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Will we get the change we need on energy?

Senate debates plan to repower America

As the U.S. Senate considers historic energy legislation, we’re building support to ensure that we pass a bill that sets us on the path to repower America with clean energy. The House’s approval of the American Clean Energy and Security Act this summer marked a clear break from the inaction that characterized the federal government’s response to global warming during the past eight years. If the Senate follows suit this fall, we’ll see billions of dollars invested in energy efficiency and renewable power, and significant, mandatory reductions in carbon pollution.

It's not perfect

Still, the energy bill passed by the House doesn’t do all that’s necessary. In order to win enough votes for passage, the bill’s sponsors agreed to compromises that benefit oil and coal companies and other interests at the expense of taxpayers and the environment. But we can’t wait any longer to get started fighting global warming. And this bill has the potential to transform our energy systems. That’s why we decided to support—and work extremely hard for—passage of the bill.

Building support for change

Despite the concessions, the vote in the House was close, with just a seven-vote margin in favor of the legislation. (Three members of Iowa’s delegation voted in favor of the bill.) Working along with other members of our national federation, Environment America, we focused much of our energy on building support among citizens and key constituencies that could influence the deciding votes.

We educated citizens and lawmakers on the consequences of inaction or further delay. Our research showed that lower crop yields resulting from climate change would hit Iowa the hardest out of any state in the nation: corn growers could lose $259 million each year.We released our findings in Davenport along with Keith Bolin, president of the American Corn Growers Association and Dr. David Skole, a professor of global change science at Iowa State University. We also went door-to-door and reached out online to raise awareness, and gathered more than 2,360 petition signatures in favor of a strong energy bill.