Pollution

American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009

hmoroz — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:09:36 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act of 2009

hmoroz — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:05:07 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009

hmoroz — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:59:52 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Supports

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Percentage change by 2050 in emissions relative to 2005 if the American Clean Energy and Security Act is not enacted: +18

Percentage change by 2050 in emissions relative to 2005 if the American Clean Energy and Security Act is enacted: -8

Overall minimum annual benefit to the average household from the American Clean Energy and Security Act: $80

Projected percentage decrease in consumer spending on utility bills due to the American Clean Energy and Security Act: 7

Projected net increase in jobs triggered by clean-energy investments included in the American Clean Energy and Security Act and the stimulus act: 1.7 million

Projected number of jobs that the American Solar Energy Society estimates would be created by 2030 with aggressive investment in the renewable energy and energy efficiency industry: 37 million

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Middle Class Supports. The recession currently gripping the United States economy is the culmination of nearly a decade of poor job growth, stagnant wages, and growing inequality that has squeezed middle-class households across the country. An economy overly reliant on the profits of the financial services sector and driven by resource-intensive industries saw real median household income decline by 0.6 percent between 2000 and 2007 and the poverty rate increase by 1.2 percent. The percentage of GDP belonging to wages and salaries in 2006 was never lower. Middle-class Americans’ standard of living is further threatened by human-caused climate change, which will result in more disease, heat-related death, extreme weather, and economic disruption if left unchecked.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act is a significant shift of government investment away from an unsustainable economy and environment that have not worked for middle-class families to ones that will be based on sustainable, equitable growth and good jobs. The Act will reduce the economy’s reliance on dirty fuels while for the first time making polluters pay the true cost of their emissions.

Along with clean-energy investments made in the stimulus package passed earlier this year, the American Clean Energy and Security Act will create approximately 1.7 million jobs, reducing the unemployment rate by about a percentage point. Further investment in clean energy would create even more jobs: the American Solar Energy Society estimates that aggressive investment in energy efficiency will result in the creation of 37 million new jobs by 2030. The Act’s renewable electricity standard alone would generate an estimated 185,000 new jobs by 2020. But middle-class households are in need not only of lots of jobs, but of lots of good jobs, ones that offer solid wages, access to health care, vacation, and paid sick days. Significantly, the “green jobs” created by the American Clean Energy and Security Act are concentrated in the middle portion of the wage distribution (they are neither particularly high-, nor particularly low-paying), they are unionized at a higher rate, and they are clustered in the manufacturing and construction trades, two industries with high unionization rates that have experienced severe job loss in recent years. These are all characteristics of jobs that enable households to achieve a middle-class standard of living.

The Act begins the transformation to a sustainable economy that works for middle-class Americans responsibly by ensuring that most lower- and moderate-income families do not experience any hardship from the cap-and-trade program. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office finds that the annual cost of the cap-and-trade program in 2020 would be $175 per household, while households in the lowest income quintile (the lowest 20 percent of earners) would receive a net benefit of $40 from the program because of energy tax rebates. In fact, when the benefits of energy-efficiency provisions are included in the calculation of the legislation’s cost to each household – the Act would decrease household spending on utility bills by 7% – the Environmental Protection Agency finds that the average household would gain $80 to $100 per year.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act will achieve many laudable environmental goals, from reducing deforestation to cutting back on the emissions that cause harm to our health, to our economy, and to our natural surroundings. The Act will do this while refocusing government investment on productive industries that support a robust middle class.

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

“The American Clean Energy and Security Act (Waxman-Markey Bill),” from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change

“Green Investments and the Labor Market: How many jobs could be generated and what type?” from the Economic Policy Institute

“Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States,” from the U.S. Global Change Research Program

A Bill to Establish a Renewable Electricity Standard

hmoroz — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:33:28 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

Greenhouse Gas Registry Act of 2009

hmoroz — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 11:10:51 -0500

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

hmoroz — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:44:58 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Opposes

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Amount authorized for the Treasury Secretary to use to buy troubled assets: $700 billion

GDP (PPP) of Taiwan in 2007: $695.4 billion

Percentage increase in foreclosure filings from August of 2007 to August of 2008: 27

