House Passes Oil Spill Bill: Markey Safety, Whistleblower and Royalty Recovery Legislation -Recovering up to $53 Billion from Oil Companies

Good news from the desk of Congressman Ed Markey

MARKEY: Oil Spill Bill Boosts Safety, Reduces Deficit

House Passes Markey Safety, Whistleblower and Royalty Recovery Legislation -Recovering up to $53 Billion from Oil Companies

WASHINGTON (July 30, 2010) – Today, by a vote of 209 to 193, the House of Representatives passed critical oil spill legislation that will protect families living and working in the Gulf Coast. The CLEAR ACT (H.R. 3534) implements policy measures co-authored by Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), including strong new safety measures for oil drilling, and royalty recovery legislation that will cut the deficit by up to $53 billion. The House also passed the Offshore Oil and Gas Worker Whistleblower Protection Act (H.R. 5851) co-authored by Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) by a vote of 315 to 93.

“This bill will cut the deficit and stop oil companies from cutting corners on safety,” said Rep. Markey. “Families and businesses in the Gulf who have been suffering for over 100 days from BP’s oil spill disaster can take some comfort tonight knowing Congress has acted to protect them from future oil spills.”

The explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon took the lives of 11 workers and caused the worst environmental disaster in our nation’s history. The oil spill has sidelined thousands of workers in the fishing industry and crippled tourism across the region.

“Congress has conducted an extensive investigation into this disaster, and the CLEAR Act corrects the fatal safety flaws that oil companies have allowed to occur,” said Markey. “My whistleblower legislation will give voice to workers who have the courage to stand against oil companies when they observe a dangerous situation.”

The legislation includes several key provisions authored by Rep. Markey, including:

Oil Revenue Recovery & Deficit Reduction:

The CLEAR ACT includes legislation authored by Chairman Markey to close royalty loopholes that have historically allowed oil companies to drill for free on public lands in the Gulf of Mexico. This legislation will recover up to $53 billion in lost tax revenue that will be directed toward reducing our national deficit.

Whistleblower Protection:

The Offshore Oil and Gas Worker Whistleblower Protection Act (H.R. 5851) which Chairman Markey co-authored with Rep. George Miller (D-CA). Currently there is no federal law protecting oil and gas workers if they are retaliated against after speaking out on workplace health and safety violations on drilling rigs like the Deepwater Horizon. H.R. 5851 is modeled after other modern whistleblower statutes. For more information on the legislation, please CLICK HERE.

Blowout Preventer Act:

The CLEAR ACT includes legislation to ensure new safety standards for offshore oil and gas drilling. The Energy and Commerce Committee conducted a vigorous investigation into the causes of the BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster. This investigation showed that the blowout preventer was riddled with problems, including a significant leak in a main hydraulic system that was improperly modified and not powerful enough to cut through joints in the drill pipe. Plus the “deadman switch” – the last line of defense – had a dead battery. Poor cementing and fatal decisions made by BP in the hours and minutes before the explosion have also been uncovered by the committee.

The Blowout Prevention Act – or BP Act – of 2010, sponsored by Reps. Henry Waxman, Bart Stupak, and Markey was developed with bipartisan support in the Energy and Commerce Committee, passing by a unanimous 48-0 vote.

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Maryland League of Conservation Voters and Maryland Sierra Club Endorse Judd Legum For Delegate

One of the key races I mentioned in my earlier post about the Maryland League of Conservation Voters endorsements is Judd Legum for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 30.  Although I don’t know Judd personally, I’ve been impressed both with his strong words on the need to stand up to special interests and protect the Chesapeake Bay, and his sincere believe that we need to do something about global warming.

I did a blog post about a climate denial resolution in the Maryland General Assembly, and Republican Delegate Ron George of the 30th District co-sponsored it.  Judd rightfully criticized George for this move, and started a petition for people to call out George’s foolishness.  Here is an excerpt from his petition.

