Letter from Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) About Climate Change & Legislation

 Below is the email that I received from the office of Colorado Senator Michael Bennet on 24 February 2022: 

Dear Mr. Greenleaf,

Thank you for writing me regarding climate change. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.

Climate change is an urgent threat to our health, environment, national security, and economy. As extreme events and natural disasters like wildfires and drought become more frequent and severe, so do the effects that climate change has on our daily lives. Putting in place policies to cut climate pollution and increase resilience is not only critical to protecting Coloradans today, but for safeguarding our environment for future generations and capturing the economic opportunities of a 21^st century clean energy economy.

In 2019, I joined 10 of my Democratic colleagues to establish and serve on the Senate Special Committee on the Climate Crisis. After dozens of meetings and public hearings with experts, labor unions, mayors, environmental justice communities, and tribal and native leaders, the Committee issued its main report in August 2020 titled The Case for Climate Action: Building a Clean Economy for the American People. This report calls for action to reduce emissions to achieve 100% global net-zero emissions no later than 2050; stimulate economic growth by increasing federal spending on climate action; and create at least 10 million new jobs. For more information about the Committee’s report, click here. In November 2019, I also joined the Senate Climate Solutions Caucus, a bipartisan group of Senators committed to crafting and advancing bipartisan solutions to climate change. I believe that this is an essential step in creating durable solutions to climate change in the Senate.     

As your Senator, I have championed efforts to reduce climate pollution, promote renewable energy and energy efficiency, and protect against the impacts of climate change. This year, I reintroduced the Oil and Gas Bonding Reform and Orphaned Well Remediation Act and the PEOPLE Act to put people to work cleaning up abandoned oil and gas wells, strengthen bonding protections, and expand opportunities for local input into lease sales on public lands. I also reintroduced the CORE Act to bolster our outdoor recreation economy and protect over 400,000 acres of public lands in Colorado, as well as reintroducing legislation to restore protections to the Arctic Refuge Coastal Plain and prevent oil and gas exploration and development activities. Last Congress, I led a bipartisan bill to provide a tax credit to help families and businesses make investments that will make their homes and businesses safer and more resilient in the face of natural disasters like wildfires and flooding. I also support efforts to set a national goal of conserving 30% of U.S. lands and oceans by 2030. This ambitious plan is an important roadmap to protecting our wildlife and addressing the climate crisis. In the 2018 Senate Farm Bill, the Agriculture Committee included several of my amendments addressing conservation and soil health, forest management, and supporting rural clean energy. For a complete list of my priorities that were included in the 2018 Farm Bill, click here.

I am eager to work with the Biden Administration to rectify the previous Administration’s harmful actions to weaken and eliminate U.S. initiatives to combat climate change and to work together on new policies to cut climate pollution, increase resilience, and create jobs and economic opportunities, especially in communities where it is needed most. Shortly after taking office, President Biden advanced a number of important executive actions to tackle the climate crisis at home and abroad. This included rejoining the landmark Paris Climate Agreement, assembling world leaders at an international climate summit where he pledged to cut climate pollution in half by 2030 on a path to net-zero emissions by 2050, and establishing Interagency Working Groups focused on key issues like economic revitalization in coal communities. He has also begun working to restore scientific integrity and transparency at federal agencies, and advancing policies to build the infrastructure needed for a clean energy future, while creating good paying union jobs and prioritizing equity and environmental justice. Following the President’s executive actions, I joined my colleagues in a letter to the Administration to emphasize the importance of accurately evaluating the cost of carbon pollution to strengthen our interagency response to the climate crisis. In February 2021, I released a discussion draft of legislation to mitigate the effects of threats to our public health that climate change poses. In April, I joined my Senate colleagues to reverse the Trump Administration’s harmful rollback of rules to limit powerful methane emissions from the oil and gas industry. I spoke on the Senate floor about the need to sensible [sic] methane policy that will protect our health and environment, while creating jobs and spurring innovation.  

If you have any further questions or need assistance finding accurate information, my offices are here to help.

For more information about my priorities as a U.S. Senator, I invite you to visit my website at http://bennet.senate.gov/. Again, thank you for contacting me.

