Global Climate Change

The Problem

Global climate change is perhaps the most serious issue we have ever faced. The headline of a short blurb buried in The Des Moines Register last fall read “Greenhouse gas emissions already at critical level, scientist warns.” It referenced comments by a leading Australian climate change expert, Tim Flannery, who discussed the upcoming release of a new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Is the sky falling? Not yet, but it’s certainly not the same sky I knew as a kid. Today’s sky contains a lot more carbon dioxide, a lot more methane. And it’s churning out weather that’s a lot warmer generally and more unstable than it used to be, with a range of potential consequences that stretch from unpredictable to catastrophic. We are truly on the verge of a climate crisis – a challenge unlike any humanity has faced. We need immediate global, national, local, and personal action on what many experts believe will be the pivotal issue of our time. States, cities, and individuals are waking up. Meanwhile, forces inside the D.C. beltway drag their collective feet.

My opponent in this race, Leonard Boswell, has a voting record that fails to address the climate change crisis. That record is one of continued reliance on fossil fuels and additional subsidies for oil and gas companies.

When House Democrats voted 123-86 in favor of raising Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) standards for cars and light trucks to 27.5 mpg beginning in 2007, Boswell joined Republicans to defeat the proposal (08/01/01). Raising gas mileage standards is indispensable to solving global warming and saves money when you gas up.
In a letter he wrote to Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer, Boswell indicated his support for the greater use of coal, saying “coal will be the mainstay for electricity for decades to come” (02/16/07).
Boswell voted with House Republicans to end a 25-year moratorium on drilling for oil offshore (H.R. 4761, 06/29/06). House Democrats voted 155-40 against ending the moratorium.
Boswell voted with Republicans in 2005 to give billions of dollars in tax breaks to big oil and gas companies (H.R.6, 07/28/05). House Democrats opposed the bill 124-75.
Boswell voted with Republicans against barring federal funds from being use to convince children that burying nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain (only 90 miles from Las Vegas) is safe (Amendment A008 to H.R. 5427, 05/24/06). House Democrats voted 135-60 to bar such spending.

My Background

My concern for global warming and other environmental issues goes way back. At age 16, I organized the cleanup of a wetland. I served on the Environmental Protection Committee during all of my 14 years at the Statehouse, and I have led efforts in recent years to address global climate change. In 1998, I co-founded 1000 Friends of Iowa and then in 2007, I co-founded I’m for Iowa. Both organizations endorse increasing energy efficiency and confronting global warming. I’m for Iowa worked with the national Step It Up coalition to help organize events in Iowa. I was also appointed by Governor Culver to the Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council.

The Solution

Global warming is one of the five major issues motivating me to run for Congress. If elected, I will ask to be named to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. That will position me to be actively involved in legislation to address climate change and the related issue of renewable energy.

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We are truly on the verge of a
climate crisis – a challenge unlike any humanity has faced. We need immediate global, national, local, and personal action on what many experts believe will be the pivotal issue of our time.

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In seeking solutions to global warming and renewable energy, we need sound science. The scientific consensus is clear: unless we act, our planet will very likely experience serious consequences such as increasingly higher temperatures, deadlier heat waves and other extreme weather events, rising sea levels, more severe droughts and wildfires, extinction of species, etc.

The International Panel on Climate Change recommends that to avoid really serious consequences, the US and other nations must reduce global warming pollution at least 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.

Since we must base policy decisions on scientific recommendations, 80% reduction targets and the like should not be looked at as initial offers in a bargaining process. This level is simply what we must do to achieve a viable climate. So how do we do it? As I study the scientific recommendations, it seems these are the essentials:

First, we need a cap and trade system to deal with greenhouse gas emissions.

We must limit global warming pollution with an economy-wide cap, declining at a rate determined by the National Academy of Sciences to be consistent with the scientific imperative.
All pollution credits must be auctioned. Allocating credits for free essentially gives billions of dollars in government handouts to polluters. (Money generated from auctioning can be used for a variety of uses like those outlined in the Safe Climate Act, discussed below, and especially to enable low-income families to invest in the energy efficiency measures that can reduce their energy bills.)

Second, we need to restructure energy priorities.

Energy efficiency is key. Americans can quickly save one fifth of our energy by eliminating waste and implementing energy efficiency measures.
We need a significant increase in car fuel economy standards to at least 40mpg.
No more dirty coal plants. Coal will never be clean. It’s currently the single largest source of global warming pollution. No more tax dollars wasted on infrastructure that increases our dependence on fossil fuels.
No federal subsidies to the nuclear industry. When all costs are factored in, nuclear power is the most expensive source of energy. More nuclear power plants mean more plutonium, and reactor-grade plutonium can be used to make a nuclear weapon. And there is no real solution to the problem of storing nuclear wastes.
We need a renewable energy standard and incentives that achieve and exceed a target of at least 25% clean energy by 2025 that many farm groups support.

Third, we need to develop green jobs.

We can help revitalize the US economy by creating millions of “green collar” (environment-friendly) jobs.
Already, we are seeing the potential for job growth in the renewable sector in Iowa, with wind turbine plants in Cedar Rapids and West Branch, turbine blade plants in Fort Madison and Newton and a steel tube plant in Keokuk.

The best piece of legislation that addresses these energy priorities is the Safe Climate Act.

Here are some of the important features of the Act:

It provides for an economy-wide cap on greenhouse gas emissions that achieves real reductions within a decade and 80% reductions by 2050. All credits are sold by auction. The proceeds go into the Climate Reinvestment Fund to help cover the costs of research and development for renewable energy, mitigating harms from climate change, cutting energy costs to consumers, and assisting workers and areas of the country affected by the requirements of the Act.
20% of energy must come from renewable energy systems.
Fuel economy standards will be raised to 40 mpg.
It is based on science, not political deals or campaign contributions from PACs and lobbyists. The emissions cap is reassessed regularly to stay in line with most current scientific recommendations.

The provisions on emissions are clearly within our reach, and they are comparable to the goals previously announced by the Republican governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Tony Blair, when he was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

I support this as the best, most comprehensive plan that stands a chance of getting through Congress. Since its introduction in March 2007, the Act has picked up 149 cosponsors in the House and broad support in the environmental community. My opponent in this race, Leonard Boswell, was the last of Iowa’s Democratic congressmen to sign on to the bill, waiting until December to get on board, and that was only after he learned that I might be running for his seat. Until then, his support of coal and his voting record on CAFE standards, offshore oil drilling, tax breaks for big oil and gas companies, and the promotion of nuclear waste storage as safe, indicate an inadequate concern over climate change.

The bad news is that this crisis is a serious threat to our way of life. The good news is that it is not too late for us to do what is necessary to prevent irreversible climate change. We as a people have the resources, energy, and imagination to meet this challenge. As your congressman, I will continue to work to see that we meet it.