christopher

Your Place in the New Economy: Tools and Opportunities for Jobs and Economic Development (featuring Majora Carter)

This past week I had the great privilege of travelling through eastern North Carolina with Majora Carter on a series of workshops titled “Your Place in the New Economy.” This was put on by the Elizabeth City State University Center for Green Research and Evaluation, which is partnering with the Majora Carter Group to craft a plan for developing a green economy in Eastern NC. The three workshops were held in Elizabeth City, Tarboro and Henderson, NC and were an opportunity to bring a message of economic recovery through green jobs to the people who need it most.

Eastern North Carolina is one of the most impoverished areas in the country, and for years has dealt with industries packing up and taking their jobs overseas, but leaving a legacy of environmental devastation behind. Adding to that are some outrageous utility and energy costs--families have seen their rates rise 35% in the last two years and, in some cases, are forced to make decisions between paying their utility bills and feeding their families.

The tour was focused on showing this community that “green” wasn’t all about polar bears and spotted owls; instead we were talking about the green that you can put in your wallet. In fact, one area of the green economy that really caught on was energy efficiency. What many people are now calling “weatherization” is simply making your home or business more efficient so that it wastes less energy. This not only saves people money by lowering utility bills, but also puts people to work as energy auditors, weatherization technicians and crew leaders.

We also stressed the need for bold federal action on clean energy jobs legislation. While the jobs that have been created in NC through the policies of President Obama’s stimulus plan are great and necessary, what we need is a long term and far-reaching investment in clean energy and green jobs that will create hundreds of thousands of new green jobs here in NC, and up to 5 million new green jobs nationwide.

The tour was a great opportunity to take the message and the theme of the 1Sky Campaign out of the realm of the merely theoretical and into developing and implementing practical solutions for a struggling community.

A lot of the buzz in the climate change/global warming world right now is revolving around some of the comments that appeared in the “Global Cooling” chapter of Superfreakonomics. Their main argument, for people who haven't read the book, is that if global warming is the problem, then we should focus on the most expedient way to cool the earth. Their “solution” is geoengineering--namely, launching sulfur into the upper atmosphere. Now, there’s so much wrong with this approach that I don’t really know where to start except to repeat my old line: you can’t have your planet and eat it too.

To me, geoengineering is to global warming as pills are to health care reform. I hear many commentators say that the reason our health care costs are so high is because we as a society demand a pill for every complaint, even when there is a clear cause that could be dealt with by changing a habit. Yes, the pill might fix the symptom, but not only does it not address the underlying issue, the side effects might be worse than the original complaint. This is certainly not true in every case, but here’s an oversimplified personal example: I’ve recently gained twenty pounds. Now, I could start running again and stop eating breakfast at Bojangles three times a week, or I could take one of many prescription weight loss pills. I will let you work out the implications of each choice.

Focusing simply on global cooling misses the largest single issue of the entire climate change/global warming debate: the way we as a global society create and consume energy is unsustainable. Period. We can focus our efforts on finding the magic pill that will let us continue to walk down this path of “unsustainability” indefinitely, or we can focus on doing the things that will actually solve the underlying problem.

Global warming is a symptom of an unsustainable lifestyle, much like my added twenty pounds, and if we are to truly solve it, we don't need quick fixes--we need to change some bad habits.

Tomorrow, the Raleigh City Council will hold a vote on whether or not to reopen the discussion of including bike lanes on Hillsborough St.

Those of you that know me know that I’m a committed “bike guy.” This is not because I’m an environmental activist and want to make everyone else feel terrible about not doing enough, or because I feel the strong need to “walk the walk” (“ride the bike,” in this case), but simply because bikes are cheap - I built mine at the Bike Kitchen. As of now I’ve been a bike-only commuter for upwards of 4 years while I lived in LA, Orange County, Seattle and now Raleigh. While it might surprise some of you to hear that Raleigh is by far the least safe place to ride a bike, for those of you who ride these streets daily, it probably comes as no surprise at all. While there are many factors that contribute to this, the single largest factor is lack of infrastructure on our streets. There are more and more people on bikes every week (more and more cars too) and without bike lanes, adequate signage or even the dreaded “sharrow” it just gets worse. For drivers, more bikes on unsafe roads is an inconvenience - sometimes a large one, admittedly. For bikers, it is literally a matter of life or death. Bikers die on unsafe roads.

Initially, the plan for Hillsborough Street included a space for bikes. While many of us can and will argue over the relative efficacy of 6 blocks of a bike lane that doesn’t connect to a larger system, the bottom line is that it will make it safer for the students and commuters who frequently clog that street. Unfortunately, those bike lanes were later removed from the plan. Tomorrow, the Raleigh City Council will vote on whether or not to re-open the discussion of including a bike lane for Hillsborough St tomorrow at 1PM. A group bike ride is being held to show support for this effort and will be meeting at the NCSU bell tower at noon. Join us if you’re able, or contact me - christopher[at]ncconservationnetwork.org for more details.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the opposition lately- the people who are so vehemently opposed to climate change and the common sense solutions proposed to combat to this problem. The rhetoric seems to be picking up a lot of speed as well as a lot of vitriol of late. From the New York Times Magazine’s cover story on climate change denier Freeman Dyson (who is a noted physicist, but not on this issue), to the continued ability of George Will to publish outright falsehoods at the Washington Post, to the angry rhetoric that has appeared in right-wing blogs; the opposition is angry and outspoken on this topic (more so than usual).

