By Laura Litvan and Catherine Dodge
Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Environmental groups are racking up a series of early wins thanks to expanded Democratic majorities in the U.S. Congress. But they aren’t satisfied, and the scope of their agenda may cause headaches for party leaders.
Environmentalists want Congress to cap greenhouse-gas emissions, a proposal meeting resistance from companies such as General Motors Corp. because of its cost. They’re pushing for laws to force public utilities to buy 15 percent of their power from renewable energy sources, an idea opposed by Southern Co. and American Electric Power Co. And they want tougher energy- efficiency standards for cars, buildings and appliances.
“They have high expectations and non-negotiable demands,” James Lucier, an energy analyst at Capital Alpha Partners LLC in Washington, said of the groups, which include the Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth and the League of Conservation Voters.
The tension will soon become apparent. More than 2,000 protesters are planning a March 2 sit-in at a coal-fired plant that produces power for the U.S. Capitol, as part of a drive to get support for climate-change legislation.
While organizations such as the Sierra Club and Friends of the Earth are leading the charge, some new, more left-leaning partners are joining the fray.
The antiwar group Code Pink is training some of its ire on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat.
“They keep saying, ‘We want more of a majority,’ so they’ve got a bigger majority now,” said Medea Benjamin, a co- founder of Code Pink. “We expect more concrete results.”
Passage by 2009
Reid and Pelosi say they want to move climate-change legislation through Congress this year. That goal may be more realistic now, with Barack Obama in the White House and Representative Henry Waxman heading the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Waxman, who backs stringent climate-change goals, replaced John Dingell of Michigan -- the auto industry’s closest ally in Congress -- as the panel’s chairman.
Pelosi last month praised Waxman’s plan for his committee to vote by Memorial Day, May 25.
“I share his sense of urgency,” she said in a statement.
That urgency is also felt by environmentalists. With Democrats holding 58 of 100 Senate seats and with a 77-seat advantage in the House of Representatives, they want to seize the moment. And they haven’t been placated by recent victories.
The Senate last month approved a $10 billion conservation plan setting aside more than 2 million acres of natural wilderness and protecting 1,000 miles of scenic rivers.
A portion of the spending in an $819 billion economic- stimulus measure approved by the House last week is geared toward renewable-energy projects, including $6.2 billion to weatherize low-income homes.
Obama Backs California
And Obama last week signed an executive order opening the way for California and other states to limit greenhouse-gas emissions from cars and trucks, standards opposed by GM and Ford Motor Co. as too expensive, especially given the depth of the recession.
Lobbyists at environmental groups say they can build on that momentum to get climate-change legislation through before an international summit in December in Copenhagen with hopes of reaching a global accord. Obama has pledged to cut greenhouse gases by 80 percent from 1990 levels in 2050.
“We’re very hopeful about the prospect of climate-change legislation in 2009,” said Michael Goo, legislative director for the Natural Resources Defense Council’s climate change center.
Renewable Energy
The renewable energy requirement for power-producers also remains a top agenda item for the movement. Senate Democrats dropped the requirement for utilities from a broad-based energy bill in late 2007 to help ease its passage.
Electric utilities such as Atlanta-based Southern Co. and Columbus, Ohio-based American Electric Power lobbied to get the renewable-electricity standard removed. They said the South and Midwest don’t have enough wind and other renewable energy resources to meet the standard.
Analysts say the distressed economy might make many environmental goals unattainable. Gross domestic product contracted at a 3.8 percent annual rate from October through December, the biggest drop since 1982, the government reported on Jan. 30.
Fashioning a “cap-and-trade” system to reduce carbon emissions would come with high costs to manufacturers, said Kevin Book, a senior energy analyst at Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group Inc. in Arlington, Virginia. Such a system would place limits on polluters and require them to obtain a permit for every ton of greenhouse gas pumped into the atmosphere. Those exceeding the limits would have to buy permits from emitters that cut their output of such gases.
‘Rich Man’s Game’
“There’s a real economic challenge to the environmental movement: It’s a rich man’s game,” Book said.
Add to that divisions within the Democratic Party, and passage of legislation this year will be a challenge, said John Fortier, a congressional analyst at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. Democrats from coal-producing or heavy industrial states are split with West Coast Democrats, who align more with stricter environmental standards, he said.
Environmental organizations also aren’t in complete agreement. Last month, the National Wildlife Federation withdrew from a coalition of groups that are fashioning ideas for cap-and-trade legislation. The federation said the ideas coming forward aren’t bold enough.
Republicans Needed
With those obstacles, Representative Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat who was a liaison between Congress and Obama’s presidential-transition team, said it’s too early to predict action this year.
“We’re going to need some Republican support,” Van Hollen said. Cap-and-trade is “an issue where you don’t only have party differences, they’re also regional.”
House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence of Indiana said Democrats can’t bank on Republican votes.
“The overwhelming majority of Republicans would be very dubious about any global-warming legislation, particularly during such a difficult time for working Americans,” he said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Laura Litvan in Washington at llitvan@bloomberg.net; and Catherine Dodge in Washington, at Cdodge1@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: February 3, 2009 00:01 EST
