Obama Clean Energy Budget and Republican Opposition

Here is a summary of the green elements in President Obama's $4 trillion budget for 2016 which he sent to Congress on Monday February 2. Republicans are already expressing their opposition to a number of proposals contained in the budget. This includes higher taxes on wealthier Americans and corporations as well as a number of climate oriented mitigation and adaptation initiatives.

Obama's budget asks for a total of $7.4 billion to develop clean energy technology strategies through the Departments of Defense, Energy, and Agriculture, and the National Science Foundation. His budget seeks to provide permanent tax incentives for the solar and wind industries and extend the investment Tax Credit for solar which is due to expire at the end of 2016. It also contains provisions for updating the national energy grid to accommodate more renewable energy.

There is money earmarked for states including an additional $4 billion fund to encourage states to make faster and deeper cuts to power plant emissions than are required by the EPA's clean power plan. The budget seeks to offer state financial incentives to expand clean energy initiatives and cut greenhouse gases.

As the President who made America a fossil fuel leader the budget seeks ways of minimizing associated emissions. This includes funding for carbon capture and storage, alongside research to measure methane emissions that leak from natural gas operations. 

While much of the budget is geared towards mitigation, there are also a range of proposals focused on adaptation. This includes preparations to manage natural disasters, drought, wildfires, and coastal flooding.

The Obama administration also wants to give $1.29 billion to its Global Climate Change Initiative. This includes $500 million for US contributions to the UN’s Green Climate Fund, the first installment of the $3 billion pledged by the US last November.

Unsurprisingly the budget is already being opposed by Republicans, who now control both chambers of Congress.

Obama's budget proposal follows the 11th hour passage of a $1.1 trillion spending plan in January to fund the federal government for the rest of this fiscal year. The omnibus spending bill, aptly nicknamed the cromnibus bill contained a number of anti-environment riders.

Even though Environmental funding is less than 1.5 percent of the overall federal budget, Republicans singled out these programs for cuts. This included spending cuts to EPA's regulatory oversight budget as well as the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). This budget prohibits the enforcement of efficient light bulb regulations, it blocks future efforts to restrict mining waste and efforts to stop funding for coal plants abroad.

A Grist article explained, "All of these measures demonstrate that the GOP’s real agenda is not to save money, but to free polluting industries from the burdens of social responsibility."

Scott Slesinger, legislative director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said, “Republicans don’t want to implement environmental laws or enforce laws that are already on the books.”

Related
GOP Denial and President Obama's Climate Legacy
Cromnibus Bill Foreshadows the GOP's Legislative Agenda
Anti-Environmental Tidings in a Bill to Keep Government Running
Republicans Pass Anti-Science Bill in the House
Republicans Declare War on the Environment
Republican Ignorance and the Latest IPCC Report
Republican Law to Curtail (Environmental) Regulations
Republicans vs Democrats on Climate Change
Republican Climate Deniers are in Control
The Arsenal Republicans will use in their War on Climate
GOP Identifies Targets for their Impending War Against Climate Protections
Climate Denial will Soon be Political Suicide
Republicans Trying to Kill Power Plant Rules
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GOP Denial and President Obama's Climate Legacy

Republicans continue to resist the veracity of anthropogenic climate change despite an endless stream of scientific warnings. The GOP response to President Obama's State of the Union address was given by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and she did not mention climate change once. The only time she mentioned the environment was in the context of her party's support for the Keystone XL.

The Republican message did not respond to the President's address and Ernst laced her speech with a number of dishonest comments. "Even if we may not always agree, it's important to hear different points of view in this great country. We appreciate the President sharing his," she said.

Ernst's comment is a blatant lie. Throughout most of the Obama Presidency Republicans have had no interest in serious debate, they showed no signs of compromise and have laid down a solid track record demonstrating their vociferous resistance to working with the Democrats.

Ernst declared that as a child she was, "raised to live simply, not to waste." However, it is hard to reconcile this statement with Republican resistance to efforts curb Wall street excesses or engage a low carbon economy.

Even the fact that Obama has made the US the world's largest producer of oil and gas did not earn him favor or foster a spirit of bipartisanship.

The GOP have opposed him from the beginning. His reliance on science to drive policy initiatives on issues like climate change have only emboldened their obstructionism.

In his remaining two years in office, President Obama has no other recourse than to use his executive powers, even though he has used such powers sparingly.

So when the President vetoes a piece of Republican legislation or signs an executive order, understand that this is the only sane response to an anti-science, anti-reason, anti-compromise Republican party.

You cannot expect much from a Republican party with climate denying Senators like Jim Inhofe (R-OK) who continue to say that human-caused climate change is not real. "Man cannot change climate," Inhofe said recently. "The hoax is that there are some people that are so arrogant to think that they are so powerful that they can change climate."

