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Climate Progress

Obama Plans Green Economy ‘Listening Tour’ Before Inauguration

By Brad Johnson on Nov 5, 2008 at 4:40 pm

Obama Energy LeadershipDan Kammen, the director of the Renewable & Appropriate Energy Laboratory at UC Berkeley and a top adviser to President-elect Barack Obama (D-IL), has told E&E News that Obama may conduct a nationwide “listening tour” to allow his team to hit the ground running for a green recovery:

The incoming Obama team is considering a “listening tour” around the country on energy and environmental issues before Inauguration Day in an attempt to build momentum for its policies and legislative plans.

Last month, Obama told Time’s Joe Klein that an “Apollo project” for a “new energy economy” is his top priority:

That’s going to be my No. 1 priority when I get into office.

In yesterday’s victory speech before a crowd of 125,000 in Chicago’s Grant Park, Obama indicated that listening to all people of this nation will be central to his administration:

There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can’t solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way its been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years – block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

In the 75 days before Obama takes office, he will also have to weigh in on major events already on the calendar: Read more

Conservatives Fear Progressives Will Shift Power ‘Back In Favor Of Unions’

By Pat Garofalo on Nov 5, 2008 at 2:50 pm

union1.jpgYesterday’s election was a “resounding victory for progressive ideals,” as “progressives triumphed in all regions of the country and won overwhelming support from individuals of all different backgrounds.” Already, though, the prospect of progressive policies being enacted has conservatives sounding the alarm.

At the forefront of the conservative outcry is the notion that American business will suffer under a progressive administration and Congress, particularly due to pro-union measures. As the Wall Street Journal reported:

What appears to worry business interests most is the possibility that a Democratic Congress and a Democratic White House will shift the balance of power between employers and unions back in favor of unions, after two decades or more in which unions have been in retreat.

Michael Franc, vice president for government relations at the Heritage Foundation, announced in the Washington Times that the election of Barack Obama “tilts the playing field to the left” on “a range of issues making it easier for labor to unionize businesses and collect dues, [and in favor of] automatic arbitration favoring unions.”

Even before election day, conservatives were warning that a progressive Congress would pass the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would make it easier for workers to unionize. Yesterday, though, was not only a repudiation of the conservative agenda, but also a denunciation of anti-union initiatives. For instance, “Colorado voters decided against Amendment 47, a contentious ‘right-to-work’ measure that sought to restrict the way unions organized in the state.”

A shift in power back toward unions will simply start to reverse eight years of conservative, pro-corporate rule. In 2007, top business executives earned “344 times the salary of the average American worker.” Between 1980 and 2005 – as unionization rates plummeted – CEO pay rose. General wages were 0.3% lower in June 2008 than they were in March 2001.

On average, union workers make 30 percent more in wages than non-union workers, and are more likely to have health insurance. 72 percent of union workers have a guaranteed, defined pension, “compared to only 15% of nonunion workers.”

Unions were indeed “in retreat” while conservatism ruled. Ending that retreat could lead to a better life for many of America’s workers.

Climate Progress

Waxman Plans To Challenge Dingell For Control Of Energy And Commerce

By Brad Johnson on Nov 5, 2008 at 1:32 pm

Dingell-Waxman
John Dingell (D-MI) and Henry Waxman (D-CA)

Roll Call reports that Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) plans to challenge Rep John Dingell (D-MI) “for chairmanship of the influential Energy and Commerce Committee.” The Committee has jurisdiction over a wide array of issues, including energy policy, health care, and interstate commerce.

In the 110th Congress, Dingell and Waxman took very different stances on global warming issues. In stark contrast, Dingell opposed California’s petition to set automotive emission standards for greenhouse gases, while Waxman led hearings to investigate why the EPA denied the California waiver.

The two also took different paths after Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) called in January, 2007, for rapid action on legislation that would limit greenhouse emissions. Waxman introduced the Safe Climate Act in March to reduce emissions by 80 percent by 2050. Dingell, a longtime defender of the auto industry, instead worked through a series of hearings and white papers on this complex issue to introduce draft legislation this October.

Dingell “put aside” the global warming legislation to push a provision in the 2007 energy bill that increased fuel economy standards for the first time in decades. When signed by President Bush in December, it marked a major achievement for the environment and the economy — but has since been used by the Bush administration for an excuse for inaction on mandatory global warming regulations.

As Roll Call writes, “The move marks a major showdown between two Democratic powerhouses.”

UPDATE: E&E News reports:

“This is a fight for all the marbles,” said one refining industry lobbyist. “If Henry gets this, my god, given the scope of jurisdiction of the Energy and Commerce Committee, all hell will break loose legislatively if Waxman chairs this thing.”

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