• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
Celebrating our 1,000th edition. The climate news you need
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  FEATURED
Ex-Fossil Workers Convert Old Oilfields to Solar Farms After ‘Rapid Upskilling’ in Alberta June 29, 2022
London Becomes Biggest City to Sign Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty June 29, 2022
G7 Miss ‘Golden Opportunity’, Walk Back Pledge to Cut International Fossil Finance June 29, 2022
Soaring Fertilizer Prices Could Deliver ‘Silver Lining’ For Emissions, But Farmers Struggle to Limit Use June 26, 2022
BREAKING: UN Nature Summit, the ‘Paris Conference for Biodiversity’, Moves to Montreal in December June 19, 2022
Next
Prev
Home Climate & Society Climate Action / "Blockadia"

House Democratic Majority Might Go Slow and ‘Incremental’ on Climate Policy [Midterm Campaign Resources]

October 23, 2018
Reading time: 4 minutes

The United States Congress/Wikimedia Commons

The United States Congress/Wikimedia Commons

 

With just 14 days to go before crucial U.S. midterm elections, some Congressional Democrats are under fire for only promising “incremental steps” to address climate change if they retake control of the U.S. House of Representatives in January.

When they controlled both chambers in 2009, Democrats in the House “passed cap-and-trade legislation, which subsequently died in the Democratic-controlled Senate,” The Hill recalls. But with Donald Trump in the White House and Republicans expected to retain their Senate majority, Democrats believe that “climate legislation would face stiff headwinds, and pushing it could spark backlash from the right—both now and after the November 6 midterm elections.”

With that political calculus in mind, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) said the party should “focus on the practical and the opportunistic”, to make short-term progress while fighting for “the aspirational goals” over the longer term. 

“It’s going to be, I think, more of an opportunistic strategy, where, in various pieces of legislation, across the board, we’re going to insert measures that address climate change,” said Connolly, a leader in the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition.

“I could imagine that we can do ancillary pieces that are very much reinforcing this issue and concern for climate change,” agreed Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY), ranking member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s environment subcommittee.

Coming just days after the dire warning from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that time is running out on pathways to a 1.5°C future, those plans didn’t sit well with the Democrats’ potential supporters in the climate and energy community.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” tweeted author and activist Naomi Klein, in response to the coverage in The Hill.

“Gradualism is fundamentally incompatible with protecting civilization and the natural world,” added Margaret Klein Salamon, founder and director of The Climate Mobilization. “It’s pathetic that the Democrats are continuing to pursue this approach.”

Julian NoiseCat of 350 Action cited the IPCC report as evidence that incremental action is not an option. “We have a little over a decade to shift our economy to clean energy. But that’s also an opportunity: an opportunity to put millions of Americans to work in good, green, union jobs supporting families and creating prosperous communities,” he said. “We are excited to work with ambitious progressives in Congress who understand the enormity of this moment and opportunity.”

And despite Connolly’s and Tonko’s caution, there was a wider range of voices in the Democratic caucus.

“I do think we need to go big,” said Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA). “I’m all for incrementalism in policy. We do lots and lots of it, and it’s a good way to move forward. But this situation is so serious that we can’t do it in little steps.”

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) said fighting carbon pollution will be “a top priority” if Democrats win the House. “My preferred method has been putting a price on carbon—cap-and-trade is complex and less efficient,” he said. Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL), a co-chair of the bipartisan, 90-member Climate Solutions Caucus, agreed that a price on carbon might not be beyond reach.

“I’m not expecting the president to lead on this,” he told The Hill. “But I think Congress has an opportunity, the House has an opportunity, to move something forward—hopefully with bipartisan support—that the president would then have to respond to.”

Beyer suggested “a path for working with moderate Republican senators and getting a climate change bill to the president’s desk,” The Hill reports, despite Trump’s noted penchant for climate denial. “If it gets that far, he thinks Trump—enticed by the opportunity to claim a victory—might change his tune.”

While “politically, it wouldn’t be smart for Democrats to give him a win,” Beyer added, “we’re not talking about politics. We’re talking about the fate of the planet and the fate of humanity.”

With early voting under way and the election itself just two weeks away, social media channels are alive with a flurry of related activity. NowThisPolitics was out with a Facebook video on why the youth vote could change the U.S. forever. In filmmaker Darren Aronofsky’s two-minute Twitter production, a group of youth from different backgrounds answered the question in the #WhyDoYouVote hashtag. And Nail Communications published a brilliant, one-minute YouTube video that (ostensibly) urged young Americans aged 18 to 34 not to vote. [View them all. Then circulate them as far and wide as you can—Ed.]

And with Trump set to approve construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, a “dream team” consisting of Bold Nebraska’s Jane Kleeb, 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben, and U.S. Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune was planning an October 28 voter outreach rally in Lincoln to help flip the composition of the state Public Service Commission, which has authority over the project.

“In addition to the candidate Christa herself, joining us to knock on doors and write post cards to voters will be Nebraska landowners who live on the proposed KXL pipeline route,” Bold writes, “and representatives from Tribal Nation allies.”



in Climate Action / "Blockadia", Energy Politics, Jobs & Training, Pipelines / Rail Transport, United States

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

Keith Hirsche
Jobs & Training

Ex-Fossil Workers Convert Old Oilfields to Solar Farms After ‘Rapid Upskilling’ in Alberta

June 29, 2022
422
London Eye UK England
Cities & Communities

London Becomes Biggest City to Sign Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty

June 29, 2022
131
Number 10/flickr
International Agencies & Studies

G7 Miss ‘Golden Opportunity’, Walk Back Pledge to Cut International Fossil Finance

June 29, 2022
152

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

François GOGLINS/wikimedia commons

Corrosion Problem Shutters Half of France’s Nuclear Reactors

June 29, 2022
227
Keith Hirsche

Ex-Fossil Workers Convert Old Oilfields to Solar Farms After ‘Rapid Upskilling’ in Alberta

June 29, 2022
422
Danielle Scott/flickr

Advocate Urges Ottawa to Intervene Before Ontario Builds Highway 413

June 29, 2022
130
David/flickr

U.S. Supreme Court Expected to Gut Emission Controls as Climate Scientists Petition for Plan B

June 26, 2022
1.2k
Number 10/flickr

G7 Miss ‘Golden Opportunity’, Walk Back Pledge to Cut International Fossil Finance

June 29, 2022
152
London Eye UK England

London Becomes Biggest City to Sign Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty

June 29, 2022
131

Recent Posts

AJEL / Pixabay

Windfall Tax on Food, Fossil, Pharma Giants Would Raise $490B to Solve ‘Catastrophic’ Food Crisis: Oxfam

June 29, 2022
58
futureatlas.com/flickr

Ottawa Demands Deeper Fuel Emissions Cuts, Offers Fossils a Double-Dip on Tax Breaks

June 29, 2022
78
Province of B.C./flickr

Comox Joins Municipalities Seeking Ban on New Gas Stations

June 29, 2022
78
/Piqsels

Refocus Agriculture Spending to Cut Emissions, Boost Productivity, OECD Urges Governments

June 29, 2022
29
Jimmy Emerson, DVM/flickr

Public Vigilance Key to Protecting Greenbelts for Climate Resilience, Report Finds

June 29, 2022
36
Miguel V/Wikimedia Commons

Forests Fall Short of Full Carbon Storage Potential, Study Finds

June 29, 2022
64
Next Post
lalabell68/Pixabay

Off-Fossil Transition to Reach ‘Point of No Return’ in 2035, But Not Soon Enough for IPCC Target

The Energy Mix

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}