President Says Warming-Driven Extreme Weather Demands We “Act Before It’s Too Late,” While GOP’s Rubio Pushes Climate Denial, Attacks Solyndra!

Below are Obama’s extensive remarks on energy and climate in his State of the Union address. The President has expanded on his strong remarks in his Second Inaugural, asserting “if Congress won’t act soon to protect future generations, I will.”

Below the jump is the energy portion of his just-released “Plan for A Strong Middle Class & A Strong America.”  There’s a call for doubling renewable electricity (yet again!) by 2020 — and for doubling energy productivity by 2030 (“a new Energy Efficiency Race to the Top for states”). But who knew he’d call for Congress to pass cap-and-trade?

Here is the key part of the speech (as delivered):

Now is the time to reach a level of research and development not seen since the height of the Space Race. And today, no area holds more promise than our investments in American energy.

After years of talking about it, we are finally poised to control our own energy future. We produce more oil at home than we have in 15 years. We have doubled the distance our cars will go on a gallon of gas, and the amount of renewable energy we generate from sources like wind and solar – with tens of thousands of good, American jobs to show for it. We produce more natural gas than ever before – and nearly everyone’s energy bill is lower because of it. And over the last four years, our emissions of the dangerous carbon pollution that threatens our planet have actually fallen.

But for the sake of our children and our future, we must do more to combat climate change. Yes, it’s true that no single event makes a trend. But the fact is, the 12 hottest years on record have all come in the last 15. Heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods – all are now more frequent and more intense. We can choose to believe that Superstorm Sandy, and the most severe drought in decades, and the worst wildfires some states have ever seen were all just a freak coincidence. Or we can choose to believe in the overwhelming judgment of science – and act before it’s too late.

Now the good news is, we can make meaningful progress on this issue while driving strong economic growth. I urge this Congress to get together, pursue a bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change, like the one John McCain and Joe Lieberman worked on together a few years ago. But if Congress won’t act soon to protect future generations, I will. I will direct my Cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take, now and in the future, to reduce pollution, prepare our communities for the consequences of climate change, and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy.

Four years ago, other countries dominated the clean energy market and the jobs that came with it. We’ve begun to change that. Last year, wind energy added nearly half of all new power capacity in America. So let’s generate even more. Solar energy gets cheaper by the year – let’s drive costs down even further. As long as countries like China keep going all-in on clean energy, so must we.

In the meantime, the natural gas boom has led to cleaner power and greater energy independence. We need to encourage that. That’s why my Administration will keep cutting red tape and speeding up new oil and gas permits. That’s got to be a part of an all-of-the-above plan. But I also want to work with this Congress to encourage the research and technology that helps natural gas burn even cleaner and protects our air and water.

In fact, much of our new-found energy is drawn from lands and waters that we, the public, own together. So tonight, I propose we use some of our oil and gas revenues to fund an Energy Security Trust that will drive new research and technology to shift our cars and trucks off oil for good. If a non-partisan coalition of CEOs and retired generals and admirals can get behind this idea, then so can we. Let’s take their advice and free our families and businesses from the painful spikes in gas prices we’ve put up with for far too long. I’m also issuing a new goal for America: let’s cut in half the energy wasted by our homes and businesses over the next twenty years. The states with the best ideas to create jobs and lower energy bills by constructing more efficient buildings will receive federal support to help make that happen.

Wow! Looks like I’ll be needing a stomach pump — after drinking all this beer, Hurricanes, Damn-The-Weather cocktails, espressos, energy drinks, and, I’m afraid, fracking fluid from Haliburton.

His remarks on climate are very strong. So is his plan for action. Yes, both are four years late, but still….

UPDATE: Carol M. Browner, CAP Distinguished Senior Fellow and former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said:

“Tonight’s speech is a big win for those who want action on climate change and believe now is the time to act.  The president was clear about the magnitude of the challenge and resolute in his determination to use his executive authority to take action, especially if Congress won’t.  He pledged to build on the achievements of his first term, including historic standards for clean cars and energy efficiency, and he laid down a strong marker that he intends to continue investments in clean energy technology as part of our economic recovery.”

Comparing the texts with the actual speech, Obama ad-libbed “That’s got to be a part of an all-of-the-above plan.” Sad. “All of the above” is not a plan. It is more of the same — literally.

UPDATE2: In the GOP response, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) goes full climate denier, anti-clean energy:

When we point out that no matter how many job-killing laws we pass, our government can’t control the weather – he accuses us of wanting dirty water and dirty air….

Instead of wasting more taxpayer money on so-called “clean energy” companies like Solyndra, let’s open up more federal lands for safe and responsible exploration.

