As Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) most recently became the lightning rod for much liberal and progressive political fury for pursuing "bipartisan" health reform that favors the health insurance industry over the needs of ordinary people. For producing a bill that contains no public option, robust or otherwise. That this "bipartisan" effort unfolded at the same time the Republican Party launched a scorched-earth effort to destroy any meaningful reform added insult to injury.
But there also are additional battles, just as critical in their own way, including enactment of comprehensive climate change legislation. We may have a significantly better chance of winning Baucus’ support for it.
As a Montana voter and activist, I want that support – and I think it’s possible to get it. But we’ll have to organize like hell to make it happen, and it won’t be easy. Fortunately, we have a powerful case to make, strong arguments on our side, some very useful grist for the green energy jobs mill, and some indicators that Sen. Baucus is pragmatic about many of the issues involved.
Here's the lay of the land as I see it.
Max Baucus, born in Helena, Montana, was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1978, and has served there since, giving him a lot of seniority clout. Now Montana’s senior U.S. Senator, he was most recently re-elected in 2008 with 73% of the vote.
He’s well-positioned to influence comprehensive climate change legislation. As chair of the Senate Finance Committee, he is angling for a more powerful voice in shaping climate change legislation before it comes to a vote in the full Senate. He’s also a member of the Environment and
Public Works Committee, chaired by Sen. Barbara Boxer. Both committees, plus others, including the Agriculture and Energy and Natural Resources Committees(he’s on both of them)will be involved.
This is one in a series of Adopt A Senator For ACES diaries. RLMiller is coordinating a whip in which a volunteer targets a particular Senator, ascertains and diaries the Senator's likely vote on comprehensive climate change legislation, and tracks the Senator's position as the bill moves through the Senate. Meteor Blades has previously written written Adopt-A-Senator For ACES Targets Climate Legislation, and RLMiller originally announced You can affect climate change: Adopt A Senator
Please note that ACES has now changed to the Kerry-Boxer bill designation, CEJAPA – the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act.
Please contact RLMiller (email address in her profile) if you're interested in participating.
Montana is a large state with a relatively small population, and a vast repository of natural resources (about which more in a bit). The 2008 population estimate was 967,440, 90.5% of whom are white. American Indians and other indigenous peoples constitute 6.4% of the population. In 2007, slightly more than 14% of people were below the poverty level. A lot of folks here work multiple low-wage, no-health benefit jobs just to keep their heads above water. In October 2009, the Montana unemployment rate was 6.7%
His Positions on Environment, Energy & Climate Change
Sen. Baucus is no denier. He knows climate change is real, and that Montana has a real stake in addressing it. Like most successful Montana politicians, he seeks to walk a fine line between the demands of conservationists, environmentalists, hunters and anglers,the tourism and timber industries, and such "extraction" industries as coal, natural gas, and oil. These aren’t easy tensions to balance, not for Max Baucus or anybody else - and the answers aren’t simple. As always, the Right simply seeks to exploit the tensions, utilize the well-worn tactics of fear-and-smear, and polarize the discussion. Useful answers require careful consideration of the complex interrelationships of jobs (in energy production, timber, agriculture, and tourism/recreation), energy costs, accessibility to and use of public lands, and various kinds of environmental impacts over the long term.
(Please note that covering pollution allowances in detail is beyond the scope of this diary. That issue will be more fully explored in an upcoming piece by a different diarist. But today's NY Times has this piece that should whet your appetites for more allowances discussion! )
Environment & Energy Daily currently lists Sen. Baucus as a "fence sitter" on the climate change bill, noting that Baucus will "play [a significant] role as chair of Finance Committee in crafting legislation’s international competition and allowance structures." He’ll want to have a lot to say about the financing provisions of the bill, about,in Politico's words, "how hundreds of billions of dollars in pollution allocations would be distributed to industry and consumers under a cap-and-trade system."
Baucus’ website isn’t long on energy/environment/climate change info, but on occasion, he’s stood up for the right thing. For example, in 2007,as a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, he voted YES on America’s Climate Security Act co-sponsored by Sens. Joe Lieberman and John Warner, an earlier cap-and-trade bill (the bill failed in 2008). Baucus also voted NO on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He voted YES on reducing oil usage by 40% in 2025. He voted YES on addressing CO2 emissions without considering India or China. He voted YES to removing gas and oil exploration subsidies.
"In Montana, for example, thinner snowpack as a result of climate change reduce stream flows, which, combined with higher air temperatures, will cause streams to warm, decreasing their quality for trout, closing rivers to fishing, and affecting the state’s multi-million dollar tourism industry. The Montana Department of Fish, Wildllife, and Parks has already identified the Yellowstone River as a site where water temperature increases are impacting trout habitat."