The President is doing what he can to combat climate change, he has laid a foundation that future presidents will have to grapple with. History will record that the Republican party stood in the way.

The GOP will succeed in ensuring that the President will not be able to pass legislation, particularly climate legislation.

The President may be a lame duck, but history will record that the GOP is simply lame.

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Obama's Clean Energy Budget and Republican Opposition
Cromnibus Bill Foreshadows the GOP's Legislative Agenda
Anti-Environmental Tidings in a Bill to Keep Government Running
Republicans Pass Anti-Science Bill in the House
Republicans Declare War on the Environment
Republican Ignorance and the Latest IPCC Report
Republican Law to Curtail (Environmental) Regulations
Republicans vs Democrats on Climate Change
Republican Climate Deniers are in Control
The Arsenal Republicans will use in their War on Climate
GOP Identifies Targets for their Impending War Against Climate Protections
Climate Denial will Soon be Political Suicide
Republicans Trying to Kill Power Plant Rules
Video - Rep. Peters Calls out GOP Climate Deniers and States it is Time to Act on Climate Change
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Video - Stop the Republican Environmental Assault

Republicans were planning their assault on environmental protections even before they won big in the 2014 midterms. It did not take them long to identify targets in their anti-climate/anti-environment crusade. No single agency is more maligned by the GOP than the EPA.

Click here to join Robert Redford and NRDC in asking President Obama to stand up to Congress and defend our health, our families and our environment.

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Obama's Clean Energy Budget and Republican Opposition
GOP Denial and President Obama's Climate Legacy
Cromnibus Bill Foreshadows the GOP's Legislative Agenda
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Republicans Declare War on the Environment
Republican Ignorance and the Latest IPCC Report
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Cromnibus Bill Foreshadows the GOP's Legislative Agenda

In the December budget bill, Republicans gave themselves and their friends a number of Christmas gifts. The so called Cromnibus bill is a pale reflection of what Republican legislators will do when they have even greater control in 2015.

After the House voted in favor of a 1.1 trillion government funding bill, the Senate followed suit and passed the bill on Saturday night (December 13) with a vote of 56 to 40. To avoid a government shutdown, Republicans demanded some non-germane amendments that amount to big gifts for themselves and their friends in the oil industry and on Wall Street.

In addition to a number of anti-environmental provisions, the bill weakens the Dodd-Frank act that placed restrictions on banks risky derivative trading that caused the financial crisis and subsequent recession of 2008. The bill will also allow wealthy donors to contribute up $3.1 million per election cycle which is more than three times the current limit. This opens the doors to even more Republican funding from oil interests and Wall Street. These two measures amount to cronyism hence the appellation "Cromnibus bill."

In addition to a host of anti-environmental riders in the bill, the fossil fuel industry benefited from the bill's pro-highway transportation support and a decrease in funding for the relatively more efficient train travel. Amtrak operating subsidies would go down from $340 million to $250 million. Smart growth investment through the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) competitive grant program (created in the 2009 stimulus package) was cut by $100 million.

The bill, which funds most of the government for the rest of the fiscal year or until the month of September will be signed by President Obama this week.

Some Republicans wanted to use the bill to defund the EPA's authority to protect waterways and the clean energy plan, however these initiatives were dropped before the vote. The Senate was forced to work over the weekend thanks to Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) opposition to President Obama's immigration related executive orders.

The bill was strongly condemned by a wide range of environmental organizations not only for what it contains but also for what it means for the coming legislative session in the new year.

Republicans are wringing their hands in glee as they look forward to the forthcoming legislative session in 2015. When Republicans bolster their ranks in the House and take control of the Senate, we can expect more non-germane amendments to advance their anti-environmental agenda.

The new year will not mark the beginning of compromise, it will herald the dawn of unprecedented extortion from the GOP.

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Obama's Clean Energy Budget and Republican Opposition
GOP Denial and President Obama's Climate Legacy
Anti-Environmental Tidings in a Bill to Keep Government Running
Republicans Pass Anti-Science Bill in the House
Republicans Declare War on the Environment
Republican Ignorance and the Latest IPCC Report
Republican Law to Curtail (Environmental) Regulations
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The Arsenal Republicans will use in their War on Climate
GOP Identifies Targets for their Impending War Against Climate Protections
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Anti-Environmental Tidings in a Bill to Keep Government Running

A pre-Christmas bill contains some bad tidings for the environment. Republicans had an extortion list to avert a government shutdown that included blocking environmental protections. The so called Cromnibus bill, narrowly passed in the House with a vote 219 to 206, it will keep the government running until next September. The $1.01 trillion, 1,603-page spending bill is chalked full of pork including a number of anti-environment provisions.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and many of her colleagues were particularly displeased with two attached riders that would significantly increase the ceiling for political donations from wealthy patrons while scaling back the Dodd Frank Wall Street reform act designed to reign-in the kind of Wall Street activity that sparked the financial crisis of 2008.

