Green activists seek enviro-friendly candidates

Green lobbyists seek grass-roots love
by ERIKA LOVLEY, Politico.com

With the Senate set to tackle two complicated pieces of global warming legislation after its spring break, green-energy lobbyists used the recess to ramp up grass-roots support in key congressional districts.

Interest groups aiming to weigh in on the cap-and-trade bill and the renewable energy tax credits filled congressional district offices with volunteers and flooded local airwaves with commercials.

Both bills would provide tremendous growth opportunities for solar and wind power, make carbon emissions more expensive for polluters and increase the country’s energy independence. And both bills would rely keenly on Republican swing votes to get the job done.

The House recently sent the Senate a bill that would reroute $18 billion in oil industry tax credits to develop wind and solar power, a move decried by much of business and industry. The Senate is also considering a global climate bill sponsored by Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Warner (R-Va.) that could slash carbon emissions by 70 percent by 2050 through a cap-and-trade program.

Lobbyists hope a solid grass-roots movement will be instrumental in capturing the support of Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire and other Republicans who have been unpredictable in their climate-change votes.

While both bills have received a healthy dose of Republican support, lobbyists are still trying to corral the 60 votes needed to stave off a filibuster.

“The congressional recess provides us the opportunity to reach members when they’re home with constituents,” said Sierra Club lobbyist Melinda Pierce. “These are peoples’ votes we have a shot at, but they haven’t always come out consistently.”

From Washington, Pierce is helping coordinate the environmental group’s grass-roots efforts in their Portland, Ore., chapter. There, three paid staffers and an army of volunteers spent the two-week spring break urging Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) to support the growth of wind energy. Oregon business owners and ranchers say tax credits would stimulate the economy, offering residents a wealth of green technology jobs.

Volunteers hosted voter education booths at Portland’s downtown Saturday farmers market and telephoned the local office of the senator, who faces a tough reelection race. And the Sierra Club upped the ante by endorsing his Democratic opponent, Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley.

“It’s a matter of consistency and it’s a matter of commitment, but we’re hopeful our grass-roots action with be effective,” said Sierra Club’s Oregon regional manager, Nat Parker. “We’re trying to get Sen. Smith on board.”

With so many issues still to be resolved, lobbyists don’t expect Senate floor votes on either bill before Memorial Day.

Most of the Green community is urging Congress to finish the global warming bill as quickly as possible. But two key environmental groups, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, are taking a more hard-line approach.

The Friends of the Earth “Fix It or Ditch It” media campaign charges the Senate bill would give away trillions of dollars in free pollution credits and urges lawmakers to avoid weakened standards aimed at appeasing Republicans. Already, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) has vowed to scuttle the bill if such amendments are added. But Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), chairman of the House Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee, is pushing for most of the permit allocations to be free.

In response, Greenpeace has already put down stakes in 15 congressional districts and plans to expand to 50 by May.

“We’re mostly talking to members in the field, hoping the bill will get stronger,” explained Greenpeace global warming director Chris Miller. “The House is not as far along on the debate as we’d like them to be.”

On the other side, the Environmental Defense Fund is calling for quick action on global warming in a $2 million advertising campaign geared toward competitive House and Senate races.

The Greens have more consolidated support for extending renewable energy tax credits. But their fight for Republican votes became more complicated after the Bush administration threatened a veto of the $18 billion tax increase for five major oil companies.

The National Taxpayers Union is urging its members to fight the tax hikes with a mixed grass-roots and advertising push. And it’s aiming to cement support from anti-tax advocates such as Republican Sens. Mike Crapo of Idaho and John Thune of South Dakota.

The union’s communications vice president, Pete Sepp, said it is also mobilizing its national membership through e-mails and guest appearances on talk radio shows in targeted congressional districts.

“There aren’t a lot of radio stations out there, so people tend to listen,” Sepp said. “Our message is that this is a tax increase, no matter how they like to spin it.”

The National Association of Manufacturers, meanwhile, is ushering their members into congressional meetings, armed with research warning the global warming bill could cost the country 1.8 million jobs and significantly hike electricity costs.

Posted April 2, 2008
In the News