Gov. Jerry Brown: More California Sunshine, Less Foreign Oil

California Governor Jerry Brown announced goals for the state to achieve 12-gigawatts in clean, renewable energy by 2020 before a forum of over 200 energy experts at UCLA Tuesday. The plan calls for a decentralized power system in which government measures encourage individual homeowners to install solar panels and other forms of clean energy production.

Governor Brown was quick to stress the economic benefits of clean energy. "Whatever amount of oil they have over there in Texas, we have a hell of a lot more sun right here in California,” Brown said. “The sun is more abundant, more powerful and capable of generating more power. We are spending, we Americans, hundreds of billions of dollars on importing foreign oil that could all go back into our economy if we had domestic energy sources."

The Governor’s plan would power roughly 3 million homes each year.

Gingrich backs away from 2008 ad urging action on climate change

Presidential primary hopeful Newt Gingrich has backed away from a 2008 ad in which he alongside political rival Former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on Americans to take action to address climate change, saying that he regretted the ad, The Hill’s Michael O’Brien reports.

On Tuesday Gingrich told WGIR radio that he regretted the ad, saying that voters were given the wrong impression and backing away from his call to action. "I was trying to make a point that we shouldn't be afraid to debate the left, even on the environment," Gingrich said. "Obviously it was misconstrued, and it's probably one of those things I wouldn't do again."

Yet in 2007 Gingrich was much more willing to acknowledge the existence of climate change and stated that, “The evidence is sufficient that we should move towards the most effective possible steps to reduce carbon loading in the atmosphere.”

View Gingrich’s “misconstrued” ad with Nancy Pelosi below.

SEEC: H.R. 2584, an ‘unprecedented’ back-door attack on environment and public health protections

The House of Representatives Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition (SEEC) in a joint statement called H.R. 2584, the FY 2012 Appropriations Bill for the Department of the Interior, Environment and related agencies, an “unprecedented back-door attack,” on environmental and public health protections, and lambasted the legislation's riders as a harmful distraction to debt-ceiling debates.

The statement explained:

“Both parties and houses of Congress should be focused on preventing a default crisis, and on creating jobs in a competitive 21st century economy. But instead, this week the House will consider H.R. 2584 - an unprecedented back-door attempt to roll back essential pollution controls and public health protections in favor of bigger profits for the country’s worst polluters. This is a low mark for the 112th Congress that has already seen the GOP majority preserve giveaways to Big Oil and advance legislation to overturn common sense energy efficiency standards, slash clean energy innovation, and carve loopholes in important environmental statutes.

H.R. 2584 would overturn 40 years of bipartisan progress protecting the clean air and water on which all Americans depend, and the lands and wildlife that Americans treasure. The American people reject the false choice between a prosperous economy and a sustainable environment, which we’ve proven can go hand in hand. SEEC calls on the Congress to reject this bill.”

The H.R. 2584, which cuts EPA funding by 18% and funding for Land & Water Resources by 80%, includes 39 anti-environmental riders in total. The legislation is currently being debated before the House floor.

Study: Melting Arctic ice releases dangerous ‘Dirty Dozen’ toxins

As Arctic sea ice and snow melt, concerning levels of dangerous “Dirty Dozen” toxins are being released into the air and water, a recent study published in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change suggests. The chemicals, known as persistent organic compounds (POPs), include the especially notorious DDT and PCB compounds and were banned in 2001 after their widespread use in pesticides and insecticides caused significant environmental and human health concerns.

Rising temperatures due to climate change may be to blame. “Wide ranges of POPs have been remobilized into the Arctic atmosphere over the past two decades as a result of climate change,” the study concluded.

In addition to causing cancer and birth defects, POPs are difficult to contain as they degrade very slowly and are easily transported between air, soil, and water.

225 businesses urge Governors to keep RGGI alive

A coalition of 225 businesses stressed the necessity of a market-based plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and urged for the continuance of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) in a letter to 10 Governors in participating states, the Hill’s Andrew Restuccia reports.

The coalition stressed the economic benefits of RGGI, noting that for every dollar spent the initiative has produced a return of $4 to $6.