Sincerely,

Michael F. Bennet
United States Senator

My only gripe with this letter: he doesn't endorse a carbon fee & dividend scheme, which he's spoken of favorably on several occasions. I suspect that this has something to do with the political consequences associated with gas prices that have risen recently, & more particularly, further possible increases arising from the Russian war against Ukraine. But I remain cautiously optimistic. 

Letter to Senators Bennet & Hickenlooper re "The For the People Act, the Manchin Alternative, and the Filibuster

My email sent today to our Senators Bennet & Hickenlooper. How about you? 

Dear Senator: 

Thank you for co-sponsoring S. 1, the “For the People Act.” At a time when too many state legislatures are acting to reduce access to voting and to subvert the democratic process, your willingness to act in support of this fundamental right is crucial. 

I do understand that under the current Senate rules and the disposition of the Republicans, passage of this bill in its current form is highly unlikely. If this bill doesn’t pass, then I urge you to support the alternative sponsored by Sen. Manchin. While I find that many of Senator Manchin’s positions are either naive or utterly self-serving (or both), on this issue (and that of the filibuster), his alternative provides at least a small step forward. I came to this conclusion after reading Ezra Klein’s commentary on Manchin (NYT) and the statement of Stacey Abrams in support of Manchin’s alternative to S.1. To put it simply, if it’s good enough for Ms. Abrams, it’s good enough for me (and you, too). 

Related to this issue, and others that Congress needs to address is the problem of the filibuster. Again, Senator Manchin (along with Senator Sinema) seems to hold the key. And while I urge you to support the repeal of this extra-Constitutional vestige of a bygone era, I know repeal is highly unlikely. But you can reform the filibuster to require a determined minority to hold the floor and speak to their cause (or read from the phone book— if they can find one). The American people might then might consider the issue and appreciate what the minority is attempting to prevent—the passage of meaningful legislation. Also, put the burden on those wanting to dodge a vote by requiring a vote of 41 Senators to continue the filibuster. Put the burden on the recalcitrant minority. 

Thank you for your efforts on these matters. The time to enact some vital legislation is at hand, and I urge you to take every reasonable step to bring these matters before the Senate and to a vote—and continue to support democracy and the rule of law.

s/ Stephen Greenleaf

End the Filibuster: A Letter to My Senators

 

The U.S. Senate chamber. 

I sent the following email to my two U.S. Senators today, Senator Bennet and Senator Hickenlooper: 

Dear Senator: 

There's been a good deal of commentary about the Senate’s use of the filibuster. I have followed this commentary, and I’ve attempted to consider both sides of the argument, pro and con. I have some sympathy for the argument that legislation that can garner 60 votes may in fact be “better.” But it's an argument that’s only plausible and by no means certain. And an argument is made that legislation that requires 60 votes is more likely to remain in effect even after majority control of the Senate shifts. But this argument, too, is not persuasive. Some legislation should be repealed or modified at the earliest possible date.

In fact, what seems clear to me is that in the current political climate,  the Senate will not be able to enact vital legislation in the face of the continued intransigence of the Republican Party, which has been re-made into the Trumpist party. I see no signs of moderation in the Republican Party and no indication that they could provide a  good faith bargaining counterpart. Even those considered “moderate” or “reasonable” appear to live in fear of the dominant Trumpist majority. When the current Senate could only garner 57 votes in favor of convicting the former president of his most recent offenses, we all could see the character (or lack thereof) in the current Republican Party. You cannot bargain or hope for compromise with a party (with all too few exceptions) that now seeks to fundamentally undermine the democratic process and the rule of law. 

There are too many issues that demand action: protecting voting rights, climate change, reasonable restraints on guns, immigration, and others such that we the American people afford to suffer continued congressional inaction. Therefore, I urge you to end the Senate’s use of the filibuster. This extra-constitutional procedure has led to many more abuses than gains. It also perpetuates the already gross imbalance in representation that we find in the Senate, which in effect allows itself to be ruled by senators who represent a distinct minority of voters. We can’t continue to acquiesce to this situation. Continue to work with Republicans for the common good, by all means, but don’t pretend that you can work with a party that doesn’t have the best interests of the people, the nation, and democracy at the center of its agenda. Be done with this albatross. 

Thank you for your attention to this plea. I look forward to your response. 

Sincerely yours, 

Stephen N. Greenleaf

Colorado Springs, CO