Today we learn that the far-right have launched a new operation to attack a yet-to-be- released climate change bill.  According to Roll Call:  

The effort, which Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (Ind.) is spearheading, is designed to coincide with Senate introduction of a climate change proposal next week and the upcoming annual summer spike in gas prices that inevitably results in a message war on Capitol Hill over which party is to blame for higher prices at the pump.

Wow.  Really?  An entire destructive operation dubbed “American Energy Solutions Group” to take down a bill no one has seen?  What kind of “solution” is that?    

On April 26, a bipartisan group of forward-leaning Senators – John Kerry, D-Mass., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Joe Lieberman, I-Ct., – will roll out comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation. The bill is still under wraps, but done right, a climate and energy bill can put Americans back to work, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and create a healthier future for us all.  The three Senators deserve enormous credit for their work to craft a bill, but instead the far right is trying to kill their work before it even sees the light of day.

We need a bill that will create two million good-paying jobs for American workers, and position American businesses for decades of success in the growing global clean energy marketplace. A successful bill would cut our oil imports in half and strike a blow against climate change, the most pressing environmental challenge of our time.  We will see if this bill gets there on Monday.  Those gearing up to bring it down should read it along with the rest of us.

I went to elementary school in Kentucky.  Like children from across the country, I learned a lot about the history there.  One thing that has stuck with me is their state motto, “United We Stand, Divided We Fall.”  

The state of American politics seems to be in a bit of a free fall and this latest move by extremests – or as the kids these days like to say “haters” – before even seeing a bill just underscores what a ridiculous free fall we are in. When will political points lose out to meaningful policy that addresses a real need?

Even if you don’t believe in climate change, there are a million reasons to put our country on a clean energy path.  

You would think that a crowd called the “American Energy Solutions Group” would get that.  The only “solution” they seem to be looking for is gridlock.  I hope that they realize the damage that their selfish and short-sighted propaganda is doing to our country.  

United we stand, divided we fall.  

Heather Taylor-Miesle is the director of the NRDC Action Fund. Become a fan on Facebook or Twitter.

Over the past week, Sarah Palin encouraged Tea-Party candidates to make energy issues a central part of their campaigns. “There’s nothing stopping us from achieving energy independence that a good old national election can’t fix,” she said.  

Palin’s full of surprises, but this piece of campaign advice caught me off-guard. After all, a recent poll found that energy is the issue that inspires the most faith in Democratic lawmakers. Since President Obama made clean energy a central part of their campaign in 2008, this poll suggests that this is what the majority of people want.  Therefore, Democrats AND Republicans should all be running on clean energy.

Tea-partiers are always more than welcome to pontificate &peddle” more of the same”, blathering about dirty, old energy technologies that date back to the 19th century.

When in fact it will be bold Republicans and smart Democrats that support clean, innovative, job generating “energy ideas” that will truly get a lift by campaigning on energy.

Eight years of “Drill, baby, Drill,” during the Bush administration got us exactly where we are now – in trouble and dependent on foreign oil. But that isn’t what the American voters want now. American voters want progress and they want jobs.  The clean energy plan at the center of the economic package, which just approved a $100 million investment in smart grid technology, will lead to 30,000 Americans getting new job training.

These are the energy policies that Americans will have the most faith in. And that’s why I encourage the undecided Senators out there–those lawmakers and candidates from both parties who have been quiet about clean energy and climate legislation–to step forward and declare their support for a clean energy future for America and show some leadership.

Rather than being scared about what the Tea Party will say in response, lawmakers should be listening to American voters. People want to see progress right now, not more Congressional gridlock.

Comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation is primed for passing. It has already passed in the House. A new Senate bill is expected to become public in the coming days and will have tri-partisan support in the Senate thanks to Senators Kerry (D), Graham (R), and Lieberman (I). After the bill is unveiled, negotiating will begin in earnest.  Forward movement is further propelled by the White House backing, thanks to President Obama’s repeated requests for a bill to be delivered to his desk. And it has already gone through numerous hearings and been thoroughly debated on the Hill.