“A few days ago, Delegate Ron George co-sponsored a resolution in Maryland’s General Assembly stating that climate change is a “conspiracy” and urging the Environmental Protection Agency to “immediately halt” all efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Besides ignoring the overwhelming consensus among the world’s climate scientists, George is advancing a position with disastrous consequences locally for the Chesapeake Bay:

– Increased carbon dioxide concentrations can increase algae blooms, which are the source of large “dead zones” in the Chesapeake Bay. [Source]

– Many of the most effective agricultural practices to sequester carbon — such as forest buffers, no-till farming and cover crops — are also essential to improving water quality in the Chesapeake Bay. [Source]

In a time of economic challenge, Maryland can’t afford to allow the Chesapeake Bay to continue to degrade. The Bay is Maryland’s most valuable economic resource: driving commerce, buttressing property values and attracting tourists.

We need to dispense with far-right ideology and focus on our shared goals in Maryland.

It’s clear to me Judd gets global warming, he understands the solutions, and he knows the stakes.  That’s why you should vote for him, or visit his campaign website and look for other ways to help out.  Below is the press release on the endorsements.

Annapolis, Md. – Today, two of the state’s leading environmental organizations, the Maryland League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club, endorsed Judd Legum for the House of Delegates in District 30.

Legum is the only challenger not running for an open House seat to be endorsed by both organizations.

“Judd Legum is an exciting new leader who will bring fresh energy and perspective to the General Assembly and the fight to restore the Chesapeake Bay and protect our natural resources,” said Cindy Schwartz, Executive Director of the Maryland League of Conservation voters, “We are impressed with his understanding of and commitment to environmental issues. The Maryland League of Conservation Voters enthusiastically endorses his candidacy.”

David Prosten, chair of the Anne Arundel Sierra Club, said, “Judd Legum has a thoughtful and well-articulated understanding of environmental issues and clearly views the health of the Bay and its tributaries as a top priority. He understands the nexus of land use, transportation and other concerns that have an impact on our quality of life. He deserves the support of every voter.”

“I’m running because the next four years represent the best – and possibly last – chance to make real progress in restoring the Chesapeake Bay to health,” said Legum, “I’m proud to have the support of two organizations who care so deeply and work so hard to protect the Bay and our environment.”

Legum is currently an Annapolis Representative to the Severn River Commission, a joint body of the City of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, charged with providing advice to protect the Severn River Watershed.

The Maryland League of Conservation Voters and the Maryland Sierra Club represent tens of thousands of members throughout Maryland.

Another Spill: EPA: 1M gallons of oil may be in Mich. river

It appears an 800,000 gallon oil spill from Tuesday in Kalamazoo is not being contained, has swollen to over a million gallons, and is at risk of devastating Lake Michigan if it reaches it.  This is just another example of why we need to get off of oil, accidents that devastate the ecosystem and local economy will continue to happen.

Massey Energy Files ’SLAPP’ Lawsuit against Environmental Activists

Donate to the activists legal defense.

See photos

Massey Energy Files ’SLAPP’ Lawsuit against Environmental Activists

Company Responsible for Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster Actively Seeking to Silence Local Critics

July 22, 2010

CONTACTS:

Larry Hildes, (360) 715-9788

Rock Creek, W. Va. — Massey Energy has filed a politically motivated civil suit, also known as a Strategic Lawsuit against Public Participation (SLAPP) suit, against fourteen activists arrested last year in relation to a protest on a mountaintop removal mining site. The suit seems to be part of a larger strategy on the part of the mining company to intimidate and silence critics of the company’s safety record and controversial mining practices, particularly mountaintop removal coal mining.

Maryland League of Conservation Voters Makes 2nd Round of Endorsements

I’ll refer you to the MDLCV press release, which lists their endorsements for all 47 districts in Maryland.

I agree with MDLCV on many endorsement decisions, and on some I always feel the candidates haven’t stood up enough for environmental policies, but were endorsed because they lacked a credible challenger.  I won’t name names, only because I would want to provide an explanation, which is time I don’t have.  I will however highlight a few races in the coming weeks that I think are important for moving Maryland forward on clean energy and environmental protection.  I’m on the Maryland Sierra Club’s political committee, although since I’m swamped with a full time campaign manager’s job this summer, I’m not as active as I’d like to be in their endorsement process.  I do however have an article coming out in their primary edition that highlights a couple key races and makes endorsements at the state and local level.

