A study released today documents the powerful benefits of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) – the nation-leading effort by Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants while building up energy efficiency and clean energy efforts in the states.

The study found that RGGI created $1.6 Billion in net economic benefits across the region ($888 million in New England alone).  The program saved electricity customers $1.3 Billion on their energy bills region-wide due to investment by the program in energy efficiency and created 16,000 Job Years (a standard measure of employment) during the first 3 years of the program (including temporary and permanent positions).   The cost of the program was minimal, creating an imperceptible 0.7% electricity price increase on customer bills across the region that was more than offset by the benefits of the program.

CLF has been deeply involved with the RGGI program from its inception. We strongly believe that this is solid proof that RGGI, while first and foremost an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, is also a win for the economy, consumers and business, as well as the environment.

We must apply the lessons of RGGI to date and move beyond this pilot phase, scaling up the program to further reduce pollution, create even more jobs and reduce energy bills on a much greater scale, and take this effort into other parts of the nation.

RGGI has proved that a well-designed greenhouse gas reduction policy is a win for just about everybody.  The complaints (amplified by their well-financed megaphone) from the filthy few companies who make their money by extracting and selling coal and oil, at great cost in lives and environmental damage, should not distract us from hearing that very positive story.

Zak Griefen

CLF is pleased to welcome Zak Griefen, a Vermont native and former litigator for Cheney, Brock and Saudek, in the newly created role of environmental enforcement litigator. Based in CLF’s Vermont office, but working on cases throughout New England, Zak will be focused initially on cleaning up our region’s inland and coastal waters by ensuring that polluters are aware of their Clean Water Act permitting requirements and bringing federal litigation when necessary. The environmental enforcement litigator position was created to hold polluters accountable for the violations of environmental regulations—Clean Water Act and others—that are rampant across New England, compromising our region’s health and the health and safety of our citizens.

Zak has a BA from the University of New Mexico, and earned his JD, cum laude, and Master of Studies in Environmental Law, magna cum laude, from Vermont Law School in 2005, where he was an editor of the Vermont Law Review. Admitted to practice in VT and MA, he served for two years as clerk to the judges of the Vermont Environmental Court, and then practiced civil litigation in Montpelier, where he lives with his wife and two children. Zak, who served as a summer intern at CLF in 2004, is an avid angler and is particularly interested in protecting healthy streams and promoting sustainable land use.

Leaves are falling, autumn has arrived – and so has a new look for CLF Ventures, CLF’s non-profit strategy-consulting arm. CLF Ventures bridges the public and private sectors to advance innovative, market-based solutions that benefit the environment, society, and our clients’ bottom line. With a new logo and a newly redesigned website, CLF Ventures is taking our message of “Environmental Gain – Economic Advantage” to the next level.

The new CLF Ventures logo was designed to complement the CLF logo while capturing the unique mission and value that CLF Ventures brings to our clients. The two overlapping leaves in the new CLF Ventures logo embody our message that the environment and the economy are interconnected, not mutually exclusive, and that we need to pay attention to both to have a truly thriving and sustainable economy. “If you really look closely,” says CLF Ventures CEO Jo Anne Shatkin, “you see the “V” inside the leaves – that’s the “V” for Ventures, but it’s also a check mark, which says ‘yes, we know how to make things happen.’ CLF Ventures is like those two overlapping leaves. We’re uniquely positioned to help our clients because we’re part of the environmental community and we understand what businesses and innovators need to operate and thrive.”

The redesigned CLF Ventures website highlights the breadth of our services and the wide variety of partners we help. Our new homepage features a revolving showcase of the “Four I’s” – Innovate, Incubate, Integrate, and Initiate – which captures CLF Ventures’ mission to bring about positive environmental change through the marketplace. Many people are familiar with CLF Ventures’ work to help facilities integrate their operations with sound environmental principles and operate both sustainably and profitably. But CLF Ventures also helps entrepreneurs and clean technology leaders innovate their products and technologies and bring them to market. We incubate replicable, new businesses that create shared value and improve the environment. And we initiate opportunities that propel new investment models toward the triple bottom line. Our redesigned website allows us to share our story – and our mission – with a broader audience. We hope you’ll check out www.clfventures.org and let us know what you think.

Last year, Senator Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced inconspicuous amendments to various appropriations bills designed to delay federal regulation of carbon dioxide.  Word on the D.C. street is that tomorrow Senator Murkowski will take aim at the oceans when she introduces an amendment on the Senate floor for debate.   The language we anticipate is something along the lines of “No funds shall be expended to implement any provisions of coastal and marine spatial planning under Executive Order 13547 (the President’s National Ocean Policy).”  The Murkowski amendment might also try to stop funding for longstanding coastal zone management programs that are a benefit to coastal communities, maritime safety and ocean-related commerce.   Interestingly enough, Alaska’s coastal program was eliminated last July.  With 36,000 miles of coast line to worry about, the Alaska legislature adjourned without reauthorizing its own coastal program.  Now that Alaska has lost all state control of its own coastline (no more federal consistency review over oil and gas projects, no more federal funding, no more state and local input for coastal policy and siting decisions that impact the Alaskan coastal zone), it seems that Alaska doesn’t want any other state to have the ability to responsibly manage its natural coastal and ocean resources.  This doesn’t sound like lawmaking.  It’s just sour grapes.  http://www.adn.com/2011/05/15/1864275/adjournment-dooms-coastal-zone.html#ixzz1b4CO5PMp

