Posted 7thth August 2001

Bush Loosing Energy

Mobil may have its man in the Whitehouse, the most powerful man in the world so-called. Fact is, the real power rests on US based corporate industry groupings and that group is falling apart on energy futures. Many corporates are seeing the huge profits in energy saving technology and are going for it, making the Mobil line of holding the line a doomed policy. Bush of course can't see the energy for the oil. Now politicians and government agencies are following the energy saving technologies. The writing's on the wall for George W, unfortunately he can only read history, not futures.

EPA, Fortune 500 Companies in Green Power Drive WASHINGTON, Aug. 2, 2001 ‚

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced the start of the Green Power Partnership, a new voluntary program "aimed at boosting the market for power alternatives that reduce the environmental and health risks of conventional electricity generation." The program's founding partners, which include 20 Fortune 500 companies, are making a commitment to procure more than 280,000 megawatt-hours of green power over the next year. This commitment will prevent the emission of 200,000 tons of carbon dioxide, a global warming gas.

DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy is also a founding partner, and has committed to buy green power for its Denver facilities, which include the Denver Regional Office, the Golden Field Office, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). "A growing number of organizations recognize that green power is increasingly available and offers the next logical step in environmental responsibility," said EPA Administrator Christie Whitman.

Green power is electricity generated by renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, water (hydro), geothermal, biomass (combustion of organic materials), and biogas (combustion of naturally-produced methane). Partners in the program must pledge a switch to Green Power for a portion of their electricity needs within the next year In return, EPA provides technical assistance and public recognition. Founding Partners in the Green Power Partnership include: 3M Research Boulevard Facility, Austin, Texas; Batdorf & Bronson Coffee Roasters, Olympia, Wash.; Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh; Cascade Engineering (Grand Rapids, Mich.)-- Michigan facilities; City of Chicago; City of Portland, Ore.; City of Santa Monica, Calif.; Connecticut College, New London; Fetzer Vineyards (Hopland, Calif.) -- production facilities; Ford Motor Co. (Dearborn, Mich.) -- United States manufacturing facilities; General Motors (Detroit, Mich.) -- Service, Parts & Operations facilities; Interface Flooring Systems, Troup County, Ga.; Johnson & Johnson (New Brunswick, N.J.) -- select facilities in California, New Jersey and Texas; Kinko's (Ventura, Calif.); New Belgium Brewing, Fort Collins, Colo.; Steelcase (Grand Rapids, Mich.) - - Corporate Headquarters; U.S. Dept.of Energy -- Denver offices: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Regional Field Office, Golden Field Office; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency -- select facilities nationwide; University of Colorado (Boulder) -- Student Union; Xantrex Technologies Arlington, Wash.).

New Alliances In US Senate Over Energy Futures By Cat Lazaroff

WASHINGTON, DC, August 3, 2001 (ENS) - In an unusual collaboration, Senators Joseph Lieberman and John McCain took the floor of the Senate today to call for a comprehensive cap on America's greenhouse gas emissions. The senators said that the United States should be a leader in efforts to combat global climate change, and take definitive steps to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and other global warming gases released by human activities.

Addressing their comments directly at President George W. Bush, the two senators urged the White House to support international initiatives aimed at reducing global warming. Senator John McCain ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination last year. "The science surrounding this issue has come increasingly into focus, and Senator Lieberman and I believe that it is time to take action," said McCain, the Arizona Republican who was Bush's primary rival last year for the Republican presidential nomination. "Given the fact that the United States produces approximately 25 percent of the total greenhouse gases emissions, the United States has a responsibility to cut its emissions of greenhouse gasses," McCain said. "A comprehensive cap on America's greenhouse gas emissions, paired with an allowance trading system, can encourage innovation across the full range of opportunities for reducing emissions."

McCain and Lieberman, the Connecticut Democrat who ran for vice president on last year's Democratic ticket, proposed a system under which emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases would be federally regulated. As with other air pollutants that are currently regulated, the Senators also proposed that companies which do a better job at controlling their emissions than required by law be able to sell credits to other companies emitting excess greenhouse gases. "If we adopt a cap and trade system, we will create a market by which corporations will receive valuable credits for efficient investments," noted Lieberman. "We also will create a market by which corporations can receive credit for the laudable investments they have made to date. And we will unleash the power of that market to drive the United States back into its leadership position in the international effort to avoid the worst effects of one of the most serious environmental problems the world community has ever faced."

Lieberman noted that the failure of the United States to participate in last month's international agreement on various mechanisms for reducing greenhouse gas emissions could jeopardize U.S. economic interests. "That agreement will create a worldwide market in greenhouse gas reductions, using market forces to drive environmental gains," Lieberman said. "Unfortunately, because the United States did not participate, U.S. interests were virtually ignored in crafting the final deal. In the end, I believe that not just our environment but our economy will suffer as a result."

Lieberman and McCain countered Bush administration arguments that the Kyoto Protocol, the international climate change pact that directs current efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, would prove damaging to the U.S. economy because the Protocol does not initially apply to developing countries. The administration has called the Protocol "fatally flawed," because it could force expensive environmental restrictions on companies in the U.S. and other industrialized nations, while sparing non-industrialized nations. Under the Kyoto Protocol, the two senators said, companies will preferentially build their newer, cleaner, more energy efficient plants in countries where they can gain credits for meeting or exceeding greenhouse gas caps. If the U.S. opts not to participate in the Protocol, "the result will be that more efficient, more competitive technology will be driven overseas," warned Lieberman.

McCain and Lieberman said they would work with environmental and industry groups this fall to craft a greenhouse gas "cap and trade" program that will benefit all sectors. Many companies already have a vested interest in seeing the U.S. enact caps on global warming pollutants, the senators noted, because they have already taken steps to reduce their own emissions in the hopes of receiving future credits for their efforts. Some of those efforts could go unrewarded due to the failure of the United States to sign off on a decision reached by delegates at the latest round of Kyoto Protocol talks, last month in Bonn, Germany. "A number of our large corporations have invested heavily in forest conservation on the assumption that they would receive credit for these forests' ability to pull carbon out of the atmosphere," Lieberman explained. "In Bonn, however - without the U.S. at the table - credit for forest conservation was written out of the agreement."

President Bush has been shortsighted in his opposition to the Kyoto Protocol, and in his refusal to consider mandatory caps on carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector and other industries, said McCain. Thesenator pointed to a successful sulfur dioxide cap and trade program that has slashed emissions of this acid rain producing pollutant in the Northeast. "While U.S. businesses are gaining experience with voluntary programs and are recognized as the world's experts in this area, they are increasingly recognizing that purely voluntary approaches will not be enough to meet the goal of preventing dangerous effects on the climate system," McCain said. "Increasingly, businesses confronting these risks see sensible regulation of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases as necessary and inevitable. Clearly, they prefer the cap and trade approach." Bush's preference for a voluntary approach to greenhouse gas emissions controls is doomed to failure, McCain warned. "Ultimately, we need to make sure that the emissions reductions our companies, our farmers, and our foresters produce are fully recognized and fully tradable in the emerging global greenhouse gas marketplace," he said.

McCain and Lieberman's statements reject the Bush administration's emphasis on placing U.S. interests over international needs. The president has been repeatedly criticized for withdrawing U.S. support for international treaties on climate change, chemical weapons and other areas. "The United States must realize that when it comes to the climate, there are no boundaries," McCain said. "Therefore, climate change is a global problem and must be resolved globally." ..