Green For All and the American Clean Energy and Security Act

On June 26, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES).  This is a historic, decisive attempt to move the U.S. to a clean energy economy, to both protect the environment and revitalize our economy.  Green For All supports this bill, despite its flaws, for many reasons.  Two of these reasons stand out.  First, we need to take immediate action to repair our deteriorating atmosphere, even if that action is not as ambitious as it should be.  And second, this bill takes a first step not just towards a green economy, but also towards a fair economy.

This is how we came to support the American Clean Energy Security Act.

I. A Possible Climate and Energy Bill

Green For All’s position on any given bill depends on the range of likely outcomes for everyday Americans, particularly those in low-income communities and communities of color.  ACES is no exception.  When the bill came out of committee, we realized that we were facing three possible scenarios.

Scenario A: The bill could fail to become law.  In this case, another climate bill would probably not emerge until after the 2011 midterm elections at the earliest — and possibly not until after the 2012 presidential election.  In the meantime, the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen would come and go without American action (much less leadership), and would fail as a consequence.  The atmosphere would continue to deteriorate, bringing us closer to the tipping point where the damage becomes irreparable.  Our failing economy would keep shedding jobs while sputtering on the fumes of an ever-shrinking oil supply.  And low-income communities and communities of color, where pollution is most concentrated, would bear the brunt of these failures, in unemployment, poverty, and health risks like asthma and cancer.

Scenario B: The bill could pass unchanged, exactly as it came out of committee.  Despite climate provisions tempered by political compromise, the committee version of ACES would still be a first step towards a clean energy economy for the new century. But that economy would have little to no room for low-income communities and communities of color.  This version of the bill would protect low-income consumers against increases in energy prices (provisions for which we fought hard with the Climate Equity Alliance), but would do nothing to create economic opportunity for those communities.  It would be a first step towards another century of exclusion and marginalization for the very Americans who most need the opportunities for work, wealth and health that a green economy will bring.  That is not a first step we want to take.

Scenario C: The House could pass an improved version of the bill guaranteeing that disadvantaged communities could enjoy the benefits of the new economy.  The climate provisions would likely still fall short of what the planet needs and deserves (though we would work hard to strengthen them).  Even so, an improved ACES would be a first step towards a green future.  Though not as long a stride as we would like, it would be a step in the right direction: towards a clean energy economy where everyone has a chance to succeed.  A revised ACES would lay the foundation for a fair, green economy that creates opportunity for everyday people to move from poverty to prosperity.

None of these scenarios is ideal.  A perfect bill, or even one with appropriately aggressive climate and clean energy provisions, is not on the table right now.  Given these options, Green For All decided to do everything it could to secure Scenario C: a climate and energy bill that creates opportunity for low-income communities and communities of color.  We knew that, if we didn’t engage in the process, everyday people would pay the price when our issues were missing from the final bill.

II. Offering a Solution

Green For All decided to engage in the debate around ACES and try to make it a stronger bill — one that we could support.  That decision presented two questions.  One, what changes to the bill would ensure that opportunity and access?  And two, how could we make those changes to the bill?

In answer to the first question, Green For All and its partners offered two simple ideas.

One, use ACES to fund the Green Jobs Act.  That Act trains workers, particularly those from disadvantaged communities, for jobs in the clean energy economy — and leverages significant private sector money in doing so.  This creates green pathways out of poverty for those workers, and creates a large pool of qualified workers for employers.  It gives low-income workers and workers of color the skills and tools they need to succeed in the new economy.

Two, add community-benefit requirements to ACES.  By mandating that well-trained, local, low-income workers perform a certain amount of the work on ACES-funded construction projects, we can guarantee that these projects do not just improve the local environment, but also invest in the local economy.  When designed well, such provisions can provide both immediate employment and an entry into family-supporting careers in green construction.

At the same time, Green For All joined with many other leading environmental organizations in calling for stronger climate measures aligned with scientific need, not political expediency.  We also continued the advocacy we had begun in earlier with the Climate Equity Alliance, which put forward a set of recommendations to maximize the gain and minimize the pain for low-income communities of color in ACES.  (See more about the Climate Equity Alliance)

III. Making ACES Stronger, Getting It Passed

The next question was how to get these changes made to ACES.