“We believe strong clean energy and clean air policies create jobs and stimulate economic growth. RGGI shows that market-based programs can reduce greenhouse gas emissions while boosting our economy,” the letter states. “By reducing spending on out-of-region fossil fuels, RGGI improves energy security and economic competitiveness and frees up energy dollars for spending in other parts of our economies.”

The letter comes at a time when RGGI faces a ramped up attack ad and lobbying campaign by the organization Americans for Prosperity, a group funded by oil tycoons David and Charles Koch.

Ceres launches ad campaign to inform public of fuel-efficiency benefits

Ceres, a national coalition of leading institutional investors and environmental groups, launched an ad campaign Friday focused on informing the public and legislators of the economic benefits of instituting higher fuel-efficiency standards for auto manufacturers.

“The facts are clear, a 60 mpg standard will restore American automakers to a place of global leadership,” said Ceres President Mindy Lubber. “Higher standards will create new jobs by encouraging automakers to build more of the fuel efficient cars and trucks that drivers want to buy.”

The ads, which will air via print, radio, and online throughout the heartland states and Washington, DC, focus on recent economic data that found strong fuel mileage standards will create 700,000 jobs economy wide in 2030 and are overwhelmingly supported by the American public.

Listen to the radio version of the ad here.

American Lung Association: Overwhelming bipartisan support among voters for EPA action

A June 2011 survey released by the American Lung Association found that voters across the political spectrum overwhelmingly support EPA action to curb smog pollution and reject Congressional action to impede the agency from doing so.

The survey, which examined national data and state data for Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, revealed four key findings:

1. EPA policy is widely popular among voters. An overwhelming 75 percent of voters support setting stricter smog standards.

2. Voters trust the EPA to determine pollution standards over Congressional action. A bipartisan 66 percent of voters believed that pollution standards should be determined by EPA scientists, not members of Congress.

3. Voters reject the argument that stricter smog standards are economically harmful and lead to job loss. 65 percent say that stricter standards on air pollution will not damage our economic recovery, with 54 percent believing that updates are likely to create more jobs, not less.

4. Support for the EPA is robust nationwide, even in traditionally Conservative regions. Targeted polling among voters in Florida, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Virginia found support for the EPA setting stricter limits on air pollution ranging between 64-72 percent.

Find out more information and view the survey results here.

Obama vows to protect conservation, public health, and environmental efforts, threatens to veto H.R. 2584

The Obama administration vowed Thursday to protect the nation from one of the biggest efforts to undermine conservation, public health and environmental efforts in recent history and threatened to veto H.R. 2584 should it pass Congress.

H.R. 2584—the FY 2012 Appropriations Bill for the Department of the Interior, Environment, and related agencies—includes “ideological and political provisions that are beyond the scope of funding legislation,” a Statement of Administration Policy said. “If the President is presented with a bill that undermines ongoing conservation, public health, and environmental protection effort through funding limits or restrictions, his senior advisors would recommend he veto the bill.”

A few of the most dangerous provisions out of the massive number of ideological-driven assaults on public health and the environment in the bill include:

• A drastic reduction in the EPA Operating Budget. The administration stressed that “At the funding level provided, the EPA will be unable to implement its core mission of protecting human health and the environment.”

• Unsustainable levels of funding for wildland fire suppression efforts.

• Severe cuts to EPA Greenhouse Gas programs, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, funding for the Chesapeake Bay cleanup project, and the widely popular SmartGrowth program, eliminating funding support beyond manageable levels.

• Several provisions designed to undermine government oversight and regulation of mountain top coal mining.

• The elimination of funding for over 400 wastewater and drinking water infrastructure projects.

• A reversal of key protections for gray wolves, an endangered species.

• Language that strips the EPA of its authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate harmful Greenhouse Gas Emissions and prohibits the agency from implementing current and future air toxins rules.

• A measure that prohibits the Administration from providing clarification on and reinstating the effectiveness of the Clean Water Act.

• Delays implementation of EPA rules designed to protect sensitive populations such as children from lead exposure.

• Language that bans the EPA from considering human health and environmental impacts in its decision to grant Outer Continental Shelf Drilling permits.

The House is expected to bring the bill to the floor Monday.