Recently this has raised the question: What if I’m/we’re wrong? What would happen if the policies aimed at addressing global climate change are enacted and there really was no problem to be concerned about? What if it is just a natural cycle or caused by dinosaur flatulence? The answers are quite comforting. We would drive vehicles that are more fuel efficient and save us money. We would live in homes that are more energy efficient and also save us money. We would get more of our energy from renewable sources that do not pollute the air and cause us to destroy our natural resources and environment. Finally, we would stimulate an economy that creates millions of new jobs in a field that cannot be sent to other countries and will help put people back to work.

As for the opposition, what if we do what they propose (i.e. business as usual) and they’re wrong? I don’t find that thought quite so comforting.

Congress is likely to consider federal climate legislation this year to address global warming. Likely, it will be in the form of a “cap and trade” system. We are joining many other scientists and organizations in calling for strong targets in reducing our global warming pollution, specifically 25% below 1990 levels by 2020 and at least 80% by 2050. In addition to those targets, we are also calling for 100% auction of pollution credits (aka carbon credits) that are created under such a system.

What has become obvious recently, is that the “cap” on carbon emissions is becoming more and more accepted by people and groups that just a few years ago opposed climate legislation altogether. Where the fight is shaping up now is over what sort of “trade” system will be established. We support selling or auctioning all of these credits and then directing the revenue generated to working families. Big polluters, such as energy companies, want these credits in the form of free “give-aways” that they can then sell for a profit.

Under a cap and trade system, it is the cap that first creates the value of the item to be traded (carbon pollution, in this case). The underlying concept is that if something is not limited by a cap, it has no value (because it is unlimited). That is why before we do anything else, we first need to put a cap on carbon pollution, and then we can set up a trading system for the resulting pollution (or carbon credits).

Here is why the 100% auctioning of those credits is so critically important. Under this system, pollution would be a commodity, something valuable that could be bought and sold. If we give these credits away to big energy companies for free, companies that are already turning a healthy profit, they could (and would) turn right around and sell them to the highest bidder. This give away to the big polluters would divert millions away from the working families that need help the most.

From Grist Mill:

A cap-and-trade system with no auctions -- call it "cap-and-giveaway" (PDF) -- amounts to a highly regressive tax. Poor and working class families spend a greater portion of their income on energy and will be hardest hit when energy providers raise prices.

The regressivity(sic) can be reduced and even eliminated if the feds auction the permits and use the revenue wisely. One way to do so is to straight up buy people off. (A proposal called "cap-and-dividend" would simply divide up the auction revenue equally among every citizen, along the lines of Alaska's oil fund.) Another way is to reduce other regressive taxes (like the payroll tax). There are other options as well.

In response to this, the energy companies have put up a slick sounding argument against 100% auction. However, their logic is a bit faulty.

You might argue, as the coal industry does, that if permits are given away to utilities, they will pass the profits along to consumers in the form of lower prices. You might claim, in that sense, that giving away permits is more progressive. You would, however, be wrong. The fact is that utilities are going to raise energy prices regardless.

There is evidence to support this assertion. England has already set up a cap and trade system that didn’t have 100% auction of carbon credits. And the utilities raised their rates!

This isn't a theoretical concern -- the experiment has already been run, in the European carbon trading system, and sure enough corporations profited and prices rose anyway. To repeat: Under any system that puts a price on carbon, energy bills are going to go up. The difference is that in a system with auctions, gov't will have the resources to cushion the blow to the most vulnerable. That is as simple and urgent a question of economic justice as you're likely to find.

The sad fact of the matter is that energy prices will likely go up regardless of the path we choose (New nuclear and coal plants are quite expensive as well). However, the resulting higher energy prices don’t have to have a disproportionate impact on lower and middle-income families. If we take the revenue created from a cap and trade system and direct them to those families, they end up with a near wash. If we instead give the energy companies a break and give away those carbon credits, they will raise energy prices anyway and the resultant rate hike would hit us where it hurts the most- the pockets of the millions of Americans earning less than $250,000 a year.

There you have it, our attempt to put this complex issue in a more digestible format. Hopefully you have found this helpful and we encourage you to call your representatives and remind them that 100% auctioning of carbon credits is perhaps the most important provision of a climate change bill- and therefore the most necessary.

During his speech Tuesday night, President Obama challenged Congress to pass a bill that caps carbon pollution and increases production of renewable energy. It was his strongest call yet for bold climate action, and we have to answer it. In other words: it's game time! However, for those of us in the environmental community, the real work is just about to begin. The only way President Obama will get to sign such a bill is if Congress feels the pressure to act coming from their districts back home. This means we all need to let our representatives know that now is the time to move forward on this issue.

Perhaps the best way to have a real impact on this issue in your community is to join the 1Sky campaign as a Climate Precinct Captain.

Also, if you have a minute, please take one and call your legislator and ask him or her to take a stance in favor of strong climate change legislation. Here’s a tool to look up your representative’s phone number: Legislator look-up.

We need your passion and commitment to bold climate solutions now more than ever.

Butterfield to pen key climate bill

Also, for those of you in the eastern part of the state, NC district 1 is taking center stage on this issue. Representative G.K. Butterfield will play an important role in drafting the legislation and he needs to hear from his constituents that this is an issue of paramount importance. Over the next four weeks all of us here at the Conservation Network and 1Sky will be spending a great deal of time in places like Elizabeth City, Greenville, Wilson, Rocky Mount and Tarboro--and we could really use your help. Again, a great way to help us out is to sign up as a Climate Precinct Captain and get the tools you need to help organizing your friends and neighbors.

While it is very exciting to finally have leadership on this issue at the highest level, we can't sit and wait for change to come to us. We know the opposition is redoubling their efforts to oppose this legislation and we need to make sure we work twice as hard to make sure that we pass the strongest climate bill possible.