This Month: > Five Myths About a Climate & Energy Bill > Take Your Message Local: "Warner On Your Corner" Events > Spotlight: Kendler-Miller House in Richmond > Upcoming Events > Five Myths About a Climate & Energy Bill As the US Senate gears up for a vote on climate and energy legislation this month, here are five reasons climate action opponents are wrong as written by Environmental Defense Fund's David Yarnold and printed in the Huffington Post on July 6th: 1) They claim a strong cap on America's carbon pollution will wreck our economy. FALSE: This is the bogeyman of every effort over the last century to protect our environment and defend public health and safety. Power companies said limits on acid rain pollution would wreck the economy. Oil refineries said taking lead out of gasoline would wreck the economy. Car manufacturers said installing seat belts would, you guessed it, wreck the economy. History has shown that in every case, America's economy has not only survived but thrived under tougher environmental and public health and safety standards. On this one, our opponents aren't just wrong. They're dead wrong. A cap on carbon didn't cause the current economic disaster. A cap on carbon didn't lead to one billion dollars a day going overseas to oil exporters. A cap on carbon didn't raise electricity rates for the average American home 42% or increase the average cost for a gallon of regular gasoline 138% over the last 20 years. A cap on carbon didn't slash American manufacturing jobs over the last half century. 2) They claim a strong cap on America's carbon pollution will undermine our economic recovery. FALSE: They've got it backwards. Many notable economists, including Nobel Prize-winning New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and White House Economic Council Director Larry Summers, argue that strong climate action is the key for promoting economic recovery. It will encourage economic and entrepreneurial innovation and finally clarify how America will proceed with carbon limits. Without strong legislation, the uncertainty of EPA regulation and the threat of litigation will continue to freeze much-needed investments to modernize our energy infrastructure. If you don't believe these economists, remember this: even if we pass a strong cap on carbon pollution this year, it won't go into effect for a couple years. That's how long it will take before the regulatory rules are written. This is one of the most compelling reasons for passing a bill now so we can set the regulations and begin cutting emissions in time to meet the 2020 limits. We should also note that most short-term emission cuts will come from the "low hanging fruit" of promoting energy efficiency and investing in carbon offsets. Indeed, the House-passed climate and energy bill earned the support of a wide range of businesses, including several power companies, because it made environmental and economic sense. 3) They claim that America can transition to a cleaner energy future without limiting carbon pollution simply by passing an energy-only bill. FALSE: This is the popular, easy-out position for politicians -- just throw money at the problem. But, there are several major flaws with an energy-only bill. Congress has passed 10 energy bills over the last 40 years, and none of them have even come close to launching the energy revolution we need to end our over-dependence on fossil fuels and transform our energy economy. The math simply doesn't add up. Unleashing our clean energy future will require trillions of dollars in new investment in our energy infrastructure and technologies over many years. Such a large-scale transition will only be possible when private investors are given a clear market signal that the days of treating our atmosphere like an open sewer for unlimited carbon pollution are over. Without a strong cap on 4) They claim this is nothing but an energy tax that will limit freedom in America. FALSE: A cap on carbon is a pollution limit, not a tax. It is a proven way to ratchet down pollution in a cost-effective, efficient, sensible way. As pollution levels decline and we begin to end our addiction to fossil fuels, new, cleaner, more efficient technologies will fill the void. Think of it this way -- let's say you're a smoker. One way to help you end your tobacco addiction would be to tax cigarettes and increase the cost of smoking. If smoking cigarettes gets more expensive, you may smoke less. Then again, you may just pay the extra amount and find other ways to save money. This is how a carbon tax would work, and it's not what we're advocating. A better way to ensure that you stop smoking would be to set a declining limit on number of cigarettes you can smoke each day so that over time you gradually kick the habit. This is how a cap on carbon would work. 5) They claim that the environmental threat from climate change is overstated. FALSE!: This one needs an exclamation point. The National Academy of Sciences and the science advisors to the last four presidents of both parties have looked at the data and are unequivocal in their warnings that global climate change is a potentially catastrophic environmental threat to the planet. The next time someone questions the science of global warming, ask whether he denies that carbon dioxide is a heat-trapping gas. Or whether she denies we are emitting billions of tons of it into our atmosphere every year. Or whether atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide are higher today than at any time in at least the last 2.1 million years. Or that we just completed the warmest decade on record and that 2010 is on pace to shatter the record as the warmest year. Each of these facts are measurable, verifiable, and not in dispute. On these and many other claims, the "No Can Do" folks are just plain wrong. The time for a strong climate and energy action is now. Please contact Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner today and urge them to support the strongest possible bill. See the full article for more information. > Take Your Message Local: "Warner On Your Corner" Events These newsletters have focused on several ways to contact your Senators in DC to express support for clean enegy and climate legislation. Senator Warner's "Warner On Your Corner" events are another way to communicate your support. Senator Warner's staff members will be travelling throughout Virginia this year. Check the schedule here and turn out to make a strong appeal for Senator Warner's leadership on climate issues! > Spotlight: Kendler-Miller House in Richmond After much planning and work, Urban Grid Solar and Cityspace Construction hosted an opening for the Kendler- Miller House in mid-June. Located in Richmond's historic Fan district, the house features a green roof and rain garden with native, drought resistant plants, 6.3 kW solar photovoltaic system for electric, solar thermal system for hot water, concrete countertops made from industrial bi-products such as fly ash and silica and energy efficient light fixtures and appliances, among other features. Urban Grid Solar and Cityspace Construction installed these low energy building designs all while honoring the form and character of the 1920's row house. > Upcoming Events Alternative & Renewable Energy Association Summer Networking Event        July 27th, Richmond: Science Museum of Virginia

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