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island took the Senate floor yesterday in defense of science and reason – two topics that seldom seem to influence the decisionmaking of the Senate lawmakers these days when it comes to climate change.  Speaking out against the two big lies permeating the halls of congress: 1) environmental regulations are a burden to the economy; and 2) the jury is still out on climate change, Senator Whitehouse convincingly argued why both claims are false.  “The jury isn’t out,” he said, “the verdict is in!”  “More than 97% of publishing scientists accept that climate change is happening and that humans are causing it,” the Senator said in a twenty-four minute floor speech in which he cautioned his colleagues that the Senate is failing, “earning the scorn and condemnation of history” because while it considers repealing laws designed to prevent pollution, it cannot repeal the laws of nature.  “The dark hand of polluters can tap so many shoulders and there is a lot of power and money behind that dark hand, but nature is also tapping us on the shoulder, and we ignore that tapping at our own grave peril,” said Senator Whitehouse.  I must admit, I don’t have a lot of confidence that nature’s hand will win the contest in Washington, D.C., but my confidence is a bit restored when a Senator has the courage to speak the truth to his colleagues … giving nature’s tap a fighting chance.  Senator Whitehouse (RI) Floor speech on climate change

Bi-partisan legislation proposed by Senators Whitehouse (D-RI) and Snowe (R-ME) to establish a National Endowment for the Oceans received a shot in the arm recently, when the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works approved a proposal set forth earlier this year to fund the Endowment. Senator Whitehouse, a member of the Committee, called the approval a major step forward in getting the Endowment launched and said that its funds would help protect Rhode Island’s oceans and support the fishing, research and tourism jobs which are central to Rhode Island’s economy.

The Committee voted to approve the RESTORE the Gulf Coast States Act of 2011, which would set up the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund, financed by the billions of dollars in Clean Water Act penalties expected to be paid by BP and others responsible for the Gulf oil spill. Half of the interest generated from the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund – projected to be tens of millions of dollars in the first year alone – would be used to create the Endowment.

Funds from the Endowment would go towards restoring habitat, managing fisheries, planning for sustainable coastal development, acquiring coastal properties for preservation and relocating critical coastal infrastructure in Rhode Island, Maine and in coastal areas nationwide.

The legislation is pending approval by the full Senate.

CLF has long been supportive of the program and applauds both Senators Whitehouse and Snowe for their efforts to make the Endowment a reality.

“The Senators’ shared vision for a National Endowment for the Oceans demonstrates not only a commitment to our precious resources, but also an understanding that without funding we will be unable to do the comprehensive regional planning we need to restore habitat and protect our unique and vital ocean spaces,” said Tricia K. Jedele, vice president and director of CLF’s Rhode Island office.

For more information on CLF’s ocean conservation work, please visit here.

A new report released today indicates that a proposed Clean Fuels Standard could significantly strengthen the economy and boost energy self-sufficiency in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic by saving Americans billions in personal disposable income, bringing in billions more for participating states, and creating up to 50,000 jobs per year.

The analysis, conducted by the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) on behalf of 11 northeast and mid-Atlantic states, shows that creating a Clean Fuels Standard would help strengthen the region’s economy while reducing America’s reliance on oil and our exposure to volatile oil prices by supporting a clean energy economy here at home.

It enumerates multiple economic and environmental benefits the standard could deliver in the next 10 years, including:

• Creating up to 50,000 jobs annually
• Increasing personal disposable income in the region by up to $3.2 billion
• Growing our state economies by up to nearly $30 billion dollars
• Reducing our region’s dependence on oil by as much as 29 percent
• Reducing harmful air pollution that causes climate change up to 9 percent

Under a Clean Fuels Standard being considered, oil companies would make their fuels 10 percent cleaner on average when it comes to carbon pollution, allowing them to do this any way they choose (such as boosting sales of electricity for electric vehicles, advanced biofuels or natural gas). This means billions of dollars would be reinvested in the states to develop clean, local alternatives to gasoline and diesel – rather than sending them overseas.

CLF is encouraged by the report’s positive findings. Sue Reid, director of CLF Massachusetts, said, “The status quo of continuing to burn billions of gallons of gasoline and diesel fuels year after year is unsustainable on every level. With gas prices a dollar higher than this time last year, our region should seize on this good news that cleaner alternatives present real economic opportunity for the region. A Clean Fuels Standard provides a viable path to meeting our greenhouse gas reduction targets, and a way off of the fossil fuel roller coaster.”

