By Sarah Wootton
Serving waffles and 'racing' SUVS are just two of the ways the
Club is putting the heat on senators
Crissy Pelegrin is not your average
second year law student. While her law school classmates geared up
for Mardi Gras festivities in the streets of New Orleans, Pelegrin
met with Sens. Mary Landrieu (D) and John Breaux (D) in their
Capitol Hill offices to talk about the upcoming Senate debate on
national energy policy.
She may be a serious young law student, but Pelegrin is not
without a sense of humor. In January, she said, the Baton Rouge
Group presented Sen. Landrieu "with a plate of waffles and a bunch
of organic greens because she's been waffling on oil drilling in the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and needs energy to make the right
decisions."
Landrieu's state director, T. Bradley Keith, accepted the greens
but refused to take the plate of waffles.
Meanwhile in Florida, two Sierra Club organizers, Darden Rice and
Joe Murphy, took to the highways in a Toyota Prius and GMC Yukon,
respectively, to see how much of a difference a higher fuel economy
standard could make. The pair reported daily to the Club Web site on
everything from the amount of money spent on gas to the best SUV
bumper sticker seen -- Who Needs Oxygen? -- and the weirdest sight
-- a duck eating a frog at the Tallahassee press conference.
Pelegrin, Rice and Murphy are just three of the hundreds of Club
activists who have been mobilizing in the past months on one of the
highest-stakes debates in recent years, the Senate vote on a
national energy plan. Last summer, the House passed an energy bill,
supported by the Bush Administration, that calls for drilling the
Arctic Refuge, makes no significant improvement in auto fuel economy
standards and does almost nothing to increase energy provided by
clean, renewable sources. In addition, it provides $38 billion in
tax breaks and subsidies to the coal, oil and nuclear industries.
The debate has moved to the Senate where, as The Planet goes to
press, Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) has introduced a bill
that keeps the drilling rigs out of the Arctic, increases fuel
economy standards and requires that 10 percent of America's
electricity comes from renewable sources by 2020.
While the Senate bill is much better than the House version, it
still does not go far enough, according to Debbie Boger, the Club's
senior representative on Global Warming and Energy. The bill
subsidizes the nuclear industry and the tax portion, which was
incomplete at press time, is expected to give billions of dollars in
subsidies for the fossil fuel industries. Instead of funding
dangerous and dirty industries, said Boger, the bill should contain
stronger provisions for fuel economy and renewable energy
sources.
The Club recommends a Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE)
standard of an average of 40 miles per gallon for cars and light
trucks and a renewable standard of 20 percent renewable energy by
2020. It also supports protecting the Arctic Refuge which,
government reports show, contains less than six months supply of oil
that would take 10 years to get to market.
Until the energy bill is voted on -- at press time it was
scheduled to come to the floor at the end of February -- the Club
will continue its nationwide blitz to educate and lobby the public
and senators.
In early February, Club activists and allies trekked to the
nation's capital from as far away as Oregon and North Dakota for
several days of lobbying their senators. After a training by
staffers from the Club's D.C. legislative offices, participants
fanned out.
In a meeting with their senator, Kent Conrad (D), Jonathan Bry
and Nick Boutrous of Bismarck, N.D., focused on protecting the
Arctic from oil drilling rather than renewable energy sources. Since
their state is one of the leading generators of wind power, the
senators heartily support deriving more energy from renewable
sources.
Nebraska volunteers Dave Kosen, Jim Knopik and Dick Whiting had
to overcome the reluctance of their senators to support a fuel
economy standard increase that some think would disproportionately
affect truck-owning farmers. The senators are wary about supporting
a standard that farmers think would harm them since the state is --
and its voters are -- largely agricultural.
"Higher fuel economy could benefit everyone at the gas pump,"
said Alex Veitch of the Global Warming and Energy Team. "If Detroit
used the technology that exists to make a Ford Explorer achieve 34
mpg instead of the current 19, the car buyer would spend $935 more
at the car dealership, but would save $790 each year at the pump."
In a debriefing session after the lobby days, some participants
expressed disappointment and others elation over their Senate
meetings. Many senators remained noncommittal on major provisions;
others were very receptive to the Club's energy priorities.
Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) explained that his wife drives a
Prius and that the blades on many wind turbines around the country
were probably made in Rhode Island.
Down in Florida, after Rice and
Murphy's five-day trip, the Prius had made its point - Rice spent
$22.84 to drive 723 miles while Murphy spent $60.21 to drive 701
miles. The Prius saved Rice money by using fewer gallons of gas,
which translates to protected lands, cleaner air and less global
warming pollution.
Interviews with the Gainesville Sun and Florida Radio New Network
-- and four TV stations and three other radio stations -- helped
Rice and Murphy spread the fuel economy message.
In addition to bolstering support for higher CAFE standards, Rice
and Murphy's trip helped promote the Club's Green Fleets campaign to
encourage governments to purchase hybrid cars. It's already making
its mark in Florida, where sheriff's departments in Alachua, Martin
and Hillsborough counties have bought Toyota Priuses for their
fleets.
The Prius won't stop in Florida, though. Colleen Kiernan,
organizer for the Georgia Energy Project, will continue the trip
from Tallahassee, through several stops in Georgia up to Washington,
D.C.
Organizers plan to offer senators, representatives and their
staffs a spin in the Prius to let them experience what their
constituents have been talking about.
Waffles and organic greens will be optional.
Take Action: To get more involved with global warming
and energy issues, contact kate.simmons@sierraclub.org and ask to be
signed up for global warming and energy alerts. Or, if you're
interested in receiving alerts on all of the Club's issues, sign up for Currents
and find out more about
energy issues.
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