Rubio is the GOP’s savior? This is Stone Age stuff.

Here is the energy portion of “The President’s Plan for A Strong Middle Class & A Strong America”:

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UPDATE: Obama’s extensive remarks on energy and climate — and his new plan for action — is here.

First the bad news, via a tweet from CNN White House Correspondent Brianna Keilar:

Pres. Obama will NOT announce regs on carbon emissions for existing power plants in the SOTU, per sr. admin official.

The good news is I have a brand new drinking game. And the “ugly” news is below the jump: All the climate mentions from State of the Union addresses (SOTUs) and joint Congressional addresses from 1992 through 2012, showing that talk has been cheap for a long, long time….

I needed a new drinking game after that whole Second Inaugural business, which led to a full week in Las Vegas with Charlie Sheen and Chelsea Handler (and then a month in rehab with Lindsay Lohan). So here it is:

1. Each time the President uses the phrase “climate change” or “global warming,” down one beer.
2. Each extreme weather event the President links to climate change, down a Hurricane or a Damn-The-Weather Cocktail
3. Every time Obama talks up domestic oil production, drink an espresso.
4. If Obama mentions clean coal, drink a cup of coffee.
5. If Obama pushes his “all of the above” energy strategy, down an energy drink.
6. Finally, the Gov. John Hickenlooper special: Every time Obama talks up domestic natural gas production, drink “a glass of fracking fluid produced by oilfield services giant Halliburton.”

And don’t worry about the fracking fluid, since the company asserts it is made entirely “of ingredients sourced from the food industry” — and who has more credibility than a firm once run by Dick Cheney or one that “intentionally destroyed evidence” of its culpability in the Gulf Oil disaster? (As an aside, there is plenty of stuff “sourced from the food industry” that no one should drink.)

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Kulluk oil rig after running aground near Alaska. (Photo: U.S. Coast Guard)

By Kiley Kroh

As the question of whether to move forward with high-risk Arctic offshore drilling in 2013 looms large, there’s a chance Shell Oil may take that decision out of the Obama administration’s hands. In another costly setback to its long and problem-filled quest to drill for oil off Alaska’s shores, Shell said yesterday that the company will be towing its two Arctic drilling rigs to Asia for major repairs, instead of Seattle as was originally planned.

The announcement comes as the company’s Arctic drilling program is the subject of a high-level review by the Department of the Interior – the biggest question now being whether the vessels could even be ready to resume drilling operations this year.

Despite a year full of technical problems, permit violations, and failures to meet safety standards, company spokesman Curtis Smith said in an email to Forbes:

“The pace of our Alaska operations will always be dictated by safety. The lessons learned from 2012 will be applied to all future exploration programs. Having said that, the drilling program we executed in 2012 was safe and successful. We look forward to building on that progress in the future.”

The Kulluk oil rig sustained damage to its hull and electrical systems during the New Year’s Eve grounding of the vessel, after it encountered a massive storm while being towed from Dutch Harbor.

Smith said Shell’s second rig, the Noble Discoverer, has problems with its propulsion system and could require a full engine replacement. In July, Shell briefly lost control of the Discoverer as it nearly ran aground in Dutch Harbor. And in November, it was damaged by an explosion and fire while in port in the Aleutian Islands. Critics have long been skeptical of whether the aging vessel — built in 1966 and converted from a log carrier — was capable of operating in harsh Arctic conditions.

The grounding of the Kulluk in January was only the latest in a litany of mishaps and struggles with Mother Nature that characterized Shell’s entire 2012 Arctic drilling season. The company’s own troubles were added to a growing number of entities voicing their opposition to Arctic offshore drilling, due to the extreme risk and cost accompanying any operations in the fragile and remote area.

As the Center for American Progress has detailed numerous times, the region lacks even the basic infrastructure — roads, railroads, ports, a permanent Coast Guard facility, adequate facilities to house and feed responders — that would be necessary to mount a large-scale response to an oil spill or other major incident. These obstacles, added to the extreme and volatile conditions in which companies would be operating, led the insurance giant Lloyd’s of London to warn companies that responding to an oil spill in a region “highly sensitive to damage” would present “multiple obstacles, which together constitute a unique and hard-to-manage risk.” And Total SA, the fifth largest oil and gas company in the world, announced it wouldn’t seek to drill in the Arctic because an accident there would be a “disaster.”

These concerns, coupled with Shell’s repeated demonstrations that the oil and gas industry is not prepared to meet the enormous challenge of Arctic offshore drilling, led CAP’s John Podesta and Carol Browner to call on the federal government to take its cautious approach to Arctic Ocean drilling a step further. In a recent Bloomberg op-ed they stated:

“The Obama administration shouldn’t issue any new permits to Shell this year and should suspend all action on other companies’ applications to drill in this remote and unpredictable region.”