"This is ransom, this is blackmail," Pelosi said. "We don't get a bill unless Wall Street gets its taxpayer-funded coverage." Similarly, it could also be said that Americans were permitted to keep their running government running by allowing Republicans to whittle away at environmental protections.

As extrapolated from a Climate Progress article, here are some of the worst.

Cutting Environmental Protection Agency Funding

Under the bill, EPA funding would be cut by 60 million compared to last year. This will force a staff cutback that will would hamper the EPA's ability to do its work including enforcing basic health protections and cleaning up Superfund sites.  

Preventing Funding To The Green Climate Fund

The bill explicitly states that “no funds may be made available for the Green Climate Fund,” Green Climate Funds are designed to help developing nations deal with the impacts of climate change.

Fossil Fuel Development Kills Endangered Species Research

The bill prevents federal funds from being used to determine the eligibility status of two species of sage grouse (the Gunnnisan and the greater) under the Endangered Species Act. The real issue here is drilling and fracking on land used by the sage grouse. The Gunnison sage grouse was listed as “threatened” by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last month, but the agency originally had until next September to figure out a listing for the greater sage grouse Denying scientific study precludes their listing as endangered species and invites fossil fuel development.

Finance of Coal-Fired Power Plants at the Expense Renewable Energy Abroad

The spending bill would opens the door to finance for coal power plants abroad In effect the provision allows for the export of carbon pollution at the expense of sustainable, clean energy for developing countries.

Prohibiting Regulations On Light Bulb Efficiency

The bill prevents government from funding efforts to “implement or enforce” standards for light bulb efficiency.

Blocking Regulation of Lead Ammunition

The bill includes a provision that would prohibit federal funds going toward regulation of lead in ammunition and fishing. Lead in bullets and fishing tackle are harmful to birds and other animals.

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Obama's Clean Energy Budget and Republican Opposition
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Cromnibus Bill Foreshadows the GOP's Legislative Agenda
Republicans Pass Anti-Science Bill in the House
Republicans Declare War on the Environment
Republican Ignorance and the Latest IPCC Report
Republican Law to Curtail (Environmental) Regulations
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The Arsenal Republicans will use in their War on Climate
GOP Identifies Targets for their Impending War Against Climate Protections
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The Weapons Republican will use in their War on Climate Protections

There are a number of weapons that the GOP will use in their war against climate protections. The planning has already begun as the new slate of Republican legislators and governors prepare to be sworn in in January. Here is the array of resources each side has at its disposal.

Republicans are already zeroing in on targets. They will try to pass legislation that eliminates climate change mitigation efforts and environmental protections. They will support fossil fuels and resist cleaner forms of energy.

The right to filibuster and a Presidential Veto are all that stand in the way of the GOP's legislative assaults. When the Democrats avail themselves of their only option or the President uses his veto, Republicans can be expected to wreak bloody havoc.

For starters the GOP can block all of the President's nominees. They can use tactics such as those they have attempted in the past. This includes efforts to defund federal agencies like the EPA. They can shut down government by refusing to approve a budget. They could even trigger the "nuclear option" of a global financial collapse by breaching the debt ceiling and defaulting on the US national debt.

Most Democrats and businesses with a conscience along with a number of mayors and investors will oppose the Republican agenda. However, the loudest voices will come from environmental organizations and concerned citizens. As evidenced by the recent People's Climate March support for climate protections is at an unprecedented high. These protests may even succeed in forcing some Republicans to think twice ahead of the 2016 presidential elections. 

To stay within acceptable temperature limits the US must radically decrease their greenhouse gas emissions. If Republicans are allowed to proceed with their agenda it will radically accelerate carbon production.

 The implications of runaway climate change are widely documented. The scientific community is virtually unanimous in its assessment of what will happen if we continue on our current trajectory. If Republicans succeed in dismantling climate mitigation efforts it will augur catastrophe.

Although it will get far worse in the future the current situation is already perilous. As many as five million people are killed each year by climate change related phenomenon, by the end of the century that number could rise to 100 million. The GOP's agenda is a road-map to the earth's sixth mass extinction event.

The Republican assault on climate protections may not be fought with guns, planes or tanks, but if it goes unchallenged, it could prove more lethal than a full scale conventional war.

