Climate Change

The UN Climate Summit, Sept. 23

On September 23, the United Nations hosted a Climate Summit "to engage leaders and advance climate action and ambition." The goal of the Summit is to "catalyze ambitious action on the ground to reduce emissions and strengthen climate resilience and mobilize political will for an ambitious global agreement by 2015 that limits the world to a less than 2-degree Celsius rise in global temperature."

President Obama addressed the Summit, and announced that he is directing federal agencies to factor climate resilience into international development programs and investments. (Read his remarks.)

1. "For all the immediate challenges that we gather to address this week — terrorism, instability, inequality, disease — there’s one issue that will define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other, and that is the urgent and growing threat of a changing climate." — President Obama

New Executive Order on Climate-Resilient International Development

In his speech, the President highlighted "the ambitious actions the US is taking under his Climate Action Plan, while stressing that all major economies must step up to the plate if we are to avoid the dangerous consequences of climate change." President Obama announced an Executive Order on Climate-Resilient International Development, requiring agencies to factor climate-resilience considerations systematically into the US government’s international development work and to promote a similar approach with multilateral entities. (Read the new Executive Order.)

One of the key elements of the President's Climate Action Plan is to  address the largest source of carbon emissions — the 32 percent of US greenhouse gas emissions that come from the power sector, mostly from coal-fired power plants. The "Clean Power Plan," a recent Environmental Protection Agency proposal, will for the first time cuts carbon pollution from existing power plants. With POPVOX, you can now tell the EPA what you think about the Clean Power Plan — and we'll deliver your message to the EPA as a "public comment":

• EPA

  EPA's Clean Power Plan

  By 2030, the plan will cut carbon emission from the power sector by 30 percent nationwide; cut particle pollution, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide by more than 25 percent; avoid up to 6,600 premature deaths, up to 150,000 asthma attacks in children, and up to 490,000 missed work or school days—providing up to $93 billion in climate and public health benefits; and shrink electricity bills roughly 8 percent by increasing energy efficiency and reducing demand. It will be implemented through a state-federal partnership under which states identify a path forward using either current or new electricity production and pollution control policies to meet the goals of the proposed program, according to the EPA.

On June 23, the Supreme Court maintained the EPA's power to regulate green house gas emissions with only minor restrictions. This ruling is in addition to another decision earlier this term that allowed the EPA regulate air pollution that drift across state borders. The EPA is now able to regulate 83% of sources related to greenhouse gas emissions. 

Related Bills in Congress

Congress has also introduced several bills related to climate change and the EPA proposals. Here are a few pending before Congress:

• HR 4813: Protection and Accountability Regulatory Act –*Bipartisan*– "Would stop the Obama Administration’s rules for both new and existing power plants, and place a five-year moratorium on any similar rules," according to the bill sponsor.
• S 2533: Agency PAYGO for Greenhouse Gases Act – Would limit the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ability to impose the costs of greenhouse gas (GHG) rules on other federal agencies without first providing an offset. Would prohibit the EPA from circumventing Congress to implement the President’s Climate Action Plan, including the EPA’s June 2, 2014 proposed regulations on carbon emissions from existing power plants," according to bill sponsors.
• HR 4850: Coal Jobs and Affordable Energy Protection Act – To prevent the EPA’s proposed regulations from taking effect until the Department of Labor certifies that the regulations would not cost jobs; the Congressional Budget certifies that the regulations would not result in any loss in the gross domestic product; the Energy Information Administration certifies that the regulations would not increase electricity rates; the Federal American Electric Reliability Corporation certifies that electricity deliver would remain reliable.
• S 2414: Coal Country Protection Act – To amend the Clean Air Act to prohibit the regulation of emissions of carbon dioxide from new or existing power plants under certain circumstances. The bill would prevent the EPA’s proposed emissions rule from going into effect until the Department of Labor certifies that the rule will not cause a loss in the US GDP, the Department of Energy certifies that the rule will not increase electricity rates, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission certifies that electricity delivery will remain viable.
• HR 5034: Stop the EPA Act – To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for certain special congressional review procedures for EPA rulemakings.
• HR 4799: Clean Air Fairness Act – To amend the Clean Air Act to give States adequate time to revise their State implementation plans to prevent emissions activity within such States from contributing significantly to nonattainment in, or interfering with maintenance by, any other State with respect to any national ambient air quality standard.
• HR 4808: Protecting Jobs, Families, and the Economy From EPA Overreach Act–*Bipartisan*– Requires that specific criteria be met before the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can impose any new regulations on the nation’s power plants, including the controversial new rule recently announced by the Obama Administration, according to the bill sponsors.
• S 2905: Carbon Pollution Transparency Act – To require the Congressional Budget Office to calculate a carbon score for each bill or resolution.
• HR 4754: Managed Carbon Price Act – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by requiring a Federal emission permit for the sale or use of covered substances. Would reduce harmful carbon dioxide emissions and to help American industry transition to clean sources of energy, according to bill sponsors.
• S 2526: Commonsense Legislative Exceptional Events Reform (CLEER) Act – Would streamline Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations intended to ensure that states and localities are not considered in violation of federal air-quality standards due to uncontrollable, naturally occurring events – otherwise known as “exceptional events” – such as the dust storms and wildfires that occur in Arizona," according to bill sponsors.
• S 2514: Ozone Regulatory Delay and Extension of Assessment Length (ORDEAL) Act – Would give the EPA more time to review and revise air quality standards, ensuring a more certain regulatory environment for state air-quality agencies and businesses, according to bill sponsors.

Additionally, there are several proposals related to global climate change:

• SRes 524: Global Climate Change Resolution – Would simply express the sense of the Senate that climate change is occurring and that it will continue to pose ongoing risks and challenges to our citizens and to our country," according to the resolution sponsor.
• HR 662: Prohibiting Contributions to UN Climate Change Efforts – To prohibit the US from contributing taxpayer dollars to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), according to bill sponsor. 
• HCRes 36: Resolution on Women and Climate Change – Recognizing the disparate impact of climate change on women and the efforts of women globally to address climate change.

Please keep in mind that highlighting a bill doesn't imply a POPVOX endorsement in any way. Rather, we're simply trying to offer one more way to stay informed of an overwhelmingly complex legislative system.