If Shell’s rigs cannot be repaired in time to resume exploratory drilling operations this July, it may give the administration the breathing room it needs to consider the myriad risks that were exposed last year. Rushing into Arctic offshore drilling is not an imperative, and the decision to move forward must be based on a clear demonstration that the industry is fully prepared for the realities of Arctic operations. Right now, the American people have no reason to continue taking oil companies at their word when they tell us they can operate safely and responsibly in this far-flung and dangerous region.

Kiley Kroh is the Associate Director for Ocean Communications at the Center for American Progress.

FDR in his Annual Message to Congress, January 3, 1938, said:

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

In addressing the Congress on the state of the Union present facts and future hazards demand that I speak clearly and earnestly of the causes which underlie events of profound concern to all….

The first great force, agriculture—and with it the production of timber, minerals and other natural resources—went forward feverishly and thoughtlessly until nature rebelled and we saw deserts encroach, floods destroy, trees disappear and soil exhausted….

There are those well meaning theorists who harp on the inherent right of every free born American to do with his land what he wants–to cultivate it well—or badly; to conserve his timber by cutting only the annual increment thereof—or to strip it clean, let fire burn the slash, and erosion complete the ruin; to raise only one crop-and if that crop fails, to look for food and support from his neighbors or his government.

That, I assert is not an inherent right of citizenship. For if a man farms his land to the waste of the soil or the trees, he destroys not only his own assets but the Nation’s assets as well. Or if by his methods he makes himself, year after year, a financial hazard of the community and the government, he becomes not only a social problem but an economic menace. The day has gone by when it could be claimed that government has no interest in such ill-considered practices and no right through representative methods to stop them.

Plus ça change (see ”We’re Already Topping Dust Bowl Temperatures — Imagine What’ll Happen If We Fail To Stop 10°F Warming“). The next Dust Bowl will last longer and bring more havoc — but it can still be prevented.

I was directed to FDR’s timeless remarks by Clay Pope — the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts. The Western rancher and farmer has some advice of his own for President Obama:

Here’s the transcript:

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#ForwardOnClimate

Watching the Grammy’s made me wish climate hawks had an anthem.

So let’s set the world on fire.
We can burn brighter
Than the sun.

OK, maybe listening to Fun.’s “We Are Young” and “Some Nights” and ”Carry On” over and over again since Sunday night has carried me away a bit, but I know what I stand for, and it ain’t putting our foot on the carbon accelerator while we speed toward the cliff (see We’re headed to 11°F warming and even 7°F requires “nearly quadrupling the current rate of decarbonisation”).

This is it boys, this is war.
What are we waiting for!
Why don’t we break the rules already?

Well, there may not be an anthem, but there is a rally.

What is billed as the “the largest climate rally in U.S. history” is set for The National Mall in Washington, D.C. on February 17, 2013, Noon – 4:00 p.m. (details here and below)

If the climate doesn’t get you up on your feet marching, maybe this will:

No one’s ever gonna stop us tonight
‘Cause we are
We are shining stars.
We are invincible.
We are who we are.
On our darkest day
When we’re miles away
Sun will come
We will find our way home.

If you’re lost and alone
Or you’re sinking like a stone
Carry on.
May your past be the sound
Of your feet upon the ground
Carry on.

Here are the rally details:

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We’ve known for a while that “permafrost” was a misnomer (see “Thawing permafrost feedback will turn Arctic from carbon sink to source in the 2020s” and links below). The defrosting permamelt will likely add 0.4°F – 1.5°F to total global warming by 2100. A new study, “Surface exposure to sunlight stimulates CO₂ release from permafrost soil carbon in the Arctic” suggests the process may happen even faster than we thought.

As permafrost ice melts, the soil collapses and either creates an erosional hole in the tundra or a landslide such as this one. These features are called thermokarst failures. Exposure to “sunlight may act as an amplification factor in the conversion of frozen C [carbon] stores to C gases in the atmosphere.” Picture: George Kling.

Ancient carbon trapped in Arctic permafrost is extremely sensitive to sunlight and, if exposed to the surface when long-frozen soils melt and collapse, can release climate-warming carbon dioxide gas into the atmosphere much faster than previously thought.

University of Michigan ecologist and aquatic biogeochemist George Kling and his colleagues studied places in Arctic Alaska where permafrost is melting and is causing the overlying land surface to collapse, forming erosional holes and landslides and exposing long-buried soils to sunlight.

