Climate change legislation is on the move in Congress. The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (H.R. 2454), also known as the Waxman-Markey bill, will most likely be brought up for a vote in the House on Friday. This according to a conference call I was on last night with VP Al Gore (as I'm sure many of you were).
This is an extremely important bill, as for the first time the U.S. will attempt to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases we produce each year. The bill implements a cap-and-trade policy intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 83% by 2050. It mandates a federal renewable energy standard, calling for a 20 percent renewable energy and energy efficiency standard by 2020. It also requires utilities to obtain 15 percent of their power from renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power and also demonstrate annual electricity savings of 5 percent through energy efficiency measures.
While the bill has its detractors, Al Gore, the Sierra Club and numerous other environmental organizations support the bill as they recognize it as the first step in the winner-take-all fight against global warming. However the vote is supposed to be very close, and we need to make sure that it passes.
The one major talking point against the bill was shot down yesterday as the CBO estimated that the cost to the average American household to be only $175 a year by 2020. This is in sharp contrast to the Republican estimates of $3,000+ per household by 2015.
I am asking all of you to contact your representative today and urge them to vote for the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. Remind them of the new CBO estimate and the fact that global warming is the greatest threat to our civilization as we know it today.
In addition, there appears to be a few select representatives that could be the crucial 218th vote for or against the bill, outlined in this May article from www.grist.org. Any extra pressure we can put on these 9 representatives could really help to swing a couple of them in favor of the bill. Here are the numbers for these representatives:
Jason Altmire 202-225-2565
Rick Boucher 202-225-3861
Artur Davis 202-225-2665
Baron Hill 202-225-5315
Charlie Melancon 202-225-4031
Earl Pomeroy 202-225-2611
Mike Ross 202-225-3772
John Tanner 202-225-4714
Gene Taylor 202-225-5772
We absolutely must pass this bill this year if we want any chance of avoiding the most catastrophic of events that global warming will cause. Please help in the fight against global warming and contact Congress today.