Read reaction from other leading environmental and science organizations who support the Clean Fuels Standard here.

Photo credit: Leslie Boudreau

CLF applauded today’s announcement of federal approval of Rhode Island’s Ocean Special Area Management Plan (SAMP). Developed by the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) with extensive input from scientists and government, business and environmental stakeholders, including CLF, the plan aims to balance the protection of vulnerable marine habitats and wildlife with responsible ocean uses including the development of clean renewable energy. Read the full news release here.

This morning, CLF Rhode Island Director Tricia Jedele joined Governor Chafee and members of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at a press conference to celebrate the formal adoption of the SAMP, at which she reflected on this momentous achievement:

“Conservation Law Foundation is truly grateful to be included in today’s event – as grateful as we were to be a part of the transparent and inclusive SAMP planning exercise that produced this document.  It is a wonderful and amazing accomplishment that this comprehensive ocean use plan prepared by the smallest state in the country will now be used to help shape the future of sustainable ocean use in New England, including making the path straight for offshore wind energy and other important ocean uses.

So often referred to as merely “the SAMP,”  such a small name for such a massive undertaking, this document demonstrates that often the first step towards getting somewhere is simply deciding that you are not going to stay where you are any longer.

Rhode Island made the right decision. The State could no longer stay where it was.  It had to develop a response to the growing threat of climate change. It had to find new and sustainable ways to create economic growth. It had to protect its ocean resources for today and future generations. And, it had to develop a vision for the coordinated use of those shared resources. Because RI decided that it was time to move ahead, the State is now in a position to facilitate the speedy development of the renewable energy resources we need so badly, to foster the centuries old fisheries industry – an industry that makes us proud to call ourselves New Englanders, and to protect the critical and vulnerable habitat areas that keep our oceans healthy.

Not only is the SAMP a critical building block to the development of a regional comprehensive ocean management plan for New England and a milestone for Rhode Island’s ocean waters, but the SAMP is also a testament to the foresight and dedication of the people working for the State of Rhode Island.

CLF would like to share with you our sincere appreciation of the staff of the Coastal Resource Management Council, and the Coastal Resources Center of the University of Rhode Island, and the Council itself, for their enduring willingness to engage all of Rhode Island in this effort, to create a genuine sense of participation and a healthy and positive view of our ocean resources.  This team never backed down from a difficult question (even when the hour was late), never failed to receive and hear and learn from the many comments thrown their way (and CLF threw its fair share).  The State made a sincere effort to be responsive and to allow this ocean use tool to evolve in a way that reflected the science and the voices of all those organizations and individuals trying to shape it.

As a result of the State’s fearless approach to public engagement and science-driven planning, Rhode Island is now a national leader, with a plan that will serve as a model for the country.”

View the full transcript of Tricia’s remarks here.

Learn more about CLF’s ocean conservation work.

On Monday, June 27, the National Ocean Council (NOC) held a listening session in Exeter, NH for New Englanders to learn about and comment on the NOC’s Strategic Action Plans to achieve the nine priority objectives of the National Ocean Policy (NOP). Panels of speakers from diverse backgrounds and organizations, including the NOC, discussed the strategic action plans . However, it was a listening session, and many panelists urged that their intent was not to lecture, but to listen.

Panelists (including our own Sean Cosgrove) at the listening session. (CLF Photo)

Members of an assembled panel and most public comments held great support for the National Ocean Policy and urged its implementation. It’s not lost on ocean users that ecosystem-based management (EBM) and coastal and marine spatial planning (CMSP) are the foundation of the NOP and have overarching effects and influence over the other seven objectives. While discussing EBM, several speakers voiced the importance of focusing on the health of our oceans, making the case that all other objectives of the NOP could be achieved as long as the ultimate goal was a healthy ocean, which would result in both economic and environmental benefits.

Concern for stakeholder engagement was a common theme, with many noting the lack of representation of specific interest groups. Many stressed that an informed and engaged public  and communication and collaboration among a diverse array of interest groups and governmental bodies were vital to the NOP’s success. These are all points on which we certainly agree.

The event provided an opportunity for the public to voice opinions on the National Ocean Policy. (CLF Photo)

New England is already a national leader in ocean planning, and has many organizations, institutions and policies already in place to assist in the creation of New England’s regional ocean plan. We recognize the necessity of a national, comprehensive policy, but also the importance of recognizing the differences between regions and using different approaches to solve region-specific needs. Without a doubt, New England should be a priority region for the implementation of the National Ocean Policy.

Public speakers also stressed the fundamental need for fiscal resources to implement the plan. CLF’s Sean Cosgrove highlighted the need to recognize the Gulf of Maine as a nationally significant water body in the NOP and various action plans. He urged specific recognition to be written into the policy – an idea that was reiterated throughout the public comments. (Watch the video here.)

Most notably, the importance of swift and steady implementation of the NOP was of primary concern. The public didn’t want another “plan to plan.”  With ocean conservation a time-sensitive area of strong interest, constituents demanded a plan to act.