New climate alliance forms with some big names behind it
Some of the most influential organizations in Washington, D.C., are teaming up to advocate for low-income people under climate legislation. The new Climate Equity Alliance, incorporating two dozen groups ranging from international relief giant Oxfam America to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), is launching today with the release of six principles aimed directly at Congress as it drafts a global warming bill.
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Some of the most influential organizations in Washington, D.C., are teaming up to advocate for low-income people under climate legislation.
The new Climate Equity Alliance, incorporating two dozen groups ranging from international relief giant Oxfam America to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), is launching today with the release of six principles aimed directly at Congress as it drafts a global warming bill.
The coalition wants a significant portion of money raised under a greenhouse gas cap to go for direct rebates to those with low and moderate incomes, as well as a chunk of dollars to spur the creation of "green" jobs. It also is calling for workers in energy-intensive industries to get extra help as corporations transition away from fossil fuels.
"Greenhouse gas emissions should not result in windfall profits for corporations as a giveaway," said Jason Walsh, national policy director at Green For All, whose founder, Van Jones, now works for the Obama administration.
Other well-known groups constituting the alliance include the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the Economic Policy Institute and the Center for American Progress, which has ties to President Obama through individuals such as Carol Browner, a former member of its board of directors who now is the president's chief climate adviser.
"These are clearly a set of groups whose opinions will matter to the administration and the majority party in the House and the Senate," said Barry Rabe, a public policy professor at the University of Michigan.
The new lobbying entity comes amid a growing climate justice movement that wants to make sure that regulations don't exacerbate existing inequalities between the rich and poor, said Michele Betsill, a political science professor at Colorado State University.
It also is evidence of the lobbying surge to come with the release of draft climate legislation last week, Rabe said.
Pushing for 100% auction of allowances
The roots of the alliance formed in 2008 after groups watched the demise of a climate bill sponsored by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and the now-retired Sen. John Warner (R-Va.). There was a phenonemon then where lawmakers usually aloof about the concerns of low-income people suddenly started talking about them right and left, said Walsh.
"It was a little bit of hypocrisy," he said.
In coming weeks, the umbrella group will release more detailed policy recommendations, although some clearly are evident.
They want to get as close as possible to a 100 percent auction of allowances under a carbon cap, according to Chad Stone, chief economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Under such a plan, companies would have to pay fully for permits to continue spewing heat-trapping gases into the air, rather than getting allowances freely.
Part of the resulting money pie should go for programs that make buildings more energy efficient and climate "resilient," said David Waskow at Oxfam. He and several other members of the new partnership mentioned Hurricane Katrina as an example of how impoverished people could be hurt by rising temperatures.
As for the climate rebates, the alliance advises a mix of both tax credits and electronic transfers to the poorest individuals. That would ensure that people who are not paying taxes, due to their low income, receive some help under a legislative framework, according to Stone.
It's a different approach from "cap and dividend," another touted approach that would recycle money back to everyone, including high-income earners. A focus on low- and moderate-income people, in contrast, would require only between about 15 and 55 percent of allowances to be recycled, according to Stone.
In his budget proposal, Obama suggested that the bulk of cap-and-trade dollars go to the "Making Work Pay" tax credit, which would apply to some families firmly in the middle class.
"If that option remains alive, a bill would have to have some things wrapped around it" to make sure the poorest people don't miss out on assistance, Stone said.
