Energy, Climate, Water

Washington, DC (June 3, 2011)- The Alliance for Community Trees strongly supports the Energy Conservation Through Trees Act introduced yesterday by Rep. Doris Matsui. This legislation, H.R. 2095, would support programs run by electric utilities that use targeted planting of shade trees in order to reduce residential energy demand. ACTrees staff and board members worked closely with the Congresswoman to develop the Act, which would encourage utility companies to partner with local nonprofit tree organizations to plant shade trees.

By Ben Jacklet

Portland, OR (June 8, 2010)- Congressman David Wu has been working behind the scenes for more than a year with utility executives, green building experts, and university leaders to boost federal support for green building innovations in Oregon. The $129 million proposal that has emerged from that work could build a sustainable foundation for an industry that stands out as one of the state's few bright spots.

By Darren Samuelson of ClimateWire

Washington, DC (April 14, 2010)- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is about to take over as stage manager in the uphill push to pass comprehensive climate and energy legislation.

Washington, DC (September 30, 2009)- The United States today took a big step towards enacting legislation to combat global climate change. U.S. Senators John Kerry of Massachusetts and Barbara Boxer of California, both Democrats, introduced the Kerry-Boxer bill, formally known as the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act to limit greenhouse gas emissions while putting Americans back to work.

Washington, DC (September 15, 2009)- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced that Senate Democrats may wait until 2010 to take up climate change legislation because of the competing priorities of health care and financial regulatory reform. Reid said, "We are going to have a busy, busy time the rest of this year, and, of course, nothing terminates at the end of this year. We still have next year to complete things if we have to."

By Suzanne Goldenberg

Washington, DC (July 9, 2009)- Barack Obama hit a snag in his ambitious climate change agenda today when Senate Democrats pushed back their deadline to produce a draft bill until September. Barbara Boxer, the chair of the environment and public works committee who is spearheading the Obama environment agenda, said she had scaled back plans of writing a first draft of a climate change bill before Congress goes on its August recess.

Washington, DC (June 26, 2009)- The U.S. House of Representatives, splitting largely along party lines, has approved the most ambitious energy and global warming legislation ever debated in Congress. The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, H.R. 2454, contains two key urban forestry provisions, including Rep. Doris Matsui's Energy Conservation through Trees Act and Rep. Ed Perlmutter's GREEN Act. The Alliance for Community Trees has been a strong advocate for both, and encourages all ACT members to ask their elected leaders to support these provisions.

By Christopher Doering

Washington, DC (June 12, 2009)- The climate change bill being drafted in the U.S. House is ripe for improvement, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday, but he vowed farms and forests will play a central role in controlling greenhouse gases despite skepticism among lawmakers. U.S. farm groups, along with Democrats and Republicans on the House Agriculture Committee, have been sharply critical of the bill they say threatens to leave farmers in the lurch.

Washington, DC (April 22, 2009)- Congressman Mike McCaul (TX) has re-introduced legislation aimed at preparing the next wave of design and construction professionals to improve the energy efficiency and productivity of our nation's buildings. H.R. 957, The Green Energy Education Act, would require the Department of Energy (DOE) to partner with the National Science Foundation to award grants to university programs related to the design and construction of high performance buildings.

Washington, DC (April 21, 2009)- The House Energy and Commerce Committee began hearings to debate a bill that would cap greenhouse gas emissions at 20 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and at 83 percent by 2050. The draft proposal by Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Energy and Environment Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-MA) provides for a cap and trade program and includes measures such as efficiency standards, a national renewable electricity standard and a low-carbon fuel standard.

Washington, DC (March 5, 2009)- H.R. 1329 the Clean, Low-Emission, Affordable, New Transportation Efficiency Act is a bill aimed at supporting efforts by States and eligible local and regional entities to develop and implement plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. The main goals of the bill are threefold: increase mobility options, reduce number of miles traveled by motor vehicles (VMT), and reduce the use of petroleum-derived transportation fuel.

Washington, DC (January 8, 2009)- The House Energy and Commerce Committee announced that Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) will be named chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment, which will have legislative and oversight jurisdiction over national energy policy, climate change, fuel economy standards, Superfund, hazardous waste, and safe drinking water. Rep. Markey replaces the current subcommittee chair Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), who will take over Markey's current position as chair of the Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee.

Washington, DC (December 20, 2008)- President-elect Barack Obama announced his selection of John Holdren as the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Jane Lubchenco as the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "It's time we once again put science at the top of our agenda and worked to restore America's place as the world leader in science and technology," said Obama.

Chicago, IL (December 10, 2008)- An official with the Obama transition team announced the President-elect has chosen candidates for the posts of Energy Secretary, Adminstrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and new senior post within the White House on climate and energy policy. Nobel prize-winning physicist Steven Chu will head the Department of Energy, while former head of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Lisa Jackson will lead the EPA and former EPA administrator Carol Browner will be the in-house expert.

Washington, DC (December 3, 2008)- The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that US greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions rose 1.3 percent in 2007 after a 1.4 percent drop in 2006. The increase in emissions was attributed to a rise in fossil fuel use in 2007 due to a warmer summer and colder winter, which increased the demand for air conditioning and heating.

Washington, DC (December 2, 2008)- The United States General Accountability Office (GAO) released a report that questioned the effectiveness of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by wealthy countries investing in clean-energy projects in poor nations. The European Union has utilized this offset strategy through the UN Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) program and has found little success according to the report, Lessons Learned from the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme and the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism.

Washington, DC (November 21, 2008)- Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced she would reauthorize the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming for the 111th Congress. Chaired by Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA), the panel held over 50 hearings on the impacts of climate change in many sectors, from national security to job creation. While the committee does not have legislative authority, its role is "to investigate, study, make findings, and develop recommendations on policies, strategies, technologies and other innovations, intended to reduce the dependence of the United States on foreign sources of energy and achieve substantial and permanent reductions in emissions and other activities that contribute to climate change and global warming."

Washington, DC (November 20, 2008)- Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) replaced Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) as Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee by a vote of 137-122 in a meeting of the House Democratic Caucus. The transfer of power is likely to lead to accelerated passage of climate legislation. Waxman represents Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and areas of West Los Angeles, and has long been a supporter of clean air legislation. "I went before the caucus and argued we needed a change in leadership and the public was clamoring for the change," Waxman said.

Washington, DC (November 15, 2008)- ICELI and SaveOurEnvironment recently unveiled climate action funding recommendations, while their Policy TaskGroup also compiled a broader list of requests, many of which specifically cite urban and community forestry and green infrastructure.