In our effort to insert provisions expanding economic opportunity and access to America’s most vulnerable communities, Green For All pulled together a new and unique coalition of local and national groups.  This coalition included organizations from the labor movement, the environmental movement, the civil rights establishment, and faith-based communities.  Among others, AFL-CIO Building Trades, Center for Community Change, National Employment Law Project, and the Partnership for Working Families helped to develop legislative language and advocated with us in the halls of Congress. And the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Color of Change, Interfaith Worker Justice, and others all backed up our asks in the critical final negotiations.

This coalition made the difference in making sure that marginalized communities will get to enjoy the benefits and opportunities of the clean energy economy.  It generated 15,000 online actions demanding that inclusion and equality be a central part of ACES.

On Capitol Hill, the Tri-Caucus leadership became true champions of our cause.  Representative Bobby Rush stepped forward to formally offer the targeted hire amendment to ACES.  And Representatives Ben Ray Luján and Emanuel Cleaver II joined with him in fighting with inexhaustible energy and dedication to get those amendments included.

Together, our coalition and our champions on the Hill got these provisions added to ACES.

With organizations like 1Sky, Environment America, MoveOn, Sierra Club and more, we also called for a more aggressive Renewable Electricity and Energy Efficiency Standard (the percentage of electricity that must come from clean and renewable sources or electricity savings). We called for the restoration of the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate carbon emissions from coal plants.  And we called for a reduction in the number of permits fossil fuel companies get for free, as well as the number of “offsets” (emission reductions realized elsewhere) they are allowed in lieu of reducing their own global warming pollution.  The latter could, if poorly regulated, undermine emission reduction targets.

Though stronger, the bill was not ideal.  It now included funding for the Green Jobs Act and community-benefit requirements, but its climate provisions had not improved.  Still, we decided it was now strong enough to support.  The next step was to get the bill through the House.  Once again, our new coalition rose to the occasion, generating 1,000 phone calls to key Representatives in the 48 hours before the vote.  Thanks to these efforts, ACES won approval from the full House by a tally of 219-212 on June 26.

IV. The Final Version of ACES

If it becomes law, the American Clean Energy and Security Act will put a cap on how much pollution American businesses can produce.  To pollute, a company will need a permit.  Big polluters will have to buy additional permits  from others if they can’t achieve emission reductions .  That means that, for the first time, polluters will have to pay a price for the damage they are doing to our environment.  That damage has been exacting a price for many years in health costs, clean up costs and lower quality of life for millions – not to mention a suffocating planet.  But polluters have never been the ones to pay that price; that has always fallen to taxpayers and everyday people — particularly low-income communities and communities of color at the smokestack end of our grey economy.

And by having polluters buy permits (though they get far too many for free in the initial years), ACES invests the money they pay to pollute directly in renewable energy and energy efficiency industries.  This will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and a new pillar of strength for the U.S. economy.  These direct investments, along with an unprecedented array of new efficiency standard and the emission cap’s market-transforming signal to businesses and investors will generate billions of dollars in new wealth and set America up for prosperity in the 21st century and beyond.

ACES also contains the two key provisions our coalition advocated for, ensuring that low-income communities and communities of color have access to the opportunities that this legislation will create in the clean energy economy.  It also fully protects low-income consumers from any increases in energy rates due to the price that ACES places on dirty energy.  (For more information about these provisions, visit LINK)

Despite these major advances, ACES also falls short in some key areas.  Unswayed by our advocacy —  and recklessly ignoring the best scientific data and analysis —  the House set its Renewable Electricity and Energy Efficiency Standard too low.  The House bill lets fossil fuel companies off the hook with too many free permits and too may offsets.  And it strips the EPA of regulatory authority to set performance standards for existing coal plants.

Though flawed, ACES is a net gain for the country.  It is our best chance to start building a clean energy economy with opportunity for every community — and to help lead the world in doing the same.

V. What’s Next: Making Sure the Senate Bill Measures Up

In the coming months, the Senate will craft its own version of climate and energy legislation.  When it passes, the Senate and House will come together to craft a final bill that combines the Senate legislation with ACES, reaching compromises where the two bills differ.

Now, we must focus our attention on the Senate.  As challenging as it was to turn ACES into a bill we could support, it will be just as tough to do the same for the Senate legislation.  We must do everything we can to make sure the Senate bill contains the equity provisions we won in ACES.  We also must do everything we can to make the Senate’s climate provisions stronger than the House’s.

The next few months will determine whether America takes a first step towards the clean energy economy of the new century, or remains stuck in the failing economy of the last one.