Letter from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Sen. Max
Baucus (D-MT) to Sen. Barbara Boxer, Chair, Senate Envi
Environment & Public Works Committee, 6 August 2009
In August 2009, Baucus and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) wrote to Senator Barbara Boxer, Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee noting the importance of preparing for impacts of climate change on America’s natural resources.
He’s well aware that climate change is also affecting Glacier National Park which is a bona-fide treasure, both to Montanans and to the nation. DKos’ intrepid R L Miller recently wrote an excellent diary about these changes.
Coal, Natural Gas & Oil
Coal is big business in Montana – and it means jobs – at least for now. About 64% of the electricity generated in Montana is derived from coal, and Montana has about one quarter of the nation’s coal reserves - an estimated 120 billion tons. Gov. Brian Schweitzer is enthusiastically committed to development of so-called "clean coal technologies. –and so is Sen. Baucus. Not long ago, the Crow (Apsáalooke ) Nation in southeastern Montana – where unemployment approaches 50% , poverty is extensive, and enormous coal reserves exist – entered into an agreement with Australian-American Energy Company to create Many Stars CLT (Coal-to-Liquid).
Not surprisingly, Sen. Baucus joined Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) and several others in calling for stronger carbon capture and storage (CCS) incentives
(please note this is an E & E news article accessible by subscription only) in the Kerry-Boxer climate change bill, to be funded through emissions allowances. We can expect Sen. Baucus to continue to insist on strong "clean coal" incentives as part of the price of his support for climate change legislation.
At the same time, he is aware of the environmental degradation and destruction coal mining can produce. In 2007, he opposed and helped delay implementation of a proposal to mine coal in Canada, near Glacier National Park, on the headwaters of the North Fork Flathead River, which runs into Montana’s Flathead River system and Flathead Lake. Baucus will be trying to balance concern for the coal industry with his concern for the well-being of Montana’s waters, forests, and public lands that support myriad forms of recreation and tourism which are critical to the Montana economy.
And Baucus’ constituency isn’t necessarily lining up for coal. Some of Montana’s electricity is distributed or generated and transmitted by not-for-profit, consumer-owned cooperatives. Earlier this year, the SME Electric Generation and Transmission Cooperative decided to halt work on a planned coal-fired facility and instead build a plant powered by natural gas.
And that’s another pressure for Baucus: the rural electrical co-ops that serve some of the people in each of Montana’s 56 counties are part of a national network of similar co-ops. And they’ve got some concerns about climate change legislation they’re pressuring Baucus to address.
Natural gas and oil production
...are also up in Montana. Baucus is in basic agreement with a bipartisan group of senators
who want the climate bill to boost natural gas. and he’ll be looking for a way to move forward on the climate change front that looks at "cleaner" fossil fuel production as an essential component of greener energy production and jobs. As his website states, the larger green energy picture also mean support for renewable/green energy sources – wind, solar, biomass (primarily from forest product residues), geothermal, and biodiesel.
His Environmental/Conservation Report Cards
The League of Conservation Voters gives him fluctuating ratings.
Baucus LCV Vote Ratings
110th Congress (2007-2008) 81%
110th, 2nd Session (2008) 100%
110th, 1st Session (2007) 67%
109th Congress (2005-2006) 59%
Progressive Punch
gives him a lifetime rating of 66.36% on environmental issues but higher ratings on both renewable energy and global warming.
Defenders of Wildlife gives him a 54% lifetime score.
Follow the Money
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, most of Sen. Baucus’ support comes from the pharmaceuticals/health products, insurances, and other health services sectors. Of the top 20 industries contributing to his Campaign Committee and Leadership PAC between 2003 and 2008, electrical utilities were 10th on the list, with a combined total of almost half a million dollars, and oil & gas were 19th, with a combined total of $166,450. That’s a lot – in fact, he’s among the top recipients of electrical utility money, but he gets far more money from other sources. An interesting tidbit: in 2008, Sen. Baucus was second only to then-Sen. Barack Obama among the list of top recipients for contributions from the alternative energy production and services industry.
How to Target Baucus: The Message
Jobs!
We need them desperately. Montana is well-positioned to move forward with renewable energy production which will produce new jobs. (It will be up to all of us to help make sure those are good jobs, and that they help whole communities that have been hard-hit by job losses and economic meltdown.) New jobs will come primarily from renewable energy production; Montana maps and information found here (pdf) are part of an online renewable Energy Atlas. And here are some Montana "facts at a glance" about jobs and green energy development.
