President Obama Meets With Senators on Climate Legislation
On Tuesday President Obama met with a bipartisan group of Senators about passing climate legislation, although some are saying the meeting ended with no consensus.
We look to the Senate to craft a bill that reduces oil dependence, creates clean energy jobs and reduces global warming pollution. We remain strongly supportive of comprehensive climate and energy legislation.
In particular the Sierra Club believes a package must:
- Take greater strides to reduce oil consumption.
- Address the root causes of the BP oil disaster.
- Include a strong Renewable Electricity Standard, and investments in clean energy and efficiency that will create jobs and spur economic growth, as well as measures to significantly reduce carbon pollution.
A comprehensive package must not result in give-aways to dirty energy companies. We are especially concerned about any efforts to weaken the Clean Air Act or EPA's ability to reduce air pollution and protect public health. Stay tuned for more information on any upcoming climate legislation.
Testifying Against Tar Sands
Tuesday was the last public hearing on the proposed TransCanada Keystone XL tar sands pipeline -- which would carry toxic tar sands oil from Canada through the American Heartland to Houston. The tar sands industry and the scientific community agree that over its entire lifecycle tar sands oil emits 15 -20% more global warming pollution than the conventional oil we currently use.
So on Tuesday, a big crowd of clean energy advocates rallied before the hearing and then took it inside the U.S. State Department to let their opinions be heard on why this pipeline is a bad choice for our country's energy future.
Read more in this blog post.
Study Affirms Consensus on Climate Change Sciences
A doctoral candidate at Stanford University did some major research on climate scientists’ published research on global warming.
The candidate's conclusion?
"The results are pretty conclusive. The new research supports the idea that the vast majority of the world’s active climate scientists accept the evidence for global warming as well as the case that human activities are the principal cause of it."