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 5626 signatures

Number	Date	Name
5626	November 20, 2009	Patrick Steen
5625	November 20, 2009	jeff hopkins
5624	November 20, 2009	Anonymous
5623	November 19, 2009	Dulce Beltarn
5622	November 19, 2009	Luan Le
5621	November 18, 2009	naomi wynne
5620	November 18, 2009	P D
5619	November 17, 2009	Jerilyn Bodemar
5618	November 17, 2009	Roger Hannah
5617	November 15, 2009	Anonymous
5616	November 13, 2009	Elizabeth Diaz
5615	November 12, 2009	James Root
5614	November 10, 2009	Mike Antone
5613	November 09, 2009	Ted Fishman
5612	November 09, 2009	Lynn Barnes
5611	November 08, 2009	joanne groshardt
5610	November 08, 2009	lancen musser
5609	November 07, 2009	Bonnie Bennett
5608	November 07, 2009	TRAVIS HARVEY
5607	November 07, 2009	David S. Nichols
5606	November 07, 2009	David Romportl
5605	November 07, 2009	diane ensign
5604	November 07, 2009	Joyce Crowley
5603	November 07, 2009	Rosemarie Grassi
5602	November 07, 2009	Ronda O'Bryant

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