By Brian Scheid
When
the Democrats take control of the U.S. House and Senate in January,
environmental issues will suddenly be back in vogue on Capitol Hill,
several environmentalists said this week.
“The incoming Congress is definitely a deeper shade of green,” said Melinda Pierce, a lobbyist for the Sierra Club.
While
a new Iraq policy, changes to the Medicare program and ethics reform
likely will dominate the Democrats' early days, issues such as global
warming and renewable energy could find their way into the legislative
spotlight, according to PennEnvironment's Nathan Willcox.
Willcox,
an energy and clean air advocate with the statewide environmental
advocacy group, said the Democrats will replace Republican leadership's
“horrible track record on environmental issues.”
“I
think as far as the difference in this new Congress, some of these
issues will be seeing the light of day for the first time, which is
big,” Willcox said. “We're definitely in a much better place than we
were before Election Day.”
Perhaps
nowhere is that clearer than on the Senate's Committee on Environment
and Public Works. The committee will be chaired by Sen. Barbara Boxer,
D-Calif., who already has called for major policy shifts on global
warming. Boxer will replace Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who once called
global warming “the greatest hoax perpetrated on the American people.”
While
the environment may not top most Democrats' priority lists,
environmentalists no longer will have to battle Republican-backed
initiatives they faced this year such as drilling for oil in the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge or a rollback of environmental standards for
oil companies in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
In other words, environmentalists have “moved from defense to offense,” according to Chris Miller, a spokesman for Greenpeace.
“I
think we're now in a place where we're going to be in a position when
we can advance some significant legislation instead of constantly being
on defense like we were with this Republican Congress.” Miller said.
“Broadly speaking, the news is good.”
“We're
moving away from leadership in the House and Senate that was very
antagonistic towards positive energy solutions,” said Nat Mund, deputy
legislative director for the League of Conservation Voters. “We think
there will be a lot more opportunity.”
That
“antagonistic” relationship the Republican Congress had with issues
such as global warming and energy independence may have been a factor
in the Democrats' victory at the polls earlier this month, according to
two polls taken after the mid-term elections.
In
a Zogby International poll, half of the more than 19,000 voters polled
said concern about global warming made a difference in which candidate
they voted for. A survey of more than 2,000 voters by Greenberg Quinlan
Rosner for Democracy Corps and the Campaign for America's Future found
that 47 percent of voters under 30 claimed that the Republicans'
“failure on energy and gas prices” was their top concern.
However,
Kelly Mitchell, an organizer with Project Hot Seat Pennsylvania, said
just because Democrats have taken power doesn't mean improved
environmental policies are any guarantee. Project Hot Seat was an
effort that lobbied candidates in the 8th Congressional District race
to support legislation aimed at curbing global warming.
“Right
now the Democrats have a really good opportunity to step up to the
plate and take some leadership on this,” Mitchell said. “This is going
to be a test of the Democratic Congress of what they're willing to
fight for.”
The
environmental agenda likely will start with “small steps.” according to
Willcox, such as incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's pledge to end
tax breaks to big oil companies. Earlier this month, Boxer, and fellow
senators Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Joseph Liberman, I-Conn., sent a
letter to Bush calling on him to commit to working with Congress on
“meaningful climate change legislation.” Willcox said he's hopeful
those small steps will lead to bigger environmental policies.
“I
don't have any illusion that it will be easy to pass broad
environmental legislation, especially with President Bush still in the
White House,” said Pierce, the Sierra Club lobbyist, “but I do think
there will be modest gains.”
