There might have been some other big news on your radar this week (don’t spoil Game of Thrones for me, please) but never underestimate the EcoRight’s presence and determination to do good. But first, a photo of me and the reluctant selfie-taker from last week’s Fenway trip.
Come sail away: Last week we mentioned the organized educational boat trip with Rep. Francis Rooney. If you want to learn more, check out the piece by the Washington Examiner’s Josh Siegel, who went along for the ride and lived to write about it. “My district is not moderate,” Rooney noted to Siegel. “The districts that are the reddest and most anti-environment and anti-[acting on] climate change are going to be the ones who suffer the most over the next 30 or 40 years.” (Alex Bozmoski promises us more of his direct observations and conversations from this trip. If you’re reading A Boz, your fans are waiting….)
This week’s must listen: In a conversation with KTOO Public Media, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski says about climate solutions, “I want to make sure I don’t leave people with the idea that there’s one silver bullet. I don’t. I think there are many.” (Side note: we call that silver buckshot.) After a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing this week, she told E&E Reporters that her committee “is engaged” in a carbon pricing “discussion so that there is a thorough vetting of what folks are talking about out there.”
America must lead: Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter, a member of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, penned this op-ed, America must remain the world’s leader in energy development (Savannah Morning News). “America has the smartest and brightest scientific minds in the world. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t stay the leader of innovation in this field,” he writes. “I understand that opinions across the state and country differ about climate change or its impact on severe weather. I meet with Georgians nearly every day and I hear differing opinions on climate change and its cause. I believe climate change is real and industrial activity is a contributing factor.”
Related, Select Committee Ranking Member Rep. Garret Graves is profiled by The Guardian in The Republican breaking rank with his party on climate change. “Years ago I said that I thought the Republican position on climate change is unsustainable,” Graves, who is from Louisiana, said in the interview. “Just sitting around totally denying the science is an unsustainable position.” He joined the Select Committee so he can play a role in ensuring Congress addresses the climate impacts his state faces. Louisiana is losing a football field of land every 100 minutes due to rising sea levels and shoreline erosion.
Over on the Senate-side of Capitol Hill: Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander also had his say on his Manhattan Project for Clean Energy, his proposed alternative to the Green New Deal. “I believe climate change is real. I believe that human emissions of greenhouse gases are a major cause of climate change,” he writes in this Fox News piece, Green New Deal would cost trillions annuallyhere’s a better idea. “So, as one Republican, I propose this response to climate change: the United States should launch a New Manhattan Project for Clean Energy, a five-year project to meet Ten Grand Challenges that will use American research and technology to put our country and the world firmly on a path toward cleaner, cheaper energy.” In a subsequent interview with the Wall Street Journal, the retiring Alexander said: “If you get past arguing about whether climate change is real and ask, ‘Should we be significantly increasing funding for clean energy research?’ you probably will get 80% support in the Senate.”
Corporate responsibility: Microsoft Corps is the latest corporation to join the Climate Leadership Council (CLC), the conservative-backed group supporting the carbon dividend plan devised by former Secretaries of State James A. Baker and George Shultz. According to Microsoft CEO Lucas Joppa, the company believes an “inclusive solution” is needed to solve climate change. Microsoft has worked to power its energy-hungry data centers with renewable sources and supported a Washington-state based carbon tax initiative that lost last year.
Today, we announce the addition of @Microsoft, one of the world’s largest tech companies, as our newest Founding Member. We applaud their commitment to support #CarbonDividends, the breakthrough solution for climate change our country needs. Read more: https://t.co/P0JxSZNztx pic.twitter.com/E16xnfaTmP
Climate Leadership Council (@TheCLCouncil) April 16, 2019
They join other corporate giants such as AT&T, GM, and ExxonMobil, non-profit organizations, and a wide range of economists, former lawmakers, and public policy experts associated with the Baker-Shultz carbon dividend plan.
Quote of the week: “Anyone who denies the risk of climate change is irresponsible,” according to EcoRighter Alex Flint, executive director of the Alliance for Market Solutions, a pro-carbon-tax group. “And being irresponsible disqualifies anyone from being a true conservative.” ??????
On that note, have a great weekend. Happy Easter, happy Passover, happy Game of Thrones-ing.