Leaders laud passage of federal energy bill

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Congresswoman Lois Capps joined local leaders at Leadbetter Beach in Santa Barbara today to hail the recent passage of a federal energy act, characterizing it as a landmark decision that will launch the United States into a future of stringent energy standards and alternative fuel sources.
Standing in front of a row of hybrid vehicles, Congresswoman Capps credited grassroots efforts and a Democratic-led Congress with the passage of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

“This is not just a small step forward, it’s a huge leap,” she said. “This legislation represents a historic shift in energy policy for this country.”
For the first time since 1975, the act increases fuel economy standards for new cars and trucks to 35 miles per gallon by 2020. A newly expanded renewable fuel standard requires 9 billion gallons of renewable fuels this year and will progressively increase to 36 billion gallons by 2022.
“Our energy plan is about conservation,” Congresswoman Capps said. “It’s about reducing our dependence on dirty, expensive and dangerous fossil fuels.”
While many local leaders on hand seemed pleased that the bill sets stricter federal building standards and encourages domestic development of hybrid and plug-in vehicles, a local energy block grant program caught their attention.
“For us locally, we have government programs we want to get done and just don’t have the money,” Mayor Marty Blum said, characterizing the federal grant program as key to providing incentives for green building and small business energy audits.
She said a similar grant concept surfaced during conversations at a 2007 meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
“I was stunned to find out in the same year Congress actually passed it,” she said. “…We’re just absolutely thrilled this came through so fast.”
Councilmember Helene Schneider said getting local control over grant distribution is essential. She sees federal grant funds going to water conservation efforts, energy independence, toxic-free parks, recycling programs, and a host of other sustainability projects.
County Supervisors Salud Carbajal and Janet Wolf also lauded the federal legislation as groundbreaking, adding that local grants will support energy innovation and help maintain Santa Barbara’s pristine environment.
“I think Lois finally transformed our Santa Barbara values onto Congress,” Supervisor Carbajal said. “…Now we have a piece of legislation that reaffirms our values.”
Under the bill, 68 percent of available funds will go to eligible local municipalities. Mayor Blum said about $70 billion has been earmarked for the grant program.
As David Landecker, executive director of the Environmental Defense Center, stepped up to the podium to speak, he said he is hopeful that in 15 years he will be standing in front of a row of American hybrid cars, rather than foreign hybrids. He characterized the energy act as a clear indicator of a shift in the public consciousness.
“Environmentalism is no longer something that sits out on the side,” he said. “It’s no longer just about hugging trees.”
Tam Hunt, energy program director at the Community Environmental Council, said he is gratified to see the federal government taking climate change and energy issues seriously.
CEC’s Fossil Free by ’33 campaign, a goal for the region to become energy neutral by 2033, appeared “very pie-in-the-sky” when proposed a few years ago, he said. With this federal legislation, he said that target as becoming much more realistic.
Although federal legislators are pleased with the passage of the energy bill, state officials are going to battle to set even higher standards.
California filed suit against the federal government on Wednesday after the Environmental Protection Agency denied a waiver allowing it and 16 other states to regulate vehicle emissions more aggressively than the newly enacted federal legislation.
“I don’t understand why the federal government wouldn’t want us to be even stricter,” Mayor Blum said. “It’s the kind of thing where you just shake your head.”
Congresswoman Capps said along with developing a national renewable electricity standard and permanent tax credits for wind, solar and alternative energy sources, preserving states’ authority in developing stringent energy requirements will be her focus when she returns to Washington, D.C.
“I think it’s important for us to develop legislation in a way that allows states to go above and beyond,” she said. “…It’s the private sector that doesn’t want to rise to the level the state does.”
EPA officials said the federal energy act will be more effective in reducing greenhouse gases than a patchwork of state regulations. Aggressive emission requirements proposed by the state will increase gas economy standards to nearly 37 miles per gallon by 2016, state officials said, four years earlier than the federal government’s goal of reaching 35 miles per gallon.
Despite that pending litigation, Congresswoman Capps said the public should be pleased with the Energy Independence and Security Act, comparing it with the slew of environmental protection laws following the 1969 oil spill in the Santa Barbara Channel.
“We’ve been just dabbling at the edges,” she said. “Now we are going to go full steam ahead.”