[GPCA Updates] GP RELEASE Greens call House energy bill dangerously weak, urge stronger steps against global warming

[Green Party of California Updates]

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, July 15, 2009




Greens give a thumbs-down to the House energy bill, urge Obama and the
Senate to pass stronger anti-global warming legislation

• Green Party 2009 Annual National Meeting in Durham, NC, July 23-26:
http://www.ncgreenparty.org/2009-ANM.html
Media credentialing page for the meeting: http://www.gp.org/forms/media


WASHINGTON, DC -- The Green Party's national Eco-Action Committee is
sharply criticizing an energy bill passed in the US House (HR 2454),
calling the legislation dangerously inadequate and a concession to
polluting industries.

Greens, currently preparing for the party's 2009 annual national
meeting in Durham, North Carolina, are urging the US Senate and
President Obama to reject the bill and instead enact stronger policies
to curb global warming.  The meeting takes place from July 23 to 26
(http://www.ncgreenparty.org/2009-ANM.html);

"The Energy Bill passed by the US House of Representatives is not a
transition to a sustainable energy future," said Audrey Clement, a
Virginia Green and member of the Eco-Action Committee.  "It moves us
in the wrong direction by subsidizing more coal and nuclear power, and
it''s far too weak in its support of earth-gentle renewable energies
and in its effort to reduce carbon emissions."

Greens called the the bill's cap on greenhouse gas emissions a
fraction of what it should be and said that the cap is undermined by
the allowance of annual "offsets" that allow polluters to keep
polluting.

"These offsets are a handout to large corporations," said Ms. Clement.

The Environmental Protection Agency's projections show that the
legislation's cap-and-trade system and provisions that restrict legal
efforts to block coal projects will lead to more coal use in 2020 than
in 2005.  The EPA anticipates that conventional coal use will fall
quickly after 2020, based on an expectation of new nuclear power
plants coming on line.

Greens strongly oppose more nuclear power plants and call "clean coal"
an industry myth, noting the catastrophic devastation that coal mining
has caused in West Virginia and other states through mountaintop
removal.  The Green Party supports a gradual elimination of coal and
nuclear energy and a moratorium on the construction of new nuclear and
coal plants.

"The destructive effects of using coal and nuclear are enormous and
well known," said Derek Iversen of the Green Party of California.
"It's imperative that we phase out these industries as soon as
possible, yet this bill does exactly the opposite."

Greens said that the Renewable Energy Standard (RES) in the bill will
have little effect, since it sets a goal of only 15% by 2020, and
warned that the bill promotes trash incinerators and biomass burners
despite the considerable greenhouse gases they emit.

The Green Party calls for aggressive policies to develop alternative
energies such as wind, solar, and geothermal, with an emphasis on
bioregional self-sufficiency.

"Nuclear and coal power as well as bio-fuels that appropriate needed
agricultural land, hike food prices, draw down critical water tables,
and degrade soils should be no part of the solution," said Gini
Lester, a member of the Illinois Green Party. "We need to move away
from corporate business-as-usual and get serious about real energy
transformation."

"We can achieve energy independence and more effectively address
climate change through the strategic use of alternative energies such
as wind and solar, and through increased efficiency and conservation,"
said Wes Rolley, co-chair of the Eco-Action Committee.  "There can be
no single solution that solves all of our problems; rather, there will
be a host of smaller solutions, rooftop solar, in-stream hydro, etc.
The key is to make them all work together."


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
• Green candidate database and campaign information:
http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
• Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
• Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
• Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections
• International Committee of the Green Party: 
http://www.gp.org/committees/intl

Green Pages, Vol. 13, No. 1
The official publication of record of the Green Party of the United States
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog


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