Likelihood that a U.S. household received a foreclosure filing during August of 2008: 1/416

Number of foreclosures expected to occur in late 2008 and throughout 2009: 2,164,000

Estimated number of foreclosures that the mortgage restructuring provision for primary residences, not included in this legislation, would prevent: 600,000

Decrease in home values caused by nearby subprime foreclosures in late 2008 and throughout 2009: $352 billion

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Middle Class Opposes. Middle-class Americans, no matter how far removed from Wall Street, will be adversely affected by the crisis in finance and credit that now grips our economy. After a prolonged period of stagnant wages and economic growth that benefited primarily the wealthiest, middle-class Americans rely heavily on credit to purchase everyday necessities, pay medical bills, and fund college educations. Epic stock market declines have eaten away at the retirement savings of senior citizens who have no other source of income. If the government does not act to make more credit available, credit for the loans that finance payrolls and state and local government operations will dry up, increasing unemployment. Government action is absolutely necessary to ensure that middle-class Americans’ standard of living does not suffer gravely from the credit crisis.

Yet, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 is not the action middle-class Americans need. Instead of a top-down bailout, credit markets should be stabilized from the bottom up. To the extent that a direct investment in the financial services industry is made, it should fully complement large-scale mortgage restructuring and foreclosure prevention efforts and the re-regulation of the financial services industry. This would not only benefit struggling homeowners, but is widely understood to be part of an effective strategy to aid financial markets through stabilized payment streams.

The nation’s first priority should be to repair the damage done to the housing market and to the lives of working- and middle-class Americans.

Any proposed remedy for the financial crisis must begin with assistance for struggling homeowners. This should come in the form of a longer-term, government-led commitment to reshape the mortgage landscape of this country. One promising model is the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC). Originally established during the New Deal, HOLC made more than 1 million loans to refinance mortgages in distress, which constituted a fifth of all mortgage loans. At present, this would represent about 10 million loans, with the total value of mortgages held by HOLC in 1937 approximately equivalent to the total of all subprime mortgage loans. HOLC helped about 80% of homeowners who refinanced stay in their homes.
Bankruptcy protection for primary residences is critical. This measure would allow bankruptcy judges to rewrite mortgages on first homes (as is now possible for second homes and yachts) on terms struggling homeowners could afford. The change could prevent as many as 600,000 foreclosures.
A moratorium on foreclosures would provide an immediate opportunity for homeowners to work out loan modifications with lenders.

The financial crisis is serious and will affect the lives of middle-class Americans immediately and significantly. At the same time, only financial rescue legislation that includes significant assistance for homeowners can initiate a full, long-term recovery from the current crisis.

Despite the inclusion of several special-interest tax breaks in the Act, the tax changes added to the legislation are generally very important to the middle-class. The energy tax credit expansions and extensions are part of a long-term strategy to alleviate high gas and heating costs, make the country more energy efficient, and ensure that the economy retains jobs in renewable energy and technology. Changes to the child tax credit would make 2.9 million additional children eligible for the benefit and would increase the benefit for 10.1 million more. Temporarily raising the Alternative Minimum Tax exemption ensures that middle-class Americans are not overwhelmed by a tax that they were never intended to pay.

Finally, the mental health and “substance use disorder” parity provisions of the Act not only do much to remedy the discriminatory practices of insurers, but will increase access to mental health care services for middle-class Americans already struggling with high health care costs.

While these last-minute additions to the bailout package are positive for the middle class and should become law, they are not relevant to this bill and should be enacted separately. Ultimately, these provisions do not outweigh the substantial shortcomings of the financial bailout.

