SENATOR BARBARA BOXER:

Clean Energy Jobs Grew at Three Times the Rate

of the Rest of the California Economy
December 14, 2009
(Remarks as prepared for delivery)

The press of Senate business keeps me from attending

the climate talks in Copenhagen, and requires me to
stay in Washington, DC, so I have decided to speak
today from the Environment and Public Works Hearing
room, and deliver the speech I would have given in
Denmark.

Mary Nichols, Chairman of the California Air Resources

Board, has agreed to circulate my remarks among those
in attendance in Copenhagen.

I: INTRODUCTION:
As the nations of the world meet in Copenhagen to
discuss the challenge of global warming, the United
States brings to these discussions a strong record of
effective action, built from the ground up.

Action by governors in dozens of states from coast to

coast.

Action by over 1000 mayors in every state of the Union.

Action by the President and the Environmental

Protection Agency.

And action in both Houses of the United States Congress

with better and better news from the Senate every day.

There are those – including my Ranking Republican Member on the

Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Inhofe, who are
determined to claim that the U.S. will not take action to reduce global
warming.

Sen. Inhofe, who has said that global warming is the

biggest hoax ever perpetrated, says he’s going to tell
the participants in the Copenhagen talks that there will
not be serious action to address climate change in
America.

He is entitled to his opinion, but he is not entitled to his

own facts.

I am here to set the record straight. America has

already acted. We continue to act. And we are doing
more every day.

II. STATE AND LOCAL ACTION

Let’s look at my home state of California. If it were a

separate country, it would be the world’s seventh or
eighth largest economy. A 2006 law requires action to
cut greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

Last month, the California Air Resources Board produced

its first cap-and-trade blueprint, which would cap global
warming pollution for about 600 of the largest emitters
in the state. The plan includes offsets and other
measures to ensure a smooth transition to a clean
energy economy.

All together, 33 states – accounting for two-thirds of the

U.S. population -- are embracing action as part of
regional or state-based cap-and-trade emissions-
reduction programs.
A new report out last week shows that these state-level
actions could cut the nation’s CO2 output by 536 million
metric tons by 2020. That’s the equivalent of 7 percent
of our country’s greenhouse gases produced in 2005.

The ten Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states in the

Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) have already
held six auctions for carbon allowances, and 233 power
plants are buying and selling pollution permits under an
existing, operating cap-and-trade program.

If you look a little further to our north and west, another

six states have formed the Midwest Greenhouse Gas
Reduction Accord, and are developing their own cap and
trade system.
In the western states, the Western Climate Initiative
(WCI) - comprised of seven U.S. states, including my
home state of California, and four Canadian provinces --
recently announced its recommendations for the design
of a regional market-based cap-and-trade program.
In the Southeast, Charlie Crist, the Republican governor,
signed a law last year authorizing the Florida's
Department of Environmental Protection to develop a
cap-and-trade program for emissions from electric
utilities.

The actions taken by states are powerful evidence that

our states are committed to participating in the clean
energy transformation – and in the jobs and economic
opportunities that come with it.

Our nation’s cities are also taking action to cut

emissions, reduce energy consumption. On October 2,
the 1000th mayor signed the Mayors’ Climate Protection
Agreement, pledging to reduce his communities’ carbon
emissions 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.
California is a leader in this wave of local action, too,
with 135 mayors in my state taking part. In
communities across the country, cities are turning their
municipal fleets toward alternative fuels or hybrid power,
making city buildings more sustainable, employing
cleaner energy sources for power plants.

In Los Angeles, Mayor Villaraigosa has set a goal of 40

percent renewable energy for the city’s water and power
department by 2020, and the city aims to make its
power generation entirely coal-free by then.

The programs our cities are putting in place are cutting

global warming pollution and boosting clean energy
demand right now. These are real changes that are
already underway.

III. THE PRIVATE SECTOR IS ACTING

Business executives from leading American companies

are also demanding we take action – now -- to unleash
the marketplace for clean energy technology.

Last month, Dow Chemical Company's vice president for

government affairs said legislation that puts a price on
carbon gives companies like his predictability to invest in
new technologies that otherwise would not be viable,
like manufacturing solar shingles or using CO2 to create
fuel with algae.

The sooner we act, the better.

The Vice Chairman of GE testified before the EPW Committee that clean
energy could become the dominant job creator of the 21st Century. He said,
“Companies and countries that move quickly to seize that opportunity will
reap the rewards going forward.”

We know that clean energy is a proven job creator.

The latest economic study at the University of California
at Berkeley predicts up to 1.9 million new jobs in
America from a comprehensive clean energy bill. And
once again, my state is demonstrating that these jobs
are real.

