity and improve the quality of offsets allowed in the system
5. Increase the short-term and long-term emissions reductions targets
6. Limit speculation in the carbon permit market

That fact that ACES has made it this far is a sign of the growing influence and success of America’s movement for a more just and prosperous clean energy future. Still, ACES is far from perfect. The current strength of the bill reflects the disturbing political realities in Congress – and is further inspiration to increase the impact of our work and vision for a clean energy future in every corner of America.
 
Focus the Nation commends the tremendous work of Chairmen Waxman and Markey and other members of Congress to create a bill that conforms both to scientifically-based long-term emissions reductions targets and the political reality of the 111th Congress. We support the passage of this bill, but remain committed to redefining American leadership in our country's response to climate change. In the coming months and years, there is deeper work to be done. We hope the passage of this bill sheds light on the opportunities of the clean energy future that we have still yet to seize.

After listening to Congressman Peter DeFazio(D-OR) speak today on all the reasons the Waxman-Markey cap and trade plan (ACES) is deeply flawed and that advocates for greenhouse gas reductions should be working to kill it, not pass it, I find myself almost convinced.
 
I’m only almost convinced because I fear the two alternatives to cap and trade – a carbon tax or Clean Water Act-style regulation – may be political nonstarters.
 
Congressman DeFazio (and many others) claims that carbon trading will be subject to all the same financial corruption responsible for our current economic crisis and that offsets provisions remove any incentive for real behavior change. He has co-sponsored Jim McDermott’s bill that would impose a Clean Water Act-style regulator system on global warming pollution, and hinted that a carbon tax would be better than cap and trade.
 
At the end of the Congressman’s speech today, I asked him this: “Waxman-Markey, even in its present severely weakened form, is going to have a tough time passing the full house. What are the chances of Congressman McDermott’s bill, Congressman Larson’s carbon tax, or even Congressman Inglis’ revenue-neutral carbon tax bill of passing the house, and how important is it to the success of an international climate treaty that the US pass something soon?”

This April, the roots of leadership were laid in the Climate movement. From Powershift to the FTN Town Hall Campaign, young people across the country moved into positions of leadership, and engaged their community and policy makers on our vital clean energy future. A sea change in the quality and quantity of leadership occurred, and on the eve of the first ever US climate legislation it continues to breed success and momentum. 
 
Since April, certain needs have arisen that must be addressed. First, we must continue pressure on policy makers and institutions to accelerate our transition to clean energy sources, and to strengthen ACES and our local legislation. At the same time, we must fulfill the less noticed need of developing and empowering our new climate leaders.