Environmentalists move quickly to take advantage of new political era by stressing global warming and broader alliances.

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By Margaret Kriz, National Journal
© National Journal Group Inc.
Monday, Jan. 29, 2007

Activists across the environmental spectrum -- from the National Audubon Society to the Natural Resources Defense Council -- are gearing up for a heated battle to slash carbon dioxide emissions because of their link to global warming.

"The vast majority of environmental organizations are putting their largest investments into getting action on reducing greenhouse-gas emissions," said Philip Clap, president of the National Environmental Trust.

On January 18, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., confirmed plans to set up a Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. Environmentalists were quick to praise her action but wary of angering House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich., whose panel has long overseen environmental legislation. "We're certainly respectful of jurisdictional lines, but it's just terrific to see the speaker establish that [global warming] is one of the highest priorities of this Congress," Kevin Knobloch, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, told reporters.

The environmentalists note that new studies, including a United Nations report due out in early February, indicate that climate change is accelerating faster than scientists had predicted. "While the nation and the world face a daunting array of problems that are related to the environment, climate change dwarfs them all," said Joshua Reichert, managing director for policy initiatives and the environment program at the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Although environmentalists are pleased that global warming will be a top priority in the House, they're well aware that Democrats control the Senate by only one vote. And President Bush opposes the regulation of carbon dioxide. The environmental community has mixed opinions about whether Congress will move quickly to enact comprehensive global-warming legislation.

"I don't think this Congress is going to regulate carbon dioxide, but they have to make it clear that they're eventually going to regulate carbon dioxide," said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club. But Elizabeth Thompson, legislative director of Environmental Defense, doesn't rule out fast action. "I think there is more ability to get things done than conventional wisdom would say," she said. "Certainly, it's going to be extraordinarily difficult, but it's do-able."

Already, environmental groups are taking advantage of the political climate to broaden their alliances. This Monday, the heads of 10 major corporations and four environmental groups endorsed a national limit on carbon dioxide emissions. Days earlier, the leaders of several religious and scientific organizations jointly urged [PDF] Washington to restrict carbon dioxide emissions and do more to protect endangered species.

Clearly, after 12 years of locking horns with House Republicans, environmental groups are already enjoying a far more cooperative relationship with the Democrats now in control. Green groups are working with lawmakers on legislation to promote cleaner energy technologies; expand the farm bill's conservation programs; protect more federal lands; and shift the budget priorities of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Interior Department, and the Forest Service.

Environmentalists say they've learned from past battles, particularly their long campaign to block oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Some advocates acknowledge that switching gears has been challenging. "It's almost like you have to turn the ship around and scrape the rust from the bottom," said Anna Aurilio, director of the Washington office of U.S. PIRG. "People need to open their eyes to the promise of the new Congress."

In the opening weeks of this session, many environmental groups have been cheering for the House leadership's signature proposal to cut federal subsidies for Big Oil. What's more, green lobbyists think they have the momentum to pass other environmentally friendly energy bills. "You have members of Congress who ran against their opponents on [which campaign] had a better clean-energy platform," said Karen Wayland, legislative director of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The advocates are backing legislation that would force electric utilities to generate some of their power from wind or other alternative sources. Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have such requirements. Some environmentalists also intend to push legislation requiring automakers to produce more-efficient vehicles, a drive that Dingell, a staunch supporter of the Detroit auto industry, is likely to oppose.

Several groups rank the farm bill as one of their top priorities. Environmental Defense is working with an unusual coalition of environmental groups and conservative think tanks (the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation) on a proposal to revamp farm subsidies. Scott Faber, water resources specialist for Environmental Defense, said that his group is also pushing to double federal spending on voluntary farm conservation programs.

Environmentalists worry that Midwestern lawmakers will use the farm bill to promote production of corn-based ethanol, thus encouraging farmers to grow corn on lands now set aside for wildlife and to increase their use of water-polluting fertilizers.

The farm bill is the focus of another unusual political alliance, this one between the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and 20 AFL-CIO labor unions. Operating as the Union Sportsmen's Alliance, they are backing legislation to provide incentives to farmers and ranchers to open their land to hunting, fishing, and other wildlife-related activities.

On other fronts, the environmental community is pushing for passage of several bills that died at the end of the last Congress. For years, green groups worked to prevent then-Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., who chaired the House Natural Resources Committee, from gutting the Endangered Species Act. After cheering his Election Day defeat, the activists are turning their attention to tax incentives for property owners who provide habitats for endangered species. "The bill would have huge conservation benefits," said National Wildlife Federation Legislative Director Adam Kolton.

The green advocates are also supporting a measure that would clarify which wetlands the Clean Water Act covers. And some groups are planning to weigh in on the massive Water Resources and Development Act in hopes of requiring closer review of the Army Corps of Engineers' projects. Conservation groups also want the Democratic Congress to pass wilderness legislation to protect federal lands in several Western states and in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Advocates say they'll back legislative proposals by Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., to reinstate the Superfund tax on the oil and chemical industries to pay for the cleanup of abandoned toxic-waste sites. Several green groups plan to work with House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., to rewrite the 1872 Mining Act, which now virtually gives away the mineral rights to certain public lands.

Environmentalists are urging Congress to hold oversight hearings on a wide variety of Bush administration environmental policies. Michael Francis, a public policy expert with the Wilderness Society, wants a probe of Interior's energy development programs. "We'd like to change the overall predilection of the Bureau of Land Management to think that [it is] in the oil and gas development business instead of in the land protection business," he said.

Environmental leaders say that although they are focusing on federal legislation, they will maintain their forces at the state and local levels. When the Republicans controlled Congress, many green groups raised their profiles in the statehouses across the nation. The Sierra Club's Pope said that his group will fight the coal and oil industries at all levels of government. "We'll be investing more in the states, because we're going after the carbon lobby. And if we can squeeze them at the state level, that's terrific," he said.

Pope argues that the greens shouldn't expect immediate gratification from the Democratic Congress, particularly if they want a strong global-warming bill. "My question is, 'Is my constituency going to be sufficiently patient?' " he said. "'Will we run this as a marathon? Or will we think it's a sprint?' Our biggest challenge is going to be keeping both Congress and our leadership focused on the need to run a marathon."

Environmental Groups Key Players: Defenders of Wildlife; Environmental Defense; League of Conservation Voters; National Audubon Society; National Environmental Trust; National Wildlife Federation; Natural Resources Defense Council; Sierra Club; Union of Concerned Scientists; U.S. PIRG; Wilderness Society On the Front Burner: Tackle global warming; encourage energy efficiency and renewable sources of energy; protect federal lands; clarify the Clean Water Act's authority over wetlands Sleeper Issue: Overhaul farm subsidy programs to encourage environmental stewardship -- Margaret Kriz

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