Memo: Passage of the Climate Change Stewardship Act
Discussion Section: 9
TA: Jose Emilio Lopez
Word Count: 800
Addressed to the honorable Senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman.
Objective
To ensure the passage of the Climate Stewardship Act, S. 139, in the US Senate before the November 2004 presidential election.
Strategy
The recent passage of the energy bill has opened an opportunity for the passage of the Climate Change Stewardship Act. Furthermore, the results of the voting of the amendment presented by Senator Lieberman in October, 2003, show that there is already considerable support. We need to keep building momentum around this issue, and propose some of the following actions.
Knowing which states have voted against the Act, it will be important to map out the motivations behind these votes and address them accordingly. For coal intensive states, the loss of income and unemployment that the adoption of cleaner technologies might bring is a big concern. Creating funds to aid them in the transition is not as important as shedding light in the opportunities that the modernization of the coal industry can yield. Coal and other fossil fuels will not be displaced in the short term as renewables are still beyond the required reliability, but investing in cleaner coal is feasible and can have a high return, helping boost a stagnant industry, creating knew jobs, and attracting investment for R&D of renewables, smart grids, and carbon capture and storage technologies. Further evidence about the real costs and benefits that new technologies present should be available from MIT and similar sources.
Additionally, some states that voted against the amendment could be considered as highly vulnerable to climate change related phenomena such as flooding, hurricanes, and severe droughts. Reliable data related to the increasing incidence of such events in Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and other mid western states, will help us convince their representatives on the need to act not only to take advantage of
TA: Jose Emilio Lopez
Word Count: 800
Addressed to the honorable Senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman.
Objective
To ensure the passage of the Climate Stewardship Act, S. 139, in the US Senate before the November 2004 presidential election.
Strategy
The recent passage of the energy bill has opened an opportunity for the passage of the Climate Change Stewardship Act. Furthermore, the results of the voting of the amendment presented by Senator Lieberman in October, 2003, show that there is already considerable support. We need to keep building momentum around this issue, and propose some of the following actions.
Knowing which states have voted against the Act, it will be important to map out the motivations behind these votes and address them accordingly. For coal intensive states, the loss of income and unemployment that the adoption of cleaner technologies might bring is a big concern. Creating funds to aid them in the transition is not as important as shedding light in the opportunities that the modernization of the coal industry can yield. Coal and other fossil fuels will not be displaced in the short term as renewables are still beyond the required reliability, but investing in cleaner coal is feasible and can have a high return, helping boost a stagnant industry, creating knew jobs, and attracting investment for R&D of renewables, smart grids, and carbon capture and storage technologies. Further evidence about the real costs and benefits that new technologies present should be available from MIT and similar sources.
Additionally, some states that voted against the amendment could be considered as highly vulnerable to climate change related phenomena such as flooding, hurricanes, and severe droughts. Reliable data related to the increasing incidence of such events in Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and other mid western states, will help us convince their representatives on the need to act not only to take advantage of