Articles by Kate Sheppard

Colorado official with green chops is tapped for White House post

The Obama team circulated another list of hires at the White House on Wednesday. Apparently, the new president has scooped up Shaun McGrath, the green mayor of Boulder, Colo., as a deputy director of intergovernmental affairs.

McGrath began serving on the Boulder city council in November 2003 and was elected mayor in 2007. He has worked for the Western Governors' Association since 1995, where he is the program director for water and drought policy, climate change adaptation, and the Wildlife Corridors Initiative. He was previously a legislative assistant to Rep. Jim Slattery (D-Kansas), working on environmental issues, and the executive director of the Kansas Natural Resource Council.

Here's his official bio:

Prior to joining the White House, McGrath was Program Director for the Western Governors Association, an independent, non-profit organization representing the governors of the 19 western states and three U.S. flag islands in the Pacific, where he managed programs on wildlife corridors, sustainable water, renewable energy, and climate adaptation. McGrath is also the Mayor of Boulder, Colorado, a progressive city of 100,000, named the "smartest city in America" by Forbes magazine in 2006 and 2008. As Mayor, he led efforts to establish Boulder as the first smart-grid city in the country, pass a climate action plan for which voters approved country's first carbon tax, and become only the third city in the country to receive the platinum level "bicycle friendly community" award from the League of American Bicyclists.

Gore urges Congress to quickly pass stimulus package and climate bill

Speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, VP-turned-climate-guru Al Gore urged lawmakers to move quickly on both the economic-stimulus package and a cap-and-trade climate bill. His testimony -- which included an updated version of his Inconvenient Truth slide show, now with even scarier data -- was warmly received by Republicans as well as Democrats.

"I urge this Congress to quickly pass the entirety of President Obama's recovery package," Gore said. "The plan's unprecedented and critical investments in four key areas -- energy efficiency, renewables, a unified national energy grid, and the move to clean cars -- represent an important down payment and are long overdue." He said he favors the House version of the bill (passed Wednesday afternoon), which includes more funding for efficiency, renewable energy, and mass transit.

This was the first major hearing of the 111th Congress for the Foreign Relations Committee, whose new chair is Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.). By shining a spotlight on Gore and climate change at the hearing, Kerry sent a clear message about his priorities.

"Frankly, the science is screaming at us," Kerry said. He cited a recent study from the University of Pennsylvania, MIT, and the Heinz Center that found that even if the world aims for the highest goals currently on the table -- including Obama's call for an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2050 -- carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would still far exceed safe levels. "If every nation were to make good on its existing promises, we would still see atmospheric carbon dioxide levels well above 600 parts per million -- 50 percent above where we are now. ... And no one in the scientific community disputes that this would be catastrophic."

"Some may argue that we cannot afford to address this issue in the midst of an economic crisis," Kerry continued. "Those who pose that question have it fundamentally wrong. This is a moment of enormous opportunity for new technology, new jobs, and the greening and transformation of our economy."

Gore echoed that point, emphasizing that we can't wait to act on climate change, which is intertwined with other key national challenges. "We must face up to this urgent and unprecedented threat to the existence of our civilization at a time when our country must simultaneously solve two other worsening crises. Our economy is in its deepest recession since the 1930s. And our national security is endangered by a vicious terrorist network and the complex challenge of ending the war in Iraq honorably while winning the military and political struggle in Afghanistan," said Gore. "As we search for solutions to all three of these challenges, it is becoming clearer that they are linked by a common thread -- our dangerous over-reliance on carbon-based fuels."

House passes stimulus package with more than $100 billion in green spending

Without the support of a single Republican lawmaker, the House today approved the $819 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act by a vote of 244-188.

The package would allocate more than $100 billion in direct spending for various green projects, including money for clean energy and efficiency programs, a smart grid, weatherization of low- and moderate-income homes, retrofits on public buildings and public housing, clean water infrastructure, and environmental restoration.

The measure contains $14.6 billion for public transportation, $3 billion more than originally planned thanks to an amendment that mass transit supporters were able to add during debate. There's also $37.9 billion for energy efficiency and $27.8 billion for renewable energy. On top of those amounts, the Ways and Means Committee added $20 billion in renewable-energy and energy-efficiency tax credits and related financial incentives, and inserted language to make the investment tax credit passed last year refundable.

The bill now moves to the Senate, which probably won't vote on a package until next week. Appropriators have been hashing out how they'll distribute funds, and it's looking like green projects won't fare as well in the Senate version even though senators' package is $68 billion larger. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved $365.6 billion in spending, and the Senate Finance Committee passed $522 billion in tax measures, which include incentives for renewables. There's only $8.4 billion for mass transit in the Senate package, which is even less than a previous draft of the bill called for.

Salazar sends mixed signals on offshore drilling

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar indicated on Tuesday that he intends to scrap the Bush administration's leasing plan that would have opened the coasts to drilling, even as he said the Obama administration is open to some expanded development of offshore oil and gas fields.

The Bush administration's DOI issued a draft of a five-year leasing plan several days before leaving office, following on the expiration of the outer continental shelf moratorium last fall. But Salazar told the Associated Press that his department plans to work with Congress to craft "a plan that makes sense" for offshore oil and gas development in the context of a broader energy policy.

Though he didn't elaborate on areas that might be off-limits, Salazar advocated for some level of protection, which is an improvement, since currently there is nothing protecting the coasts. "There are places that are appropriate for exploration and development and there are places that are not," he said.

Today's Wall Street Journal chose to focus on Salazar's refusal to rule out trying to reinstitute the offshore drilling ban. Under the headline "Offshore Drilling on the Table" (sub. req'd.), the newspaper reported:

"Asked about the Bush administration's proposal to open certain areas of the East and West coasts to drilling and whether he saw any opportunities for expanded development of the nation's offshore areas, Mr. Salazar said: "When you look at the whole [outer continental shelf], it's a huge potential. And it has to be done carefully. We don't want to ruin the beaches of Florida and the coastlines of other places that are sensitive. On the other hand, there are places where it may be appropriate for us to have reconnaissance and exploration and even development. Those are questions that we are exploring and hopefully over the months ahead we'll have answers to these questions."