Markey : “This Country has sent so much red, white and blue CO2 into the atmosphere”

By Kayleigh Harvey - Talk Radio News Service

Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Henry Waxman (D-CA), Congressman Edward Markey (D-MA) met with British Secretary of State Ed Milliband MP and Danish Minister for Environment, Connie Hedegaard today to discuss how to tackle environmental issues globally.

The meeting was the start of the new administrations environmental talks leading up to the “Climate Conference in Copenhagen” in December 2009.

In 2012 the Kyoto Protocol to prevent climate changes and global warming runs out. New targets will be set at the Copenhagen Conference.

Talking about America’s role, in the need for saving the environment, Chairman Waxman said: “The United States has to catch up and become a leader.”

Congressman Markey commented on the need to tackle the levels of CO2 emissions created from the United States. He said: “this country has sent so much red, white and blue, CO2 into the atmosphere....we need to fix this.”

Finding the dialogues throughout the day productive, Danish Minister Hedegaard stated: “We cannot tackle the global challenges like climate change without the United States...we have set ourselves an ambitious timeline and we must live up to it...a lot is at stake and it is important for the whole world to come together.”

Adding to these comments British Secretary of State Ed Milliband said: “Obama has shown in the economic stimulus and in his vision around the country that environmental issues are important...that despite the challenges we face, we can get an agreement globally.”

Chairman Waxman concluded with the statement that he hoped to pass legislation in December that will tackle energy independence, climate change and global warming.

United States cannot drill its way out of oil crisis

Chairman Edward Markey (D-Mass.) of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming presided over a hearing on the future of oil. Markey said that the United States has an oil centered energy policy and has sacrificed fuel efficiency because of it. Ranking Member James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) said that expanding oil reserves should be a top priority, and that the solution to America’s oil problem is increased production. Sensenbrenner, along with Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) and Rep. John Hall (D-N.Y.), explained that Congress keeps American off-shore oil untouchable; there are 67 million acres of land already permitted for drilling in the United States that are not being drilled on.

Guy Caruso, the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration (EIA), discussed the long-term outlook for oil in the United States and globally. The EIA projects that oil prices will continue to rise all the way to 2030. These higher oil prices will affect projected growth in global liquid fuels demand, growing liquid consumption from 85 million barrels per day (2006) to 98 million barrels per day (2030).

Adam Sieminski, the Chief Energy Economist of the Deutsche Bank, said that the United States is having supply problems but is not running out of resources. Sieminski explained that the country needs to figure out different resources to use instead of, or hand in hand with, oil, find out where these resources are, and determine how to get these resources.

Amy Myers Jaffe, an Energy Studies Fellow of the James A. Baker III Institute at Rice University, agreed with Sieminski and said that the United States needs to diversify its energy sources, especially when it comes to transportation. Athan Manuel, the Director of the Lands Protection Program at the Sierra Club, said that the United States needs to “reduce its dangerous dependence” on oil. He explained that even if the U.S. drilled everywhere possible, it would still not have enough oil to satisfy demand and lower gas prices.