According to Climate Central (see resources list at end of diary)Montana's estimated wind power potential is about equal to the electricity consumed by the 19 lighted states.
Montana is especially well suited for the development of wind power, with over 17 million acres of windy land that potentially could support both small-scale and commercial-scale wind development.
Montana can and should become a regional leader in renewable energy development. Encouraging rapid growth in this area will help bring the costs of clean energy down more quickly.
Baucus is not going to cave on "clean coal," and he’s got a lot of support among fellow senators from coal-producing states. Our best and most practical strategy should be to advocate for even stronger support and incentives for renewable energy development.
Moreover, Kerry-Boxer is a jobs creation bill in other ways: there will be increased demand for clean energy component manufacturing, retrofitting homes and businesses to utilize renewable energy, and more. We must press Sen. Baucus to include new job creation through green energy production as one of his top concerns.
"The Last Best Place" – Montana’s Future is Rooted in Its Landscape & Natural Features
Montana calls itself "The Last Best Place" – a phrase coined by beloved local writer William Kittredge who, close to twenty years ago, used it for the title of an anthology of Montana writers he co-edited with Annick Smith close to twenty years ago. "It kind of took on a life of its own," Kittredge says.
Everything here that’s worthwhile, including the well-being of our communities, is connected to the forests, streams, rivers, mountains, grasslands, and wildlife. But research on the interrelated and spiraling impacts of climate change in Montana is alarming – and it keeps piling up. Simply put, everything residents and visitors love about Montana is now threatened.
Sen. Baucus certainly does not want multiple millions of recreation and tourism dollars lost on his watch. But we have to convince him of the urgency of acting boldly and acting now.
Countless individuals, community residents and leaders, visitors, small business owners, and organizations must organize to send the message: Protect the "Last Best Place." And the only way to do that is through bold, comprehensive climate change legislation.
There is growing public support for such measures. Politico recently reported on a poll of likely 2010 voters in 16 swing states, including Montana. that showed strong support for proposals that would boost clean energy technologies made in America, create new jobs, and increase U.S. energy independence.
And increasingly, hunters and anglers, who are essential to the Montana economy, are expressing concern about the impacts of climate change on their activities – and supporting strong climate change legislation. Politico recently reported on recently reported on a poll of likely 2010 voters in 16 swing states, including Montana. Commissioned by the liberal Center for American Progress Fund, the poll showed strong support for proposals that would boost clean energy technologies made in America, create new jobs, and increase U.S. energy independence.
And increasingly, hunters and anglers, who are essential to the Montana economy, are expressing concern about the impacts of climate change on their activities – and supporting strong climate change legislation More than 20 national hunting and fishing groups are speaking out. That’s huge, and their support may well help garner support from fence-sitters.
It Won’t Help
...to organize by openly carrying our anger about health care reform into efforts to secure Sen. Baucus’ support for strong climate change legislation. Instead, we must transmute that anger into relentless and focused determination to make sure he’s on the right side of the issue. We need to educate him, pressure him, and organize, organize, organize.
There are honest differences of opinion about whether he’s a probable "yes" on strong climate change legislation or a fence sitter. I think he’s somewhere between the two but probably winnable if we’re smart and well organized and we never let up. Before this deal is over, all kinds of negotiations are going to occur. Some of it we’ll like, some of it we won’t. Nate Silver thinks we’ve got our work cut out for us.
He's right.
Contact Information for Max Baucus
Go here http://baucus.senate.gov/... to send Sen. Baucus an email. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for local Montana office contact information.
You can also call or fax Sen. Baucus at his Washington, D.C. office:
- 224-2651 (Office)
(202) 224-9412 (Fax)
If you’re a resident of Montana, or you have family and friends here; if you’ve visited Montana or ever wanted to; if you simply care passionately about one more vote for strong climate change legislation, please get on the phone or send that fax or email.
Now.
Thank you.
Resources: Montana & Impacts of Climate Change
Five Planets: Montanans at the Crossroads of Global Warming
Documentary film featuring Dr. Steve Running a member of and a lead chapter author for the 2007 report issued by the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Dr. Running and other experts and leaders from across the state explore the science behind climate change and the effects of global warming on our state.
Headwaters Economics (Bozeman, MT), and especially its widely-cited report on the cost of wildfires in Montana (pdf).
Report of the Montana Climate Change Advisory Committee
Climate Central "Montana: Trought and Drought – The Science Behind the Story" Video, Transcript & Source Notes
Forests & Climate Change
Pine Bark Beetles & Climate Change
Interactive U.S. Energy Usage Comparison Chart (by state)
Montana Energy Consumption Chart