Articles by Kate Sheppard

Lands bill clears first Senate hurdle

The Senate approved a motion to move forward with the omnibus lands bill on Sunday, a bill that would protect more than 2 million acres of wilderness in nine states.

The bill combines more than 150 separate pieces of legislation on wilderness areas and other federal lands, and was put together last Congress. It has been repeatedly held up by procedural stalling from several Republican senators, most notably Oklahoma's Tom Coburn. The cloture motion, which passed 66-12, allows the Senate to proceed to debate.

Coburn was nonplussed. "I'm disappointed the Senate majority leader has refused to allow senators the opportunity to improve, amend or eliminate any of the questionable provisions in his omnibus lands bill," said Coburn in a statement.

The Democratic leader, Harry Reid (Nev.), has said he would like this and another pieces of legislation passed before the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and the inauguration next week. "I'm gratified by the impressive bipartisan support my colleagues showed today in voting to advance this bill," said bill sponsor Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) in a statement on Sunday. "I look forward to proceeding to the legislation next week."

Wilderness advocates were pleased as well. "By voting to protect mountains and pristine wildlands, Congress is starting out on the right foot," said Environment America Preservation Advocate Christy Goldfuss. "This Congress is serious about protecting the environment and the outstanding lands that Americans treasure."

Alaska Dem. kicks off Congress with call for ANWR drilling

Newly sworn-in Alaska Sen. Mark Begich (D) on Friday kicked off the 111th Congress by attacking Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) for reintroducing a bill to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Begich has been bullish on opening the reserve for drilling. In a press release he accused Lieberman of "knee-jerk reaction" to please greens:

"Sen. Lieberman's ANWR legislation is another misguided attempt at locking up ANWR to appease environmentalists across the country," he said. "What this country needs is a comprehensive energy plan dealing with oil and gas development, as well as renewable energy resources, to ease our dependence on foreign oil. Domestic production including the enormous oil and gas reserves believed to lie beneath the Arctic Refuge must be a part of that policy."

Hmmm, sound like anyone else we know from Alaska?

Most importantly, this is further proof that an increased Democratic majority in the Senate doesn't mean it will be all rainbows and sunshine when it comes to environmental policy. Major differences exist within the caucus and are already flaring up.

(Via Politico.)

Push continues for more green infrastructure funding in the economic-stimulus package

Senate Democrats on Sunday convinced President-elect Barack Obama to add more money for clean-energy tax credits to his economic-stimulus plan, doubling available funds to at least $20 billion.

Horse-trading is sure to continue as the Obama team and congressional leaders try to agree on what should be included in a package that could cost more than $775 billion. The initial Obama plan didn't include details on how much would go toward infrastructure and didn't specifically mention mass-transit funding, though it called for doubling the production of renewable energy and retrofitting the majority of federal buildings. Some enviros and transit advocates are concerned that the stimulus plan could put massive amounts of money into traditional infrastructure without taking into account the long-term environmental impacts.

And in his Saturday radio/YouTube address, Obama said the plan would create nearly half a million jobs through clean energy investments, including doubling the amount of renenwable energy used in the country and retrofitting the majority of federal buildings. "These made-in-America jobs building solar panels and wind turbines, developing fuel-efficient cars and new energy technologies pay well, and they can’t be outsourced," said Obama (who still hasn't explained exactly why wind turbines and solar panels can't be constructed elsewhere).

Green(ish) news from our nation's capitol

• Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) wants to get funding for FutureGen -- the proposed "zero emissions" coal plant that the Bush administration axed due to ballooning costs -- into the stimulus package. Durbin said Thursday that he got a "positive response" when he discussed it with energy secretary nominee Steven Chu. His state-mate Barack Obama pushed to revive the plant back when he was just a senator.

• At a hearing on Thursday, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) announced the newest Democratic members of his committee (though their appointments aren't yet final): Evan Bayh (Ind.), Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), and two new senators, Mark Udall (Colorado) and Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire).

• It's looking increasingly likely that Wall Street big-wig Steve Rattner, who works for the private investment firm Quadrangle Group, will be named as Obama's "car czar."