News Updates: Earth Day meets coal in Kansas
April 22, 2008
Focus on carbon regulation increases Kansans’ awareness of Earth Day. As reported by Sarah Kessinger, when the Supreme Court decided that the EPA could regulate carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act, that pretty much rocked Kansas’s world (Hutchison News).
The decision was in regards to emissions from transportation sources, but it seemed pretty logical that regulation of all CO2 would soon follow (what – the EPA is going to regulate CO2 from the transportation sector but not from electrical generation? That doesn’t seem rational). Quotable from Sarah:
The high court’s majority view of CO2 led state regulator Rod Bremby several months later to nix a permit for Sunflower Electric Power Corp, which sought to build the plants with two other utilities, Colorado-based Tri-State Electric Generation and Transmission Association and Texas-based Golden Spread Electric Cooperative.
As grueling as the ongoing legislative session has been, Stephanie Cole of Sierra Club noted one good effect – the controversy has definitely raised enormous awareness of the issues, offering Kansas environmental groups opportunities to reach new audiences.
“People are researching, asking questions, getting educated,” Cole said. “We’re seeing new faces. It used to be a pretty tight-knit group interested in these things. But not so much any more. The attention this has gotten has people asking, ‘What about climate change and what can we do to respond to it?’ ”
OK, I’ll see your veto override (if it happens) and then raise you something you REALLY won’t like. Speaking at a local Earth Day event -the source did not specify where - Lt. Governor Mark Parkinson had a few major points for legislators who support the two Holcomb bills to be considered for veto override in the legislative wrap-up session next week (49 News).
First – the fight against two proposed coal-fired power plants will continue, even if the legislation achieves an override. Sebelius’s administration will continue to take action against the plants. “Legal action is inevitable.” Oh boy.
Second – the rising costs of plant construction make it likely that the plants won’t be built anyway.
Third – if you are voting for these plants, don’t even TRY to say you are an environmentalist. No way. “You cannot say that you are an environmentalist, that you support the environment, that you are part of the green movement, and vote for coal-fired plants that are not needed for this state.”
Speaking of inevitable litigation… Are you a legal dork? If/ when the Kansas coal drama moves to the courtroom, will you find yourself enraptured with the incredibly fascinating issues wrapped up state carbon regulation?
If so, I suggest you prepare yourself by reading a pretty neato blog, Global Warming Law. I like it.
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
Walk the Talk: Earth Day is sexy! (who knew?) and other thoughts on today’s momentous occasion
April 22, 2008
by Nancy Jackson, CEP Executive Director
Last week, Governor Schwarzenegger (it’s still fun to say that out loud) said that environmentalism is getting a makeover, from guilt-powered to revolutionary, “from hand wringing and whining, to an image that is hip, that is cutting edge, forceful and self confident. Even sexy.”
CEP likes that idea – and proposes that one reason for the new image might be the new makeup of the group. Because yesterday’s “tree-hugging hand-wringers” have grown up into and recruited today’s Fortune 500 CEOs, evangelical Christians, hospital presidents, farmers, and soccer moms and dads.
“Environmentalist” today describes a huge number of quite diverse people. In fact, more than 85% of Americans say they are environmentalists to some degree. A recent Gallup poll showed that 28% of us have made “major changes” to live green, and a whopping 55% of us have made minor changes. We are solution-oriented, can-do folks.
These days, we realize that “environment” isn’t something “out there.” It’s something “right here,” too. We’re in it – part of it. When we care for the earth – for our life-support system of air, water, and soil – we take care of us in the bargain.
So. Maybe we need a new name for our hip, self-confident, sexy movement? Better-life-ism? Future-ism? Solution-ism? How about In-My-Back-Yard-ism? After all, in a global economy, everything is basically in our backyard. IMBYism will be about what we do want back there.
IMBY’s Earth Day will turn out young and old, rich and poor, conservative and liberal for a giant, jubilant celebration of our one excellent planet. This one day will be a huge party to recognize the miracle of life in conditions that don’t appear to exist anywhere else. (What better reason for a party?)
The rest of the year, we will talk about how to beautify and maintain the Earth, our communal back yard. For some, it will be a fun hobby, like gardening. For others, it will be a mild yet satisfying annoyance, like mowing the grass or recycling. For others still IMBYism will drive important policy discussions, as health care does today. In fact, IMBYists (which will be virtually all of us) will recognize that caring for our support system is the most basic form of health care.