Reid Unveils Weak Energy Bill

Harry Reid has unveiled his weak energy bill that can muster the 60 votes to break the filibuster.  Absent from it is a price on carbon, climate provisions, and a Renewable Energy Standard.  Here is the 24 page summary.

Now that there aren’t some good provisions, it’s just they feel like baby steps compared to the problem we’re trying to solve.  The good parts are…

1.  A section on new regulations for offshore drilling to prevent another massive oil spill like the one we just had.

2.  A transportation section that included $400 million for accelerating electric and plug-in vehicles, along with their infrastruction.

3.  A section on Home star, which is a $5 billion dollar energy efficiency measure to help retrofit homes across the county.

4.  A section on increasing the oil spill liability cap up to $5 billion dollars.

5.  A section on fixing the Land and Water Conservation fund, which is good bill, but environmentalists rightly wonder what it’s doing in an energy bill.

The bad part is a title in the transportation section on incentives for natural gas vehicles, which is as laughable as the money we’ve thrown corn ethanol.

So like I said, most of this stuff is good, but none of it is bold.  In fact, I’m disappointed that there aren’t more baby steps included that could add up to something significant.  A few things that come to my mind is Building Star, A Green Energy Bank, and Bernie Sander’s solar bill.  A big step would be a strong RES.

Two out of Three

Tom Toles cartoon in the Washington Post the other day sums up my frustration with Congress, the Obama Administration, and the death of the climate bill.

Cartoon by Tom Toles, Wash Post.

Ours wasn’t the only bill that died

Sadly, climate legislation didn’t only die this year in the US, but it also faltered in Australia after attempts by now smoldering Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to pass a Carbon Reduction scheme that was damn pretty weak from my perspective (5% cut below 2000 levels by 2020).  Now with Rudd on the way out, the new prime minister Julia Gillard laid out her proposal, which is the same as Rudd’s except a delay in action until at least 2012.  Weak meets weakest.  As you can see from the excerpts below, Gillard’s rhetoric doesn’t match her weak stomach for significant action…

“Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Friday embraced the same policy on climate change that her predecessor failed to pass, but said in a campaign speech that any action would be delayed until at least 2012.

“The price of inaction is too high a price for our country to pay,” she said at the University of Queensland in Brisbane. “Because the price of inaction is price rises, job losses and innovations lost.”

“Gillard left no doubt where she stands on global warming.

“My starting point is that climate change is real and it is caused to a significant extent by human activity,” she said. “The science tells us that we need to limit the growth of carbon pollution in our atmosphere to 450 parts per million if we are going to have a chance of limiting global temperature growth to two degrees or less.”

That explains the government’s commitment to cut pollution levels by at least 5 percent by 2020 compared with levels in 2000, she said.

“We have not abandoned our commitment to take action on climate change,” she said, noting that the government announced in April that it had made “a difficult decision” to defer the CPRS until at least 2012.”

Md., Del. ask feds to join wind energy pact, I say give us a strong RES too

At the end of last week, Governor O’Malley of my state Maryland and the Delaware Governor Markell called for the Federal government to join them in offering to purchase offshore wind energy.  The rationale is pretty clear, a greater show of interest in purchasing the wind power from an entity as large as the feds means guaranteed demand for the wind energy developers, which means $$$.  This quote below from the article says it best

“By combining our market power with that of the federal government, we can drive demand for over one GW of offshore wind energy in the mid-Atlantic,” the governors wrote. “This would create the economies of scale necessary to significantly reduce the cost of offshore wind development, attract manufacturers of offshore wind equipment and installation vessels, and develop high paying green jobs for our workers.”