Clean energy and energy efficiency jobs continue to be

one of the bright spots in the California economy. On
December 9th, the Los Angeles Times reported an
analysis released by Collaborative Economics for the
Next 10 organization that found green jobs increased by
5 percent -- while total jobs declined by 1 percent -- in
California from January 2007 to January 2008. The study
also found that between 1995 and 2008, green jobs
grew at three times the rate of the overall California
economy.

The Pew Charitable Trust reports that 10,000 new clean

energy businesses were launched in California from
1998 to 2007. During that period, clean energy
investments created more than 125,000 jobs and
generated jobs 15 percent faster than the California
economy as a whole.

These are solid, steady, good wage-paying jobs.

I’m talking about manufacturing jobs for steel workers

and machinists, transportation jobs for truckers and rail
workers, high-tech jobs for electrical engineers and
software designers. Jobs building and installing solar
panels on houses here in the U.S. can’t be outsourced to
other countries.

We have a choice. We can create jobs here by putting in

place the policies that drive innovation. That is the best
way to ensure that we do not stand by and watch as
other countries create them overseas.

By 2020, the global clean energy market is estimated to

reach $500 billion, some two and a half times the size of
the global personal computer market. A Bloomberg
News report this month found that clean energy is
already estimated to draw $200 billion in investments
worldwide in 2010.

IV. FEDERAL ACTION IS HAPPENING NOW

Last week marked an important milestone in the effort to

address the challenge of global warming: The EPA found
that global warming presents a danger to our people and
our environment.

The endangerment finding that EPA Administrator Lisa

Jackson released reflects the hard work of experts in
both Republican and Democratic administrations.

The Obama Administration has done the right thing for

the nation, for the planet, and – if you listen to our
business community -- for the economy.

The endangerment finding will set the stage for EPA

regulations to curb global warming pollution from
vehicles, and also makes it possible to address
emissions from new and expanded power plants.

EPA has a crucial role to play in getting the process

started. The Clean Air Act provides EPA with powerful
tools for addressing greenhouse gases, and the Supreme
Court found it is their responsibility.

The endangerment finding itself is clear: “The

Administrator finds that six greenhouse gases taken in
combination endanger both the public health and the
public welfare of current and future generations.”

The finding cites dangers to public health from “changes

in air quality, increases in temperatures, changes in
extreme weather events, increases in food- and water-
borne pathogens…” Threats to public welfare include
“…numerous and far-ranging risks to food production
and agriculture, forestry, water resources, sea level rise
and coastal areas, energy, infrastructure … and
ecosystems and wildlife.”

In September, EPA finalized its Greenhouse Gas

Reporting Rule, which will, for the first time, require
large emitters of heat-trapping emissions to begin
collecting greenhouse gas (GHG) data under a new
reporting system.

Following through on a plan announced in May 2009, the

Obama Administration proposed rules in September that
would set nationwide limits on greenhouse gas
emissions from vehicles and require a nearly 40 percent
increase in fuel efficiency for cars and light trucks sold in
the United States by 2016.

V: CONGRESS IS MOVING FORWARD

And Congress has taken important steps, too.

In February, we approved tens of billions of dollars for

clean energy funding through the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which included
over $58 billion in funding for important clean energy
priorities.

The Recovery Act includes funds for hands-on training

for jobs installing solar panels, maintaining electric
vehicles, and researching fuel cell technologies and
putting people to work boosting the energy efficiency
homes across America.

Just last week, Sapphire Energy -- a San Diego company

using algae to convert sunlight and carbon dioxide into
renewable fuels -- received more than $100 million in
grants and loan guarantees through the Recovery Act.
Those funds will allow Sapphire to create hundreds of
jobs and expand their commercial scale facilities in New
Mexico and advance their research activities in San
Diego.

The House has also acted on a comprehensive plan --

On June 26, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives
approved H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and
Security Act, by a vote of 219 to 212.

In June, the Senate Energy Committee passed S. 1462,

the American Clean Energy Leadership Act (ACELA).

And on November 5, 2009: The Senate Environment and

Public Works Committee passed the Clean Energy Jobs
and American Power Act.
Our bill is a road map to avoiding the most dangerous
impacts of global warming, getting us off our $1 billion a
day foreign oil habit, creating millions of new jobs and
ensuring the United States is a leader in the clean
energy economy.

The Kerry Boxer bill addresses major challenges of our

generation:

Creating the policies that will lead to millions of new

jobs here in America;
Putting America back in control of our energy future;
Making our nation more secure and less dependent on
 foreign oil; and
Protecting our children and the earth from dangerous
pollution.
Provisions of the Kerry-Boxer bill and the Energy
Committee’s bill now will become part of a
comprehensive clean energy and climate package for
consideration by the full Senate. Majority Leader Reid is
working with the chairmen of six committees (EPW,
Energy, Commerce, Foreign Relations, Finance, and
Agriculture) to craft a package for floor consideration.

