Montana Conservation Voters Education Fund's Congressional Watch informs the public of the votes and actions of Montana's congressional delegation - Senator Max Baucus, Senator Jon Tester and Congressman Denny Rehberg - on energy issues. 

New committee assignment for Sen. Jon Tester

The good news:  Senator Jon Tester has earned a coveted seat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, one of the most powerful committees in Congress.

The bad news:  Senator Tester relinquished his seat on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act:

President Barack Obama used his first weekly address on January 24 to discuss how his proposed American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan will jump-start the economy.  "This is not just a short-term program to boost employment," he said. "It's one that will invest in our most important priorities like energy and education; health care and a new infrastructure that are necessary to keep us strong and competitive in the 21st century.

"To accelerate the creation of a clean energy economy, we will double our capacity to generate alternative sources of energy like wind, solar, and biofuels over the next three years," President Obama continued. "We'll begin to build a new electricity grid that lay down more than 3,000 miles of transmission lines to convey this new energy from coast to coast. We'll save taxpayers $2 billion a year by making 75% of federal buildings more energy efficient, and save the average working family $350 on their energy bills by weatherizing 2.5 million homes." 

Obama also signed two executive orders that pave the way for reduced automobile pollution. One directed the EPA to reevaluate state requests to establish vehicle emissions standards tougher than federal standards, while the second ordered the Department of Transportation to set higher national fuel-economy standards.

Earlier, on January 15, House Appropriations Committee Chair David Obey (D-WI) released a summary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a $550 billion spending plan intended to stimulate the American economy and create jobs by investing in clean energy, education and infrastructure.  The bill provides $77 billion in spending for in renewable energy technologies, smarter transmission grids, public building energy efficiency retrofits, efficiency research and support, and home weatherizations - investments that Christina Romer and Jared Bernstein of the Obama economic team have estimated could result in 459,000 direct and indirect jobs by the end of 2010. 

Montana Congressman Dennis Rehberg was one of 22 Appropriations committee members to vote against the bill as amended in committee; 35 members supported the bill.   

A companion measure with at least $275 billion in tax cuts, introduced by House Ways and Means Committee Chair Charles Rangel (D-NY), is designed to spur business investments and increase household income, and includes tax credits for renewable energy production and energy efficiency and conservation tax incentives. On January 22, the Ways and Means Committee passed H.R. 598, the economic recovery package, in a party-line vote.  The legislation  was combined with other parts of the recovery package passed by other committees into H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act . 

The full House of Representatives  passed H.R. 1 by a vote of 244-188 on January 28. 

Sen. Max Baucus, Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, unveiled economic recovery provisions for inclusion in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009; the Finance Committee considered and passed the plan  on January 27. The  $455 billion plan extends the renewable energy production tax cut; authorizes additional clean renewable energy bonds for facilities that generate electricity from renewable resources; increases home energy efficiency credits; removes the caps on solar thermal, geothermal and small wind property credits; and provides for enhanced R&D credits for research in the fields of fuel cells, energy storage, renewable energy, energy conservation technology, efficient transmission and distribution of electricity, and carbon capture and sequestration.

On the same date, the Senate Appropriations Committee, on which Sen. Jon Tester now sits, considered and passed the $366 billion Economic Recovery Supplemental.  Appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye has pledged to work with the Senate Finance Committee on economic recovery tax cuts and mandatory programs as well as he House of Representatives and the Obama Administration on an economic recovery proposal.   Sen. Tester supported the plan.

President Obama's Energy Agenda

The Obama-Biden energy plan will:

• Help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.
• Within 10 years save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined.
• Put 1 million Plug-In Hybrid cars -- cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon -- on the road by 2015, cars that we will work to make sure are built here in America.
• Ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
• Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

More from the Obama Administration

POLITICO.COM:  Secretary Clinton names climate czar

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday named Todd D. Stern, a trusted top aide in her husband's White House, to serve as a special envoy for climate change.

Climate was largely ignored by President George W. Bush's State Department, but Clinton said Stern's appointment shows it will be a priority throughout President Barack Obama's administration.  More...

WASHINGTON POST, January 26: Obama Announces New Energy, Environmental Policies

President Obama today promised new U.S. leadership in the fight against global warming as he announced a series of steps aimed at making American cars more fuel efficient and reducing greenhouse gases, including a directive to the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider granting California and other states waivers to set their own strict regulations on auto emissions.  More...

WALL STREET JOURNAL, January 16: Obama's Remarks on the Economy in Ohio

A few days prior to his inauguration, President-elect Obama visited the Cardinal Fastener and Specialty Company, a company that manufactures parts to construct wind turbines Bedford Heights, Ohio.  He met with workers to discuss his American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, a proposal to generate three to four million new American jobs by investing in clean energy like wind power. See his remarks on clean energy jobs.

Take Action - Contact Montana's Congressional Delegation

Contact Montana's Congressional delegation and urge their support of the clean energy provisions in the economic stimulus package. 

* Senator Max Baucus at  http://www.baucus.senate.gov/

* Senator Jon Tester at http://www.tester.senate.gov/

* Congressman Dennis Rehberg at http://www.rehberg.house.gov/

Visit Montana Conservation Voters Education Fund The Heat Is On page at www.mtvotersedfund.org/ and

Support Montana Conservation Voters Education Fund: Congressional Watch is a regular e-newsletter published by Montana Conservation Voters Education Fund about the votes and actions of Montana's Congressional Delegation on energy-related issues.  MCV Education Fund works to educate and activate the conservationists to have a strong voice in local, state and national decisions affecting our clean air and water, wildlife, forests and open space. Support Congressional Watch and MCV Education Fund with a tax deductible contribution today.