They found that sunlight increases bacterial conversion of exposed soil carbon into carbon dioxide gas by at least 40 percent compared to carbon that remains in the dark. The team, led by Rose Cory of the University of North Carolina, reported its findings in an article to be published online Feb. 11 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“Until now, we didn’t really know how reactive this ancient permafrost carbon would be — whether it would be converted into heat-trapping gases quickly or not,” said Kling, a professor in the U-M Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. EEB graduate student Jason Dobkowski is a co-author of the paper.

“What we can say now is that regardless of how fast the thawing of the Arctic permafrost occurs, the conversion of this soil carbon to carbon dioxide and its release into the atmosphere will be faster than we previously thought,” Kling said. “That means permafrost carbon is potentially a huge factor that will help determine how fast the Earth warms.”

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After the State of the Union, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), will deliver the Republican response, where he will likely repackage many of the same dirty energy policies that lost spectacularly among voters in 2012.

Although Rubio was dubbed by TIME magazine a “new voice of the GOP,” the presidential hopeful sounds no different from the old party — particularly his positions on climate change and favoring Big Oil above all.

Just last week, Rubio claimed climate change is not a problem for his home state Florida, despite a devastating year of extreme weather. “I know people said there’s a significant scientific consensus on [human-caused climate change], but I’ve actually seen reasonable debate on that principle,” he said.

Not surprisingly, Rubio is a member of the Koch polluter caucus. He is one of five senators who received a perfect score from the Kochs’ Americans for Prosperity, and he received more of the petrochemical giant’s cash than any other Senate campaign in 2010, for a career total of $32,200. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Senator Rubio has received nearly $260,000 in dirty energy contributions from oil, gas, and coal, with his largest contribution coming from the Koch-linked group, Club for Growth.

But Rubio’s polluter backing comes at a cost. His record includes:

–Voting against repealing Big Oil subsidies to fund clean energy projects and reduce the deficit.

– Voting against extending tax credits for renewable energy, at the same time he maintained oil industry tax breaks

– Signing a pledge to Americans for Prosperity that promises to “oppose any legislation relating to climate change that includes a net increase in government revenue.”

– Voting against legislation aiding states harmed by the 2010 BP oil disaster. Rubio was the only senator from the Gulf Coast to do so, and one year later, he voted to expand coastal oil and gas exploration and issue faster drilling permits to oil companies.

Rubio has given no reason to expect anything less than a Big Oil agenda tonight.

Tiffany Germain, ThinkProgress War Room Senior Climate/Energy Researcher, contributed substantial research to this post.

With the State of the Union speech coming tonight, environmental groups are hoping President Obama will call for a big push to tackle climate change by bringing the powers of the executive office to bear on the problem. [The Hill]

“We are hoping to see some more substance on exactly what the president’s plan will be like, be it on the clean-energy side or on the side of cleaning up the largest sources of pollution,” said Nathan Willcox, the global warming program director with Environment America.

“The problem is very pressing, and so the sooner we have policy proposals in front of us, the better.”

Obama has already signaled his willingness to use his executive powers forcefully, laying out a series of executive orders on gun control in addition to calling for legislation.

On climate, the White House took some steps with executive powers in the first term, and that’s expected to be the primary second-term focus.

Gasoline prices have climbed past $3.60 a gallon nationally for the first time since October, according to the government’s weekly price survey. Gas prices have steadily climbed since they hit a low of $3.254 for the week of December 17. They haven’t hit $3.60 a gallon since October 22. [USA Today]

Last year, the world  pumped more oil out of the ground than ever before in history, and nearly half of that increase came from new drilling in the United States. Yet Brent crude is still trading for around $120 per barrel, higher than it was two years ago. [WaPo]

Researchers using a computer model of the atmosphere found that activities from urban areas can warm the air as far as 1,000 miles away. In some areas, that increase was as much as 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit). [NYTimes]

The weekend blizzard that hit the Northeast boasted precipitation that was more than 200 percent of normal for the region at this time of year, due to a rich tropical moisture feed that the storm tapped into. [Climate Central]

Climate change poses a disproportionate threat to African-Americans, due to where they live, their higher social vulnerability, and the job and energy disparities that effect them. [Ebony]

A railroad proposed for coal shipping by a coal giant and two of the world’s wealthiest men is threatening to bisect an Amish community in Montana. [USA Today]

Turkey will spend $5 billion on smart power grids by 2015 to boost network efficiency, providing chances for both North American companies to expand and for more international cooperation, the U.S. government said. [Bloomberg]

An editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal lays out the medical case for tackling climate change; namely increased mortality due to heat waves, rising incidence of allergies, the spread of infectious diseases into new areas, and more. [Climate Central]