Energy & Environment

Cranes are the most endangered family of birds in the world, with 11 of the world's 15 species at risk of extinction. None is rarer than the North American Whooping Crane. There’s a greater emphasis right now on protecting our environment and recognizing the burden on the environment of some of the policy decisions that we've made over the past many years. In addition, movies such as Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" about global warming and the documentary "March of the Penguins" shed light on environmental and species’ issues and raised awareness.

The International Crane Foundation, in Baraboo, Wisconsin has bred and guided whooping cranes on their migrations from the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin to their breeding grounds in Florida's Chassahowitzka Wildlife Refuge. These guided migrations of young birds, led by a human pilot in an ultralight, captured the imagination of citizens and lawmakers along the route and around the country. Some of the people in Congress who first talked to me about the legislation, and are interested in joining our efforts, learned about the importance of protecting cranes from seeing clips of those flights. I think people who were really moved by this story have begun to understand how close to extinction whooping cranes were just a couple of decades ago, and how our practices have led to a significant revival of these majestic birds.

Coal-to-Liquid (CTL) and clean coal technologies must remain part of a diverse U.S. energy portfolio so that we can meet our energy needs in the future, and the Coal-to-Liquids Coalition coalition is going to further that cause. CTL fuels are an important option to importing foreign oil. Coal is an inexpensive and abundant energy source and we must maximize our ability to use it - and use it as cleanly as possible.

Everybody ought to appreciate former Vice President Al Gore's passion and his willingness to put his considerable prestige on the line. But passion isn't the same as truth, inconvenient or otherwise. Mr. Gore says global warming will raise the seas by 20 feet, but the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says 23 inches, tops. Mr. Gore forecasts more hurricanes, but the World Meteorological Organization won't back him up. Neither will the UN's World Health Organization support his prediction for plagues of malaria. They know, and evidently he doesn't, that people can catch malaria anywhere -- even including freezing Siberia -- because the disease follows poverty, not temperatures.

Here's something else to know. The former vice president forecasts a future based on the past, but the past is a head-scratching mystery even to real climate scientists. Last summer, National Academy of Sciences President Ralph Cicerone was asked in a hearing about temperatures and CO2 observations covering the 400,000 years. Under oath, he said that 'the only evidence that seems clear is that there were times when the warming preceded the CO2 and the cooling preceded the loss in CO2, but they were nearly linked in time.' Read more...

Yesterday we heard from Vice President Al Gore about his views on Global Warming.  During his testimony, he said that he believes that no new coal plants should be built in the U.S. unless they are carbon-capture ready.  A carbon capture-ready plant, without actually capturing carbon, is configured differently than non-carbon capture-ready plant, and is much more inefficient.  This amounts to increased carbon emissions until the carbon capture equipment is installed.  Yet, the recently released MIT Coal Study tells us that carbon capture is not credible until it has been commercially demonstrated -- and it hasn't been.

With all due respect to the Vice President, I hear from my constituents every day that electricity prices are too high.  ERCOT, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, has said that unless new generation capacity is built in Texas, we will not have enough electricity to ensure reliability within the next 5-10 years.  I believe that we need to keep the lights on, while continuing to invest in technology -- and demonstration.

During last year’s campaign season, Democrats promised they wouldn’t raise taxes. Now that it’s budget season, those promises seem to have been forgotten, with the Democrat Budget Resolution proposing the greatest tax hike in history.

My amendment would require 60 votes in order for any kind of tax increase on farmers, ranchers, or small businesses to pass in the Senate. Democrats may be in the majority, but I’m confident a majority of the Senate won’t support raising taxes on hard-working Americans.

Former Vice President Al Gore told The Hill that he was pleased by the response he received from Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee after his testimony on global warming today. Below is a recap of his testimony from Staff Writer Kelly McCormack and Online Editor Klaus Marre.

Mainers enjoy access to thousands of square miles of unpopulated working forest, only a tiny portion of which is under public ownership.  However, development pressure threatens these private lands, and with them our outdoor traditions, in Maine as well as across the country. That’s why Forest Legacy and the Land and Water Conservation Fund are so important. These programs provide federal support to local and regional projects to preserve valuable open space. Here in Maine, funds from these programs have been used to purchase title or easements to guarantee public access to a variety of special places, including Tumbledown Mountain, the West Branch of the Penobscot River, and the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge. Nationwide, they have preserved or created countless outdoor recreation opportunities, from urban parks to boat launches to wilderness areas.

That’s why I circulated a letter to House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and Environment Chairman Norman Dicks and Ranking Member Todd Tiahrt with my colleagues Reps. Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.), James McGovern (D-Mass.), and Rush Holt (D-N.J.).  Ninety-seven Members of Congress, including both Republicans and Democrats, signed the letter to express support for the preservation of open space by Forest Legacy and the Land and Water Conservation Fund.  I will continue to advocate for these important programs.

I am really pleased to have been selected by Speaker Pelosi (D-Calif.) to participate in the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. Global warming and our dependence on oil are probably two of the most important issues facing the future of our planet. Not only do global warming and our energy dependence risk our economic security, national security and threaten our environment and public health, our children and our children's children are the ones that are going to have to deal with the repercussions of our consumption and dependence today.

This new Select Committee will continue to the raise the profile of these issues by holding hearings locally, nationally and internationally to gather information needed to protect our national security and the environment. We will recommend policies, strategies and other innovations to Congress to reduce the dependence of the United States on foreign sources of energy and prevent global warming. Through all of this, we are going to target the younger generation, who have the most at stake in this debate, by using cutting edge means of communications.

It is about time that Congress seriously addresses these issues. It has been overlooked for far too long and now is the time for serious solutions and actions and I am proud to be a part.

I welcome this debate and look forward to serving on the Select Committee. I hope that the panel will thoroughly investigate all policy options when it comes to global climate change, weighing both the costs and the benefits. We cannot afford to base our energy policy on emotion and doomsday scenarios.

Rather, we must act based on sound science, reason and a responsibility to ensure America’s energy security. America can balance environmental concerns and quality of life issues. We also must be careful not to enact policies that will unnecessarily impose a financial burden on American families, especially those just barely getting by, or result in more American job losses to other countries with little or no benefit to our country and our citizens.