Senators Kerry, Lieberman and Graham are hard at work

building the bipartisan consensus that will be needed to
pass comprehensive clean energy legislation. They
announced the broad parameters of their bill, and they
are dedicated to getting the votes needed to pass the
bill in the Senate.

Senator Cantwell introduced a bill with Senator Collins,

which I believe is a positive development, because the
more Senators involved in discussing the issue, the
better.

I was deeply moved by the recent statement of

Senator Robert C. Byrd about the importance of
working together to develop clean energy legislation
that works for all regions of the country.

“To be part of any solution, one must first

acknowledge a problem. To deny the mounting
science of climate change is to stick our heads in the
sand and say “deal me out.” West Virginia would be
much smarter to stay at the table.”

Senator Byrd is right. We all need to stay at the table

and find the answers, together. Solutions that will
benefit West Virginia. Solutions that will benefit
California. Solutions that create jobs for workers
across the nation and protect children from coast to
coast from pollution.

The need for action is urgent.

VI. THE SCIENCE IS CLEAR

The world’s leading scientists continue to tell us that we

must reduce carbon pollution now to avoid the most
dangerous effects of climate change. And they continue
to reaffirm those warnings despite the latest attempts by
those opposed to action to undermine the public’s
confidence.

Just last week, a letter from 25 of America’s most

preeminent scientific experts – including 8 members of
the National Academy of Sciences – wrote to Congress to
underscore the need for urgent action to reduce global
warming pollution.

Here’s what they wrote --

“We would like to set the record straight. The

body of evidence that human activity is the
dominant cause of global warming is
overwhelming. The content of the stolen emails
has no impact whatsoever on our overall
understanding that human activity is driving
dangerous levels of global warming.”

And on Friday, December 4, the American Association for

the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has reaffirmed the
position of its Board of Directors and the leaders of 18
respected organizations, who concluded based on
multiple lines of scientific evidence that global climate
change caused by human activities is now underway,
and it is a growing threat to society.

“The vast preponderance of evidence, based on

years of research conducted by a wide array of
different investigators at many institutions, clearly
indicates that global climate change is real, it is
caused largely by human activities, and the need
to take action is urgent,” said Alan I. Leshner,
chief executive officer of AAAS and executive
publisher of the journal Science.

I believe the recent focus on stolen emails from a British

university has further focused attention on global
warming.

Nothing that we have seen to date on the stolen emails

contradicts the overwhelming body of scientific work,
which shows that global warming caused by human
activity is real and serious. The Associated Press
investigation of the emails found the same thing. More
than anything, the emails reflect the intensity of feelings
on both sides associated with the debate between the
dissenters, and the vast majority of leading experts.

Unfortunately this debate got personalized by both

sides.

For a long time the dissenters have used emotional

language to characterize the scientists and others who
have called for action on global warming. Earlier this
year, Senator Inhofe called business leaders who support
action on climate change, “a few corporate prostitutes.”
The website JunkScience.com called them “carbon
criminals” and put their faces on ‘Wanted’ posters.
[CHART]
Well, some scientist reacted in kind. Here’s an
example. [CHART]

It is unfortunate that personal animosity entered this

debate, but we must listen to what the science is telling
us.

The science is clear, the challenge is real, and the time

to act is now.

A recent commentary on public radio a few days ago on

the Copenhagen talks summed up the key points. Fred
Fiske is a long-standing commentator with public radio.

The threat posed by global warming is serious – “rising

sea levels, drought, disease, collapsing agriculture, and
mass population migrations” are just some of what we
are facing if we do not act. American business leaders
know we need to act now – a company like Coca Cola,
which relies on reliable local supplies of clean water, “is
deeply concerned with the problem of water scarcity.”

And finally the urgency of action is undeniable:

“Reaching consensus – nationally, regionally, and
globally – will not be easy. But if we are at all concerned
with the habitability of the planet which we will bequeath
to future generations, we must move forward.”

VII. CONCLUSION

Two weeks ago, the President sent a strong signal to the

world that this nation is serious about working with the
international community when he proposed a U.S. target
in the range of 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.
The EPW Committee passed a 20 percent target, and the
House passed a 17 percent cut, so the President’s
proposal is certainly credible and realistic, because it
reflects the work of both Houses of Congress.

And I was pleased to see that the President plans to be

in Copenhagen this week, with nearly 100 other heads of
state, to participate in the crucial final stages of the
negotiations.

Our nation will be a full participant in crafting a global

solution to this global challenge.

It is easy to say, “No.” But I believe that would be

missing a huge opportunity to launch a strong economic
rebound and save our planet for our children and
grandchildren.

We didn’t ask for this challenge. But it is here, and we

have a responsibility to face it.

And the best part is this: clean energy legislation will

move us away from foreign oil and the billion dollars a
day we pay for it, and it will lead us into a strong
economic recovery and long term prosperity for our
nation.
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