Know Five Things

1.) The New Ad

• This week, Catholics United launched a new radio ad campaign in South Bend, IN, calling on Congress to support the American Clean Energy and Security Act. [Catholics United]
• From their press release: “The ad, entitled “In This Together,” features South Bend native Sister Sharon Dillon, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis and former executive director of both the Franciscan Mission Service of North America and the Franciscan Federation of the Third Order for the United States. In the ad, Sister Sharon explains that despite hard times for Indiana’s working families, the energy bill promises to jump-start local economic development through investment in technologies like wind and solar power.”

2.) People of Faith And The Environment

• This past year, a large group of churches united in an effort to create a “greener” Palm Sunday, “promoting palm fronds that are produced in a way intended to preserve the environment and protect the livelihood of the Mexican and Guatemalan harvesters.” [Washington Post]
• A majority of Catholics are worried about climate change. According to a recent Zogby poll, “55 percent of the 1,001 Catholics polled between March 30 and April 14 believed global warming and climate change were serious problems. The poll found that 60 percent of respondents felt that climate change must be addressed immediately even if not everything is known about it.” [CNS]
• Still work to be done: Overall, 47 percent, of the adult U.S. population acknowledges the solid evidence that the earth is warming because of human activities. Of white Protestant groups, a Pew study found “white mainline Protestants the figure was 48 percent, it was 39 percent for black Protestants and 34 percent for white evangelical Protestants, a key base for the Republican Party whose leaders have often cast doubt on the link between emissions and climate change.” [Pew]

3.) Clean Energy Effect: The Economy

• A study released last week by the Center for American Progress found that the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) would help spur $150 billion of investment in clean energy technology every year, creating 1.7 million net jobs. [CAP]

4.) Clean Energy Effect: Energy

• Reducing reliance on foreign oil: According to a new Clean-Energy Debate Guide by the Center for American Progress Action Fund, “The United States imported 57 percent of its oil last year, sending $342 billion out of the country. Nearly three-quarters of oil use goes toward transportation.The new fuel economy standards announced by President Barack Obama on May 19, 2009 will reduce oil use by 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the life of the program. The standards will produce a car and light truck vehicle fleet that would achieve the equivalent of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016. This is nearly a one-third improvement in fuel economy.” [Clean Energy Debate Guide]
• Reducing emissions: ACES requires greenhouse gas emissions to be 17 percent lower than 2005 levels by 2020. This is equivalent to taking half a billion cars off the road. [Clean Energy Debate Guide]

5.) The Cost of ACES

• According to new research from the Congressional Budget Office, ACES will cost the average American household about the same amount of money as a postage stamp per day. [Albert Gore]

Additional Resources

“Clean Energy Investment Creates Jobs in Every State” The Center For American Progress, 06-18-09. [CAP]

• Excerpt: “...Clean-energy investments create 16.7 jobs for every $1 million in spending. Spending on fossil fuels, by contrast, generates 5.3 jobs per $1 million in spending...”

“Clean-Energy Debate Guide.” Center for American Progress Action Fund, 06-23-09. [CAPAF]

• Excerpt: “... The American Clean Energy and Security Act, H.R. 2454, would create jobs, reduce oil dependence, cut global warming pollution, and increase American competitiveness. It is a fragile compromise with support from utilities, energy companies, labor unions, and environmentalists. Despite its broad appeal conservative opponents continue to repeat factual misstatements, half truths, and outright howlers. This study guide debunks these myths and provides the facts....”

“Catholic coalition seeks to influence outcome of climate-change bill.” Catholic News Services, 04-21-09. [CNS]

• Excerpt: “...Led by a coalition of more than a dozen Catholic organizations, religious communities are ramping up efforts to ensure that the legislative debate on climate change beginning April 22 in Congress will not overlook the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people...”

“Green, Meet God.” Henry G. Brinton, USA Today, 11-10-08. [USAT]

• Excerpt: “...For centuries, the biblical command to ‘have dominion’ over the earth was seen as a divine endorsement of environmental exploitation. But a radical shift has occurred, and most people of faith now support efforts to be good stewards of natural resources....”

“House Climate Bills’s Annual Average Household Cost Is $175, CBO Says.” New York Times, 06-22-09. [NYT]

• Excerpt: “...Comprehensive climate legislation pending in the House would cost an average of about $175 per household every year, though the price tag would be even larger for wealthier Americans while the poorest can expect to get a small dividend, according to a Congressional Budget Office study released late Friday....”

“A Postage Stamp A Day.” Albert Gore, 06-23-09. [Al’s Journal]

• Excerpt: “...According to a new letter from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office the American Clean Energy Security Act, our best legislative hope to repower America, would cost approximately $175 per household in 2020...”

Play Audio Clips

The Catholics United ACES Ad, 06-24-09:

• “This is Sister Sharon Dillon, and I’m a Franciscan from South Bend. My family has lived in South Bend for four generations, and I know times have never been tougher. I understand the frustration and the fear of so many in our community. But there’s hope for the future. Congress will soon vote on The American Clean Energy and Security Act, which reduces our dependence on foreign oil, protects our environment, and creates thirty-eight thousand clean energy jobs here in Indiana — jobs building wind farms and solar panels, which can never be outsourced. Together, we can create a healthier and more prosperous world. For me, it’s not about partisan politics. It’s about values and families, human dignity and the common good. Please, call Congressman Joe Donnelly at (202) 225-3915 and ask him to support the energy bill. Because when it comes to jobs, the environment, and a future for our families, we are all in this together. Paid for by Catholics United.” [Audio, 1:05]

President Barack Obama, presser, 6-25-09, on how the energy bill will create millions of new jobs

• The energy bill before the house will finally create a set of incentives that will spark a clean energy transformation of our economy. It will spur the development of low carbon sources of energy, everything from wind, solar and geothermal power to safe nuclear energy and cleaner coal. It will spur new energy savings like the efficient window and other materials that reduce heating costs in the winter and heating costs in the summer and most importantly it will make possible the creation of millions of new jobs. [Audio, :32]

President Barack Obama, presser, 6-25-09, on creating clean energy jobs that can’t be outsourced

• Now, make no mistake. This is a jobs bill. We are already seeing how this is true in the clean energy investments we are making through the Recovery Act. In California, 3,000 will be employed to build a new solar plant that will create 1,000 jobs. In Michigan, investments in wind turbines and wind technology is expected to create over 2600 jobs. In Florida, three new solar projects are expected to employ 1,400 people. The list goes on and on but the point is this: this legislation will finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy. That will lead to the creation of new businesses and entire new industries and that will lead to American jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced. [Audio, :45]

President Barack Obama, presser, 6-25-09, saying in a decade the price to an average American will be about the price of a postage stamp

• This legislation has also been written carefully to address the concerns that many have addressed in the past. Instead of increasing the deficit, it has been paid for by the polluters who currently emit dangerous carbon emissions. It provides assistance to businesses and families as they make the gradual transition to clean energy technologies. It gives rural communities and farmers the opportunity to participate in climate solutions and generate new income and above all, it will protect consumers from the costs of this transition so that in a decade the price to an average American will be about the price of a postage stamp per day. [Audio, :38]

President Barack Obama, presser, 6-25-09, on ending the cycle of bubble and bust

• I’ve often talked about the need to build a new foundation for economic growth so that we don’t return to the endless cycle of bubble and bust that has led us into this deep recession. Clean energy and the jobs it creates will absolutely critical to the new foundation. [Audio, :15]