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Obama's Clean Energy Budget and Republican Opposition
GOP Denial and President Obama's Climate Legacy
Cromnibus Bill Foreshadows the GOP's Legislative Agenda
Anti-Environmental Tidings in a Bill to Keep Government Running
Republicans Pass Anti-Science Bill in the House
Republicans Declare War on the Environment
Republican Ignorance and the Latest IPCC Report
Republican Law to Curtail (Environmental) Regulations
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Republican Climate Deniers are in Control
The Arsenal Republicans will use in their War on Climate
GOP Identifies Targets for their Impending War Against Climate Protections
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Republicans Pass Anti-Science Bill in the House

Republicans in the House of Representatives have passed a bill that would keep the EPA from using science to inform and support their policy positions. Republicans have a long history of resisting science particularly when its serves their partisan interests. However, with this new bill they have sunk to a new low as few pieces of legislation are as blatently anti-science as this one.

In November the House passed a bill that would limit the type of scientific research available to the EPA for crafting regulations. The bill deceptively named the Secret Science Reform Act of 2014 passed in the House with a vote of 237 to 190. While the legislation purports to restrict the EPA's use of science that is "hidden and flawed" it is actually an attempt to undermine access to things like medical research which guarantees that the medical records of those who participate are kept confidential.

"Some of the best real-world public health research, which relies on patient data like hospital admissions, would be excluded from consideration because personal data could not, and should not, be made public," wrote Union of Concerned Scientists director Andrew Rosenberg. "Demanding public release of full raw data the agency cannot legally disclose is simply a way to accuse the agency of hiding something when it has nothing to hide."

The White House explained the Republican's efforts this way, "In short, the bill would undermine EPA’s ability to protect the health of Americans, would impose expensive new mandates on EPA, and could impose substantial litigation costs on the Federal government...It also could impede EPA’s reliance on the best available science."

Clearly, depriving the EPA of access to the best science is the real goal of the House bill. While their crusade against science driven policy is hardly a secret, passing legislation to restrict government agencies from taking informed positions seems extreme even for them.

This legislation is a thinly veiled assault against the EPA. It may be best understood as an attack against the wealth of scientific evidence that shows why environmental protections and efforts to combat climate change are so important. Given their support for the fossil fuel industry, Republicans are at odds with the vast array of scientific data that shows how burning carbon is destructive to the environment and human health.

Republican actions are explained by the fact that they are beholden to the fossil fuel industry at the expense of the health of Americans and the national interest. Simply put, Republicans are afraid of science because it refutes their convoluted web of lies.

Related
Obama's Clean Energy Budget and Republican Opposition
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Cromnibus Bill Foreshadows the GOP's Legislative Agenda
Anti-Environmental Tidings in a Bill to Keep Government Running
Republicans Declare War on the Environment
Republican Ignorance and the Latest IPCC Report
Republican Law to Curtail (Environmental) Regulations
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Republicans Declare War on the Environment and Surrender to Climate Change

Even before the new slate of Republican's take their seats in Congress early in 2015, they have already begun their assault on the environment and efforts to fight climate change. They have promised to take on the EPA and President Obama's climate change agenda.

Led Mitch McConnell, the man destined to be the next Senate majority leader, this climate-denying-coal-loving Senator has made his anti-science, anti-climate and anti-environment intentions clear. In his home state of Kentucky he campaigned on the promise of combating what he has terms Obama's "war on coal." One of the top items on the Republican agenda is fast tracking of the Keystone XL.

Republicans have vowed to delay the EPA's regulatory initiatives through a variety of tactics including "open investigation" and call for funding cuts that would defund the EPA's efforts. As chair of the environmental committee, Senator Jim Inhofe is expected to hold hearing to aggressively attack the EPA administrator Gina McCarthy. As explained by Inhofe, "As we enter a new Congress, I will do everything in my power to rein in and shed light on the EPA’s unchecked regulations." Inhofe has also denounced the recent historic climate agreement between the US and China.

Tax credits for renewable energy are also under attack from some Republicans as lawmakers address the fate of dozens of expired tax provisions and work to reach a deal by mid-December. In particular the revival of the wind energy tax credit, which expired at the end of 2013, can be expected to be vociferously rejected by some Republicans in congress, while others may continue to support it.

The President still has his veto powers and McConnell is unlikely to be able to muster the two-thirds majority in the Senate necessary to override a presidential veto. There is also the court of public opinion, if sufficient numbers of Americans come to understand the facts, they may rebel against Republican's anti-science tirades. 

Related
Obama's Clean Energy Budget and Republican Opposition
GOP Denial and President Obama's Climate Legacy
Cromnibus Bill Foreshadows the GOP's Legislative Agenda
Anti-Environmental Tidings in a Bill to Keep Government Running
Republicans Pass Anti-Science Bill in the House
Republican Ignorance and the Latest IPCC Report
Republican Law to Curtail (Environmental) Regulations
Republicans vs Democrats on Climate Change
Republican Climate Deniers are in Control
The Arsenal Republicans will use in their War on Climate
GOP Identifies Targets for their Impending War Against Climate Protections
Climate Denial will Soon be Political Suicide
Republicans Trying to Kill Power Plant Rules
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