Delaware officials already have authorized utilities to enter into long-term contracts for 230 megawatts of electricity from a planned wind farm off the coast of Rehoboth and Maryland has offered to buy 55 megawatts from the proposed 450 million watt project.

But the governors contend that a commitment to purchase one gigawatt of wind energy could be the catalyst for creation of a manufacturing base and supply chain that could bring up to 20,000 jobs to the region.

“If all we have is a wind farm off the coast of Rehoboth with parts that are made overseas, I think it will be a missed opportunity,” Markell told The Associated Press.

I question I have is, are the any policies other states, or the federal government itself should be pushing in improve the economic climate for offshore wind off the East Coast?  The article mentions a few actions

“In addition to soliciting federal participation in a power purchase agreement, O’Malley and Markell also called for better coordination among federal agencies on offshore wind issues and asked Obama to support legislative efforts to remove barriers to wind energy development. Among the goals they cited are increasing loan guarantees, extending production tax credits, streamlining the permitting process and allowing the General Services Administration to enter into power purchase agreements beyond 10 years.”

I like the loan guarantees and tax credits, and I wrote a column this past January about the need to streamline the permitting process for wind.

But what about activists in other states along the coast getting their states to make commitments to purchase wind power from an offshore farm?  What about the impact of a national Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) to increase demand for wind energy, and help make this offshore project more viable?  Right now, there’s a debate amongst Democrats in the US Senate on whether a renewable energy standard should be in the energy bill, now that climate legislation is out.  The debate can’t be able the abstract concept of an RES, it has to be able potential clean energy projects such as this one that need a shot in the arm from Congress.  Projects that are in the states of swing Senators are even better.

There’s a lot more we should be doing, and the Federal Government has already failed to place a price on carbon to make projects such as offshore wind more viable, but it’s good to see effort on the part of MD and DE to try and create demand for these wind products.

Senate committee gives green light to solar energy funding bill

With all of the bad news about the apparent death of a climate bill in Washington, it’s important to focus on some legislation that would move the ball forward, and is still alive for passage.  Last week, Bernie Sander’s solar roofs bill passed the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, although sadly not a single Republican voted for a low-cost bill to advance solar power.  Hopefully the Democrats can find a little support on the Senate floor.  Below is information about the legislation.

The Ten Million Solar Roofs Act of 2010 (S. 3460) was introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders, a member of the Senate energy and environment committees and chairman of the green jobs subcommittee.  The bill was passed by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee by a vote of 13 to 10 on July 21, 2010.

• GOAL: Sets a goal, to be met through this and other incentive and R&D programs, of installing solar electric or water hearing systems on at least 10 million properties in ten years.
• AUTHORIZATION: Provides competitive grants through Department of Energy for Fiscal Years 2012-2021, starting with an authorization of $250 million for Fiscal Year 2012. The Department of Energy is directed to provide Congress with a report on recommendations for achieving the ten million solar goal including how to best leverage funds through S. 3460 for Fiscal Years 2013-2021 (those years have an open authorization to provide flexibility to respond to the Department’s recommendations).
• FUNDING MECHANISM: Competitive grants to states, tribes, cities, towns, and counties to help them establish or expand solar loan and incentive programs for homeowners, businesses, schools, and other entities. This approach ensures compatibility with existing incentive programs.
• REQUIREMENTS: Solar systems of 1 megawatt (or thermal equivalent) or less are eligible. No homeowner, business, or school can receive federal/state/local incentives worth more than 50 percent of the cost to purchase and install a solar system (excludes loan programs). 20 percent non-federal cost share. Grantees submit to the Department of Energy an implementation plan including how many solar systems they will deploy under the grant, and how many participants will receive incentives or loans. They will certify that grant funds will be used to establish new programs or supplement, but not supplant, existing solar funding.
• CRITERIA FOR GRANTS: Criteria for the grants include ensuring geographic and population size diversity among awardees, and a ensuring a minimum (at least 2 percent of funding) is available to tribes. Preference is also given to grant recipients who have, or will commit to establishing, net metering, interconnection, and other solar access rules consistent with their authorities.