Taking care of ourselves isn’t always fun (flossing, exercise) and it isn’t always cheap (root canal, bypass). It also isn’t much of an option, given the alternative. And taking care of ourselves all makes life longer and better, so at the end of the day, it does feel like a fair trade.
Thomas Jefferson said every generation needs a new revolution. IMBYism might just be ours. Focusing on what we do want in our global back yard, getting out and enjoying it together, creating an economy that improves our life support systems – those would be revolutionary acts.
Perhaps our new frontiers (another preoccupation of Jefferson’s) are no longer out there, but are right here. Perhaps our moon shot is improving our quality of life – and our longevity – down here.
Earth Day, in that context, takes on a whole new meaning. It becomes irresistible – the ideal embodiment of the hip, self-confident, sexy movement for our future.
Happy Earth Day from CEP.
— Nancy Jackson, www.climateandenergy.org
Need information on climate and energy for your own community’s Earth Day celebration? Check out CEP’s hugely popular Earth Day Kit!
Did you find our blog because you were reading up on the current coal debate in Kansas? Then check out CEP’s FAQs on the Kansas coal controversy.
News Updates: Climate change and national security
April 22, 2008
Let’s think about stereotypes for a second. Two big ones, that I often get to hear as part of my day job:
People who accept the scientific findings of climate change, and/or consider the evidence and the potential risks to be significant = crazy long-haired hippies wearing birkenstocks
People who feel differently = crazy short-haired rednecks wearing combat boots
Clearly, both stereotypes are stupid and simplistic. So – all together now! – let’s pitch them.
Having done that, I feel we can now reasonably consider the following news story: How the topic of national security and climate change has allowed different factions to find common ground (Time).
According to Time, a good example is Republican Senator John Warner. He went from fighting legislation on carbon dioxide regulation to supporting it. Why?
Climate change is usually characterized as an environmental threat, but it wasn’t melting icebergs or endangered polar bears that made Warner change his mind.
“I have focused above all on issues of national security,” Warner said after the bill passed committee. “I see the problem of global climate change fitting squarely within that focus.”
For Warner, unchecked global warming could create a world that is inherently more dangerous for the U.S. Acting to mitigate climate change was another way of keeping America safe. It’s a message that resonates with Americans who would sooner log a tree than hug it, and raises the possibility that conservatives and liberals might find common ground on climate change.
“I find [conservatives] skeptical on this issue,” says James Woolsey, a right-leaning Democrat who was director of the Central Intelligence Agency between 1993 and 1995, under former President Bill Clinton. “But when I mention the connection to security, suddenly things like solar power start looking a lot better.”
A very popular study last year made this connection especially well – the CNA corporation’s report on climate change, authored by an impressive panel of retired admirals and generals from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. (For CEP’s summary of the CNA report, click here for pdf.) There’s even a video -
As the Time article described the impact of this report:
The retired officers who made up the CNA panel are hardly environmentalists, and many said they came to the report skeptical of climate change. That was then. “It’s now a mainstream security issue, not a fringe movement for tree-huggers and Birkenstock wearers,” says Sherri Goodman, who chaired the CNA report and served as deputy Undersecretary of Defense for environmental security in the Clinton Administration — a position that does not exist today. “It’s affecting the lives of billions and so we’ve got to understand what those threats are, and how to plan for them and reduce them.”
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
News Updates: Upcoming energy events in Kansas
April 22, 2008
WICHITA
Take Charge Community Energy Forum
An open public dialogue about energy issues – a rare opportunity for concerned citizens to hear their legislators’ positions on Kansas’ energy future, and to have their questions answered.
Sponsored by the Wichita State University Elliott School of Communication, the League of Women Voters-Wichita Metro, the Climate and Energy Project, and the Sierra Club Southwind Chapter. Moderated by the League of Women Voters.
Monday, April 28th – 7:00 PM
Wichita State University- Rhatigan Student Center, 3rd floor, East Ballroom
FREE and open to both students and the public
For more information, please click here for press release.
LAWRENCE
Energy in Kansas – Going to the Green Side?
A community discussion on energy with Sarah Hill-Nelson, Dan Nagengast, and Nancy Jackson.
Sponsored by the Bonneville Environmental Foundation’s Zephyr Energy, CEP, and the Kansas Rural Center
Wednesday, April 23rd – 7:00 p.m., Lawrence Public Library
FREE and open to the public
For more information, please click here for press release.
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