Senators should pass a clean energy and climate bill this summer and head into the final campaign push with a real success in hand–an action plan to deliver on the three of the most pressing issues for American voters right now:

• Jobs: The clean energy and climate bill that passed the House last just is projected to create nearly 2 million jobs. In fact, for every $1 million invested in clean energy, we can create 3 to 4 times as many jobs as if we spent the same amount on fossil fuels.

• The Economy: There is a consensus among economists that America can prevent the worst impacts of climate change without hurting the economy. As Paul Krugman explained recently, the House bill would leave the American economy between 1.1 percent and 3.4 percent smaller in 2050 than it would be otherwise.

• National Security: This week, the U.S. Military warned that oil would be in dangerously short supply in the next few years, exacerbating political tensions and around the world. In contrast, Think Progress found that clean energy and climate legislation would reduce Iran’s petrodollar receipts by $1.8 trillion through 2050. That’s an average of $100 million per day that doesn’t fall into the hands of a regime that sponsors extremist groups around the world!

These are the kind of real numbers that Americans are looking for. That’s why those up for reelection this fall should run on a positive, forward-looking energy policy instead of the 19th century leftover rhetoric that Palin is dishing out.

Heather Taylor-Miesle is the director of the NRDC Action Fund. Become a fan on Facebook or Twitter.

Cross-posted from The Huffington Post

The Weekly Standard ran a cover story this week called, “In Denial: The Meltdown of the Climate Campaign.” Despite the cute play on words about who is denying what, the article got it all wrong. Climate change legislation is not dead–not as long as publications like this keep putting it on its cover.  

As one experienced senator recently told an NRDC trustee: “I have never seen an important piece of legislation get passed that wasn’t declared dead several times before.”

All the big bills flirt with death. Why? Because it is really, really hard to move legislation through Congress. I have seen the most straightforward bills–like the ones to name post offices–get slowed to a halt while hand wringing and horse trading goes on.

I have even seen the bills that uphold the status quo get bogged down. I worked on a bill to phase out the exportation of dangerous mercury. The federal government had already started phasing it out, private industry had done the same, and the House of Representatives passed the bill with ease. Yet still it sat on life support in the Senate for months. Everyone thought it was a goner–until it wasn’t. It passed in 2008.

Clean energy and climate legislation will be much more transformative than the mercury bill was, and as a result, its birthing process will be even more tortured. But I am not calling it stillborn, and here is why.

1. Senators Continue to Propose New Climate Bills

Whether you like these bills or hate them, Senators are continuing to look for a path forward. Senators Cantwell and Collins recently drafted a climate bill, and Senators Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman are about to release their version. Senators don’t write legislation about dead issues.

2. The Press Keeps Covering Climate

A mantra among elected officials used to be “There is No Such Thing As Bad Press.”  In the modern day of the internet and ethics fiascos, we now know this saying is nothing if not exaggerated. However, every Washington insider knows that an issue is alive as long as it is talked about in the media. Climate bills are getting a lot of coverage, from editorial pages calling for action to major dailies reporting on the political maneuverings. Even the National Standard put Al Gore and climate action on its cover this week. It may not be all positive press but climate is big news.

3. Climate Action Has Bipartisan Traction

We all know Congress has sunk to historic levels of partisan paralysis. Senator Collins joined Senator Snowe in one climate proposal.  It is especially significant that the most anticipated climate proposal is currently being written by Democratic Senator Kerry, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, and Independent Senator Lieberman.  

4. President Obama Is Rolling Up His Sleeves

President Obama said in his State of the Union Address that he wants a comprehensive clean energy and climate bill on his desk this year. Since then, he has met with senators, business leaders, and environmental groups to push action along. The latest example was on Tuesday when he called a bipartisan group of swing senators to the White House.

5. There Is Strong Business Support for the Bill

Companies are still fleeing the Chamber of Commerce over its attempts to thwart clean energy and climate legislation. Meanwhile, the American Businesses for Clean Energy –a group of companies urging Congress to pass such legislation–has more than 2,500 members in 41 states after just four months in existence.

The bottom line is that all bills that offer any hope of meaningful change live on life support. The climate bill ain’t dead yet – not by a long shot.

Heather Taylor-Miesle is the director of the NRDC Action Fund. Become a fan on Facebook or Twitter.

