Our top climate scientist has posted his thoughts on Coal River Mountain and Obama coal policy in general here. He notes:

Coal River Mountain is the site of an absurdity….

The issue at Coal River Mountain is whether the top of the mountain will be blown up, so that coal can be dredged out of it, or whether the mountain will be allowed to stand. It has been shown that more energy can be obtained from a proposed wind farm, if Coal River Mountain continues to stand. More jobs would be created. More tax revenue would flow, locally and to the state, and the revenue flow would continue indefinitely. Clean water and the environment would be preserved. But if planned mountaintop removal proceeds, the mountain loses its potential to be a useful wind source (see here).

The whole note is worth reading, though the analysis of U.S. emissions trends omits a key analysis I posted earlier (see “U.S. carbon dioxide emissions growth during Bush years 300% higher than official estimates“).

Obama’s choice to be Deputy Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development is the latest member of his uber-green team.

In a statement announcing his selection, Ron Sims, the county executive of King County, Washington says his work “highlights the connection between urban development and curbing global warming.” Greenwire (subs. req’d) has full story:

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Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), President Barack Obama’s pick to be Secretary of Commerce, is a hard-core conservative. He supports drilling in the Arctic Refuge, opposes the United Nations, and is staunchly against abortion rights. In 1995, he even voted to abolish the Department of Commerce. However, he has a long record of championing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the largest agency in the department. NOAA “accounts for 60 percent of the department’s budget and one-third of its staff,” with a complex mission of everything from “daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings and climate monitoring to fisheries management, coastal restoration and supporting marine commerce.” In 2006, the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation honored Gregg with their annual leadership award:

Throughout his career in the United States Senate, Senator Gregg has been a strong advocate for ocean issues. He has been a champion for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), routinely fighting on the agency’s behalf for more funding and greater priority. When Senator Gregg served as Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee from the fall 1995 to early 2005, NOAA funding rose from $1.86 billion to $3.94 billion. In addition, the National Marine Sanctuary Program budget grew from $12 million to $66 million under his watch.

Gregg’s work includes cosponsoring the Fritz Hollings National Ocean Policy and Leadership Act, Coastal and Estuarine Land Protection Act, Tsunami Preparedness Act, and the Ocean and Coastal Mapping Integration Act. Gregg’s statement in accepting the award, we hope, will guide his leadership of the Commerce Department:

We now have a network of underwater National Parks in this country called ‘marine sanctuaries’ and a network of estuarine reserves where rivers meet the sea. I have long made preserving and protecting the environment a top priority, and one that I continue to work on here in the Senate. There is so much left to be discovered in the vast waters around the Earth, and ocean exploration and education should be a key component of our national science policy. I am honored to be receiving this award and want to, in turn, recognize the many scientists and explorers who are developing exciting new findings every day.

Gregg’s record on “preserving and protecting the environment” since joining the Senate in 1992 is not quite as strong as he might claim, as reflected in his 38% lifetime League of Conservation Voters rating. And a lot of his support for ocean science has come in the form of earmarks for the University of New Hampshire. However, Gregg has long recognized the threat of global warming, breaking ranks in 2003 as one of six Republican senators to vote for the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act.

All things considered, Gregg has demonstrated that it’s possible to be a conservative and respect science. As long as he heeds the knowledge of NOAA Director Jane Lubchenco, a world-renowned marine biologist and leading climate scientist, respects the career professionals of the agency, and doesn’t try again to eliminate his own department, Gregg can prove to be an inspired choice as Secretary of Commerce.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, chair of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, released her “Principles for Global Warming Legislation” at a press conference today. But her remarks contained the real news — no chance of climate legislation be enacted into law this year.

Greenwire (subs. req’d) reports:

“Copenhagen is December,” Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) told reporters. “That’s why I said we’ll have a bill out of this committee by then.”

… Boxer added that she could move to mark up legislation quickly given her committee’s large Democratic majority, but she would wait for now to build up support.

So Boxer’s goal is to have an EPW bill by December. Then, of course, it has to go through Senate debate, get modified, and actually pass. And then, of course, it must be reconciled with the bill that comes from the House led by Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA):

“When it comes to these bills, we’re going to write our own bill, and he’s going to write his own bill,” Boxer said of Waxman. “And we’ll see where it goes. As far as coordinating and having exact legislation, we haven’t decided.”

So reconciliation will probably not be easy nor fast, especially since this is a key point in the process for team Obama to weigh in. And then the final bill must pass both the House and Senate again, which will be yet another challenge, especially if the Senate bill borrows provisions from the presumably tougher House bill.

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You can indeed fool some of the people all the time — if those people are conservatives.

Rasmussen Reports made headlines last month reporting that 41% of Americans blame global warming on human activity, down from 46% two years ago. The conservative pollster gleefully noted:

Al Gore’s side may be coming to power in Washington, but they appear to be losing the battle on the idea that humans are to blame for global warming.

It is, however, the details of the poll that are the most telling. In January 2009:

Fifty-nine percent (59%) of Democrats blame global warming on human activity, compared to 21% percent of Republicans. Two-thirds of GOP voters (67%) see long-term planetary trends as the cause versus 23% of Democrats.

This compares to December 2006 result:

Fifty-six percent (56%) of Democrats say human activity is the cause while 51% of Republicans identify long-term planetary trends as the culprit.

That’s right. Slightly more Democrats now understand that humans are the primary cause of global warming, whereas substantially more GOP voters — a full one-sixth — have been duped into thinking long-term planetary trends are the cause.

Why the growing divergence? Read more

The Global Wind Energy Council reported Monday:

The United States passed Germany to become world #1 in wind power installations, and China’s total capacity doubled for the fourth year in a row. Total worldwide installations in 2008 were more than 27,000 MW … 36% more than in 2007….

Global wind energy capacity grew by 28.8% last year, even higher than the average over the past decade, to reach total global installations of more than 120.8 GW at the end of 2008.

It just goes to show what this country can do with intelligent and (somewhat) consistent government policies — state-based renewable electricity standards and a federal tax credit (see “U.S. wind energy grows by record 8,300 MW“).

But the race is on for global leadership, and China is poised to be our major contender, as it “once again doubled its installed capacity by adding about 6.3 GW, reaching a total of 12.2 GW”:

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[Bill Becker brings his many years of experience working in government to bear on the key question of what the Obama administration, including key federal agencies like the Department of Energy, needs to do to ensure that the green parts of the stimulus are well spent.]

In the next week or two, Congress will pass a massive stimulus package that includes many investments we should have made a long time ago.

Of most concern to the readers of this blog will be a rapid and unprecedented investment in a new energy economy that features higher levels of efficiency, lower levels of emissions and a spark that may reignite the boom in renewable energy development.

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