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Warren on Bankruptcy Reform and the Housing Crisis

Center for Responsible Lending on Court-Supervised Loan Modifications

A History of the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation from the Center for American Progress

Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008

hmoroz — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:22:48 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Supports

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Percentage of the benefits of the child tax credit that went to families in the top 40% of the income distribution in 2005: 60

Maximum percentage of the benefits of the child tax credit that went to families in the lowest 20% of the income distribution in 2005: 1

Estimated number of children that the child tax credit provision in the legislation would benefit: 13 million

Estimated number of jobs that could be lost if federal tax credits for solar and wind energy are not extended: 116,000

Percentage by which the cost-sharing for addiction benefits exceeded that for medical or surgical benefits, according to a 2007 Health Affairs study of employer-provided benefits: 46

Number of taxpayers subject to the alternative minimum tax in 1970: 20,000

Number of taxpayers projected to be subject to the alternative minimum tax in 2010, absent changes in current law: 33 million

Number of taxpayers subject to the alternative minimum tax in 2007, after Congress passed a temporary alternative minimum tax patch: 4.1 million

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

The Middle Class Supports. The Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act includes a wide range of tax cuts and legislative initiatives, but the overall thrust of the bill is highly positive for the middle-class. Indeed, middle-class Americans are increasingly feeling the effects of an energy policy that favors large oil companies over the economic and environmental benefits of sustainability. The energy tax credit expansions and extensions in the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act are part of a long-term strategy to alleviate high gas and heating costs, make the country more energy efficient, and ensure that the economy retains jobs in renewable energy and technology. With the middle class already feeling the effects of weak employment, Congress must strengthen a renewable energy and energy efficiency industry that benefits both the environment and the economy.

Additionally, the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act’s changes to the child tax credit would make 2.9 million additional children eligible for the benefit and would increase the benefit for 10.1 million more. Expanding the income floor for the tax credit means that very low-income aspiring middle-class families, who currently benefit less from the credit than higher-income families, will receive the support they need to make ends meet.

The mental health and “substance use disorder” parity provisions of the Act not only do much to remedy the discriminatory practices of insurers, but will increase access to mental health care services for middle-class Americans already struggling with high health care costs. Temporarily raising the Alternative Minimum Tax exemption ensures that middle-class Americans are not overwhelmed by a tax that they were never intended to pay. An increase in tax payments for more than 25 million American homes – exposing fully 46% of households with incomes between $75,000 and $100,000 to the AMT by 2010– would be disastrous for families already reeling from home foreclosures, high gas prices, and nearly stagnant wages.

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

“Greener Pathways: Jobs and Workforce Development in the Clean Energy Economy,” from the Apollo Alliance

“Taxation and the Family: What is the child tax credit?” from the Tax Policy Center

Tax Topics: Individual Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), from the Tax Policy Center

Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act of 2008

hmoroz — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:12:59 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Supports

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Percentage increase in annual crude oil production in 2030 if restrictions on access to drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf are lifted, according to the Energy Information Administration: 7

Projected impact of this increased production on the price of oil: “insignificant”

Percent of world’s known reserves in the United States: 1.58%

Percentage of carbon emissions in the United States from residential and commercial buildings: 39

Number of new jobs that the American Solar Energy Society found were generated by U.S. renewable energy and energy efficiency industries in 2006: 8.5 million

Estimated number of jobs created in 2030 in U.S. renewable energy and energy efficiency industries, assuming no policy changes before 2030: 16 million

Estimated number of jobs created in 2030 in U.S. renewable energy and energy efficiency industries, assuming moderate, incremental federal and state renewable and energy efficiency initiatives and favorable market conditions: 21 million

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Middle Class Supports. Though the extremely high gas prices experienced this summer have eased, middle-class Americans remain strapped by a combination of difficult economic conditions that include elevated fuel costs, a tanking housing market, an endangered financial system, and widespread unemployment. The renewable energy and energy efficiency provisions adopted by the legislation – from credits for energy-efficient home appliances to green building standards and energy-conscious low-income housing – demonstrate a commitment to transforming the environment and the economy that can reduce energy costs and provide jobs for middle-class Americans struggling to make ends meet. Such measures are impotant steps in making the country more energy efficient and ensuring that the nation retains and produces more jobs in renewable energy and technology. Finally, the renewable electricity standard establishes an important incentive for electricity providers to switch to renewable energy sources, a commitment these providers have not made on their own.

The revenue-raising measures appropriately target the oil companies who have benefited grandly from high oil prices. Additionally, ethics reform is desperately needed in the Mineral Management Service after disturbing reports of oil industry influence buying in the agency.