As I sit here writing, I have the White House Health Care Summit running in the background.  This is the meeting where President Obama invited Congressional leaders to sit down at the table in front of the American public and talk about how to find common ground over what has become a very divisive, political debate about healthcare.  

So far, I am hearing the Republicans say “start over” and Democrats say “we can’t wait” ad nauseum. I say, “Lock them in the room, get out a piece of paper and pencils, and start writing.”  

But despite the discouraging aspects of this Blair House rhetorical rumble, I think there are a few signs of hope — and those signs may bode well for action on clean energy and climate change.  

Transparency.  As annoying as I find much of the actual healthcare summit oratory, I love that this speechifying smackdown is being done on TV.  I thought both sides articulated their views very well and I think that those watching walked away with a better understanding of where everyone stands.  It was a very thoughtful debate.  (I also think that a lot of their points led to a collective shrug from the public because, well, I hate to break it to them but they kind of agreed most of the time.  It leads me to ask – so, what is the hold up?  But, back to the point.)  I also thought it was great last month when President Obama spent a significant amount of time debating the Republicans at their retreat about everything from clean energy and climate legislation to foreign policy.  Once again, the public was given the opportunity to understand the issue with fewer soundbites and more substance.  I think that this trend toward a transparent, televised process would bode well for a climate bill.  

Whether it is the grossly exaggerated claims of consumer cost or the inaccurate, overstated accusations of scientific error, climate legislation has been seriously wounded by the 30-second misinformed soundbite.  A televised debate would hopefully reveal the very real benefits of addressing climate change and properly explain why a cap on global warming pollution is necessary not only to ensure a cleaner environment – but to give companies the incentive they need to invest in clean energy technologies , create jobs, and make us less dependent on oil-rich, terror-sympathizing countries.  

Signs of Bipartisanship.  With healthcare, just having the two sides argue in public is a move toward bipartisanship, but on climate, folks from both parties have already taken the step of locking themselves in a room together with paper and pencils.  Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has been working  with Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) for weeks as they draft a comprehensive climate and energy bill.  His willingness to put politics aside is the first step towards finding a solution.  

And there are other positive signs.  Last week, five Senate Republicans voted with Democrats to overcome a procedural hurdle on the jobs bill. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Kit Bond (R-MO) and George Voinovich (R-Ohio)–

voted to end a filibuster so that the bill, a $13 billion program to give companies a break from paying Social Security taxes for the remainder of the year on new employees, could get a final vote.  

In almost all ways, comparing the jobs bill to energy and climate legislation is like comparing apples and oranges.  However, in the way that may matter most – getting moderates from both parties to vote their minds instead of their parties – it opened the door to bipartisanship.  That is hopefully where we can resume building momentum on climate.

Signs of Accountability.  One of the greatest things that started today in tandem with the healthcare summit is a new age of accountability.  The visionaries over at The Sunlight Foundation provided its own interactive broadcast of the proceedings over the Internet.  Broadcasting over the web isn’t the revolutionary part — what is really terrific is that as each politician spoke, Sunlight would post campaign contributions that the person speaking has received, “their connections to lobbyists and industry, personal finances, and key votes that the leaders have made on health care in the past.”  

As these Members spoke, you could learn about their ties and it was fascinating to see the dots so clearly connected.  Now, having worked for Members of Congress, I can certainly tell you that elected officials don’t always vote they way their donors ask.  However, it was incredibly enlightening to have that background available as they spoke.  In a world where there are approximately eight healthcare lobbyists for each Member of Congress, it was very good to be able to really view the playing field and now the full scope of influence.

Greater accountability is also catching fire in the clean energy debate where bloggers, public interest groups, and media outlets are starting to ask who has their pockets lined by big polluters.  Just go to http://www.polluterharmony.org and you can see who has found their “true political love” with dirty fuels.  By putting all the pieces together, we can get a fuller picture of someone’s intentions and that can only lead to better legislation that is written in the interest of the people.  

In many ways, Washington should co-opt Chicago’s title as the “Windy City” after today’s healthcare summit.  But there is reason to hope.  Transparency, bipartisanship, and accountability will hopefully emerge as long-term trends that offer hope to every progressive issue.