Congress Now Thinking Green

Aug 23 - Cincinnati Post

Reflecting a shift in priorities under the Democratic majority, Congress is moving to spend as much as $6.7 billion next fiscal year to combat global warming, an increase of nearly one-third from the current year.

House appropriations bills call for about $2 billion in new spending on initiatives aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and oil dependency, significantly expanding the budgets for numerous federal research initiatives and launching some new ones.

While legislation to raise vehicle miles-per-gallon standards and cap emissions from power plants has been slower moving -- because of resistance from some lawmakers -- Democrats have turned to the budget to advance their environmental priorities by increasing spending on a variety of lower-profile programs.

That probably is to set up a showdown this fall between Congress and President Bush, who wants to spend less on climate-change initiatives. The White House budget office, which has complained about excessive spending in the overall appropriations bills, noted that the president's budget provides for a 3 percent increase in spending for climate-change activities.

"Congress is putting its money where its mouth is," said Lowell Ungar, senior policy analyst at the Alliance to Save Energy, a Washington, D.C., coalition of business, consumer, environmental and government leaders. "They are devoting real resources to trying to address the problem of climate change."

Lawmakers from both parties also see the public's heightened interest in climate change and energy security as an opportunity to steer federal money to their states through earmarks billed as environmentally friendly. Money has been set aside for scores of home-state research initiatives and construction projects.

"Green is becoming very fashionable," said Rep. David L. Hobson, R-Ohio, a senior appropriator who secured $500,000 for a geothermal demonstration project at Ohio Wesleyan University. "I think members are going to be challenged in their district," he said, referring to how they respond to concerns about climate change and U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

Rep. Adam B. Schiff, D-Calif., for example, got $500,000 for a fuel-cell project by Superprotonic, a Pasadena company. "America needs to wean itself off of foreign oil," Schiff said in a statement. "This is as much a national security imperative as it is an environmental one."

In the beginning of the year, Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee asked scientists how to crank up government efforts to combat global warming and reduce oil use. "The question then became, how do we get the biggest bang for our buck?" said Kirstin Brost, spokeswoman for House Appropriations Committee Chairman David R. Obey, D-Wis. "We've only accomplished a small first step, but it is a step in the right direction."

Some of the largest increases are in the bill that funds the Department of Energy.

The House provided about $1.9 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs, about 52 percent more than the administration requested. Just two years ago under the Republican- controlled Congress, the programs received about $1.2 billion. The Senate has yet to complete its spending bills, but its appropriations committee has recommended about $1.7 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs.

The House energy appropriations bill also provides $44 million to promote geothermal energy, a ninefold increase. The Bush administration has proposed doing away with spending on the geothermal energy program, in contrast, contending that it is a mature industry.

Environmentalists welcome the increased spending but say more pollution regulation is crucial. "Those spending measures are no substitute for better fuel-economy standards and tough caps on greenhouse gas emissions," said Frank O'Donnell of Clean Air Watch.

The Senate has approved a bill calling for the first significant increase in vehicle fuel-economy standards in years, and the House has approved a bill establishing the first nationwide requirement for utilities to generate more electricity from cleaner energy sources, such as the sun and wind. When Congress returns from its August recess, House-Senate negotiators will try to work out differences between the two bills.

This fall, Congress is also expected to consider legislation that would cap emissions from power plants and other sources.

Some of the new projects are the result of unusual alliances between lawmakers looking out for home-state interests and those seeking to reduce pollution. Coal-country lawmakers have been among the strongest supporters of increased funding for projects to capture carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants, seeing it as a way to preserve the industry.

Increased concern about global warming also has given rise to a fresh approach to landing federal funds for home-state projects -- green earmarks.

Businesses also have reacted. "Lobbyists are crawling out of the woodwork to say their idea is good for global warming," said Clean Air Watch's O'Donnell.

Critics of earmarks say some of these projects might be worthy, including new energy research initiatives, but others are merely classic pork-barrel spending, particularly construction projects that have been touted to Congress as green.

"For many lawmakers, global warming is more than just an issue. It's an opportunity to send more tax dollars to their pet parochial projects," said Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a watchdog group.

Text of fax box follows:

House appropriations bills

Some environmental and energy spending in fiscal 2008 House appropriations bills.

Interior and environment: Boosts spending for climate change research by more than half, to $264 million. Includes $50 million to create a climate change commission to study and recommend initiatives and $2 million for the Environmental Protection Agency to develop regulations to reduce greenhouse gases.

Energy and water: Provides $1.9 billion for the Energy Department's energy efficiency and renewable energy programs. Includes $200 million for solar energy and $235 million for vehicle technologies. Also provides $150 million -- about $20 million more than the president's request -- for climate change research.

Commerce, justice and science: Allocates nearly $1.9 billion -- $164 million more than the president's request -- to address climate change. Includes $10 million for a "global-warming reduction incentive program" and $10 million for climate change education.

Transportation, housing and urban development: Directs Housing and Urban Development to incorporate "robust green building" standards in housing programs.

State and foreign operations: Encourages the U.S. Export-Import Bank to increase investment in renewable energy projects.

Legislative branch: Contains $3.9 million for the Green the Capitol initiative, including $2.7 million to shift from coal to natural gas for heat, and $100,000 to install more energy-efficient light bulbs.

Originally published by Los Angeles Times.