Rudhdi Karnik
In the tug-of-war over the future of our climate and our planet, there have been some very big developments this week.
On Tuesday, the United Kingdom announced it will completely phase out coal throughout the country over the next decade, retiring over 20 gigawatts of coal-fired electricity. The UK, which once employed one million coal miners and used coal to power the Industrial Revolution, is now the first major country to end the use of coal. Sierra Club director Mike Brune described it as a "historic, unprecedented" commitment.
Also on Tuesday, the OECD countries (an organization made up of 34 industrialized nations, initially formed after WWII to administer the Marshall Plan) announced they had reached an agreement on strict new limits for the financing of new coal plants around the world. While the agreement isn't as strong as we would have liked, it's still a big deal for coal and for international climate diplomacy.
However, not to be outdone, on that same Tuesday back in Washington, DC, the U.S. Senate made a valiant stand against the future by voting to repeal the Clean Power Plan, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) roadmap to reduce carbon pollution from power plants. It was an embarrassing display of theatrics that won't actually slow down the Clean Power Plan, clean energy, or U.S. climate leadership going into international climate negotiations in Paris.
The Senate fell short of the votes needed to overcome a Presidential veto, and thus failed to block the Clean Power Plan. But it was a sad reminder that many of our political leaders feel more beholden to fossil fuel lobbyists than to the health of their own constituents, or the planet they're passing onto their kids. The Senators who voted against the Clean Power Plan should understand one thing clearly - we are not turning back the clock when it comes to our progress on climate and clean energy. As I said in my statement for Sierra Club right after the vote:
On the eve of UN climate negotiations, this pointless exercise in the Senate won't diminish U.S. leadership in the slightest. If fossil fuel executives and their allies think these futile political jabs can undermine the Clean Power Plan or the strong momentum moving us toward an international climate agreement, they haven't been paying attention. They should stop wasting everyone's time.
So on the day following that vote, I traveled into Washington, DC, to testify at an EPA hearing on new elements of the Clean Power Plan that were released when the standard was finalized this August. A crew from a major Japanese TV station was there, documenting our shift to clean energy as their nation grapples with a proposed wave of new coal plants.
In my testimony, I reminded the EPA that millions of Americans have personally weighed with their support for the plan, by attending hearings and submitting comments, and that one poll after another has shown that Americans overwhelmingly support the Clean Power Plan and EPA action in reducing carbon pollution from coal plants – including recent surveys of voters in Missouri, Maine, Ohio, Virginia, and Illinois.
After offering our recommendations on the specifics of the policy, I closed my testimony on a more personal note:
Last Friday, I was minutes away from booking a ticket to Paris, for events around the international climate negotiations, when the news broke about the terror attacks. I spent the weekend absorbing the shock and thinking over the trip. Yesterday, I booked that ticket.
What I'll be carrying with me is the progress this nation has made in reducing coal pollution – 184 new coal plants canceled, 205 existing coal plants announced to retire, and enough clean, renewable energy coming online to replace them, all thanks to grassroots advocacy. I'll be carrying with me the commitment that we as a nation will continue making that shift to clean energy, a commitment we're making through the Clean Power Plan, and through our advocacy and that of many others.
And most importantly, I'll be carrying with me the promise of a safe future for my daughter, a promise that we aren't giving up on building a safe world for her, and for all the kids of the world. The heart of the world is broken right now, but our future is in our hands. If there was ever a time to stand up for that future, to stand up for a safe and healthy planet that can sustain us all, this is it. That is what the Clean Power Plan represents.
This is a time for hope, healing, and leadership. And there is no time to lose. After all, we just got the news that this October was "Earth's warmest month on record by a huge margin." As world leaders gather in Paris in the days ahead, please stand with them - in your communities, on social media, wherever you are and however you can - and stand up for our future.