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

Clean Energy 101, from the Union of Concerned Scientists

Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency: Economic Drivers for the 21st Century, from the Appollo Alliance

Impacts of Increased Access to Oil and Natural Gas, from the Energy Information Administration

Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2008

atraub — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 11:13:40 -0500

Legislation

The middle class

Supports

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Estimated total costs from hurricane damage, real estate losses, energy-sector costs, and water costs associated with global warming, if present trends continue, in dollars: 1.9 trillion

Estimated losses in damaged or destroyed residential real estate as a result of rising sea levels, in dollars: 360 billion

Projected percentage growth of U.S. carbon emissions between 2006 and 2030: 16

Number of states that are projected to face water shortages in the next five years: 36

Number of U.S. mayors that signed an agreement to meet or beat Kyoto Protocol targets for emissions reductions, as of June 2005: 141

Number of U.S. mayors that signed an agreement to meet or beat Kyoto Protocol targets for emissions reductions, as of June 2008: 850

Date on which President Bush sent a letter to U.S. Senators voicing his opposition to the Kyoto Protocol: March 13, 2001

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Middle Class Supports. Human-caused climate change brought about in large part by greenhouse gases increasingly threatens Americans’ standard of living. A report recently released by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, supported by the findings of the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, warned of more heat-related deaths, increased risk of Lyme disease and West Nile virus, more extreme weather, and disruptions in population growth at the local level due to climate change. An American economy built on greenhouse gas emitting fossil fuels is unsustainable. By setting meaningful, yet achievable, goals for emissions reduction, the Climate Security Act is an important step to reorient the American economy towards sustainable growth. Though change will likely bring increased energy prices, the legislation appropriately directs funds to programs that will mitigate the pain felt by consumers and individuals working in affected industries. In particular, the creation of the Climate Change Worker Training and Assistance Fund is a forward-looking measure that will help American workers adapt to jobs that not only support energy efficiency, but pay decent wages as well. Funds to encourage energy efficient technology and mass transit projects are a further demonstration of a commitment to a sustainable and efficient economy.

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

Global Warming Basics from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change

Policy Solutions from the National Resources Defense Council

Climate Assessments from the U.S. Government’s Global Change Research Program

Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007

atraub — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 16:37:08 -0500

Legislation

The middle class

Supports

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Amount this legislation would save U.S. consumers in 2020, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists: $22 billion

Barrels of oil per day that would be saved in 2020 due to this bill: 1.1 million

Metric tons of global warming pollution that would be prevented by 2020 due to this bill: 190 million

Number of states, including the District of Columbia, that have already adopted renewable electricity standards: 26

Corporate profits made by oil company Exxon Mobile in the first three quarters of 2007: $28.95 billion

Average cost of a gallon of gasoline the week this legislation passed the House: $3.11

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

The Middle Class Supports. This legislation represents a major step toward redirecting U.S. energy usage in a cleaner, more sustainable direction. The bill will save American consumers money at the fuel pump and on their heating bills, reduce air and water pollution, and mitigate the threat of global warming. Like its earlier incarnation, the CLEAN Energy Act of 2007 this bill recognizes that fossil fuels are not a sustainable option for the nation’s growing energy needs, and that a substantial public investment is needed to jump start the development and promotion of renewable energy sources and energy-efficient technologies. In the short term, this investment would create jobs producing renewable energy and technology. In the long term, new energy sources and more efficient technology promise environmental and public health benefits, as well as lower costs, for the American middle class. The bill also funds the investments in an appropriate way: by repealing taxpayer subsidies to the oil industry, which is already making booming profits at the expense of middle-class consumers.

This legislation also goes beyond what the original CLEAN Energy Act attempted, by establishing a Renewable Electricity Standard and stricter fuel economy standards for cars. These improvements marshal even more of the nation’s resources in support of conservation and a shift toward renewable energy, building on advances already adopted in many states to create a more sustainable energy future for the nation.

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

Union of Concerned Scientists Energy Bill Resource Center

“Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: How Much at What Cost?” from McKinsey and Company

Pew Center on Global Climate Change Policy Center

Pollution

American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources

Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act of 2009

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources

American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources

A Bill to Establish a Renewable Electricity Standard

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources

Greenhouse Gas Registry Act of 2009

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources

Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources

Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008