July 29, 2009

Climate Bill Must Work For Consumers  

Tell the Senate to protect consumers in the cap and trade bill!

Last week Public Citizen, along with AARP, Consumer Federation of America, National Consumer Law Center, and dozens of other environmental and consumer groups, held a press conference about the lack of adequate consumer protections in the sweeping climate change legislation passed by the House of Representatives.  We are calling on the Senate to improve this legislation by stripping out the corporate giveaways and including strong protections for struggling energy consumers and the environment.

Now is the time for you to join us in this fight!  We need your signature so we can tell the Senate to stand up to special interests and take care of consumers.  The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is holding hearings now until the end of August to try to help write a bill, so we need to gather all the support we can during this time.

Take action today by signing on to the following letter to restore consumer protections to the climate bill!

Dear Members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee: Thank you for taking up the work of climate change Reducing our greenhouse gas emissions is not only a necessity but will also spur a new economic revolution and create millions of good, green jobs. However, there is a good way to do a climate bill and a bad way to do a climate bill. We, the undersigned, are concerned about lack of consumer protection in the version of the American Clean Energy and Security Act passed by the House. We ask you, the members of the committee, to include strong consumer protection language in the version of the bill you will write. The cornerstone of this approach should be limiting the number of pollution allowances given away for free, which currently stands at 85% in the House version. These free allocations deny the government access to revenues to ensure that consumers are held harmless, will result in windfall profits for many large polluters, and will delay our transition to cleaner energy technologies. Many critics of climate change legislation say that it will drive up energy prices, regressively hurting low-income households, and not sufficiently reduce carbon levels to affect the clime. The early experimental years of carbon trading in Europe showed this to be true, when all of the pollution credits were given away for free, energy prices went up, companies made windfall profits, and consumers were hurt. After moving to a full auction, emissions reductions happened and prices stabilized. Our critics will be correct if we do not watch out for consumers first. This is why the EPA warned in their written testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee that giving away allowances was “highly regressive” but that through a sufficiently large auction and efficient rebate most low and middle income households could “come out ahead” if energy prices increased. This is also why President Obama originally called for a 100% auction of all pollution allowances. A larger proportion of these allowances need to be auctioned and those revenues used for direct consumer benefit and relief. We also ask that you: (1) Ensure residential electric and natural gas consumers directly receive the benefit of the electric and natural gas local distribution company (LDC) allowances provided to mitigate consumer cost impacts in the following manner: • The electric and natural gas local distribution companies (LDCs) must pass through the ratable share of the value of the emissions allowances to residential consumers to reduce the costs impacts on residential consumers. No more than 25% of the value of these allowances can be used for cost-effective, measurable and verifiable energy efficiency measures that include low-income ratepayers. • Ratepayer benefits from the LDC emission allowances shall be distributed among ratepayer classes ratably based on revenues to each class. (2) Ensure consumer representation in the implementation of the climate change bill in the following manner: • Establish an Office of Consumer Advocate within the federal agencies tasked with implementing the long-term climate change policy. • Facilitate consumer participation in federal and state utility commission proceedings through intervener fees funded through the emission allowances. (3) Ensure that fixed-income, seniors and working families are not left behind by dedicating more than 15% of emission allowances to distribute to a greater number of households. (4) Improve protections against windfall profits funded at the expense of consumers by reducing the amount and number of years over which allowances are given freely to corporations. Of particular concern are free allowances granted to merchant coal power plants charging market-based rates and generators with long-term power-supply contracts. Since these generators are not exposed to international competitiveness problems, it is unclear as to why they require free allowances. Clearly, the House bill fails to provide adequate protections for consumers against windfall profits by these generators. Please stand up for consumers by enacting these portions of the bill.

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0-25 of 5687 signatures

Number	Date	Name
5687	February 07, 2010	Joan Poss
5686	February 06, 2010	Joseph Tonini
5685	February 06, 2010	Douglas Depue
5684	February 05, 2010	Dewey Fish
5683	February 04, 2010	John W. McManus, ULC
5682	February 02, 2010	Heather Kimbrough
5681	January 30, 2010	Anonymous
5680	January 23, 2010	Randolph Sandeen
5679	January 21, 2010	Harrison P Bertram
5678	January 15, 2010	Ethel Elkins
5677	January 14, 2010	Kathryn Sonenshine
5676	January 13, 2010	TRAVIS HARVEY
5675	January 12, 2010	Susan Armistead, M.D.
5674	January 11, 2010	Marvin George
5673	January 11, 2010	L. Glasner
5672	January 10, 2010	Carissa Sullivan
5671	January 09, 2010	Kevin Zellmer
5670	December 29, 2009	Karl Knutsen
5669	December 29, 2009	Ronald McKenzie
5668	December 22, 2009	L Gols
5667	December 17, 2009	les roberts
5666	December 17, 2009	Paul Joerg
5665	December 16, 2009	Elaine Heathcoat
5664	December 15, 2009	Delbert Contival
5663	December 15, 2009	Judy Landress

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