PCAP Releases their Updated Action Plan

On eve of presidential debate, leading climate think-tank details ways for
the president to address climate and energy problems

DENVER – As President Barack Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney prepare for their first debate of the presidential campaign, a group of climate and energy experts is highlighting ways for the next president to deal with global climate change and improve America’s energy security.

The report from the Presidential Climate Action Project (PCAP) details 10 recommendations on how the next president can develop solutions to the nation’s energy and climate change problems, even if Congress is deadlocked or dysfunctional.

“Past presidents have used their executive powers aggressively to serve the public interest,” said PCAP executive director Bill Becker. “Today there are no more critical issues facing America than developing its clean energy technologies and preventing climate impacts that are still preventable.”

In its report, PCAP describes a number of tools the next president will have at his disposal to reform federal policies that were created by and for a carbon-intensive economy. Of special concern, Becker said, are the many federal fiscal policies that contribute to energy and climate problems, including taxpayer subsidies given to fossil energy industries.

“In addition to being mature and well-financed, these industries are the principal source of greenhouse gas emissions, which in turn are the principal cause of global climate change,” Becker said. “Our thought leaders in the military and intelligence communities tell us point-blank that fossil energy and climate change both threaten our national security as well as the environment. Why, then, do we require taxpayers to support oil, coal and gas companies?”

The National Academy of Sciences already is completing work on a carbon inventory of the tax code, and PCAP recommends that the next president revive the National Commission on Fiscal Policy and Reform and instruct it to recommend tax provisions that should be eliminated, then identify other fiscal policies that should be reformed to support America’s transition to a clean energy economy.

PCAP also recommends that the next president:

• Communicate directly and frankly with the American people to create a “Churchill moment” about the challenges and opportunities facing the United States “at this critical point in history,” including the need to build an advanced energy economy. The president should make the case that it is time for Congress to pass a climate bill that mobilizes the marketplace to cut America’s greenhouse gas emissions.

• Establish clear criteria for climate legislation and work with Congress to write and pass it. PCAP cites recent polls that have found a majority of American voters now accept the reality of climate change and want the federal government to address it. In the meantime, EPA would proceed with and expand its regulation of greenhouse gases.

• Challenge all sectors of the economy and coordinate existing federal programs to make America the most energy-efficient industrial country in the world. Currently, 86 percent of the energy consumed in the United States is wasted, the report said, resulting in wasted money, squandered resources and more government regulation of pollutants.

• Create an advisory group of mayors, governors, corporate leaders and energy experts to develop a national roadmap to an advanced energy economy. The National Research Council, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and current law all have cited the need for a national energy policy plan that helps coordinate federal, state and local action on energy security and climate change.

PCAP’s presidential action plan is the fifth it has issued since 2007. It is available online at: www.climateactionproject.com.

The following members of PCAP’s advisory board are available for interviews today:

• National security dimensions of fossil energy and climate change
  Sherri Goodman – Senior Vice President and General CounselCenter for Naval Analysis703-919-1221

• Climate and energy policy as it relates to small/medium businesses
  Richard Eidlin – Director of PolicyAmerican Sustainable Business Council303-478-0131

• Job, GDP and carbon reduction potential of state climate & energy policies
  Tom Peterson – Founder, President & CEOCenter for Climate Strategies703-887-6696

• Colorado’s experience in building a green economy
  Former Gov. Bill Ritter – Executive DirectorCenter for the New Energy Economy
  Contact: Linda Wardlow
  970-218-9445

###

The Presidential Climate Action Project was created in January 2007 to develop policy recommendations on climate and energy security, with a focus on what the President can accomplish using executive authority – in other words, without action by Congress.