Climate Change 2023

Climate Change

The League’s Position

Statement of Position on Climate Change Policy, as announced by the national board, January 2019:

The League believes that climate change is a serious threat facing our nation and our planet. The League believes that an interrelated approach to combating climate change — including through energy conservation, air pollution controls, building resilience, and promotion of renewable resources — is necessary to protect public health and defend the overall integrity of the global ecosystem.

 

The League supports climate goals and policies that are consistent with the best-available climate science and that will ensure a stable climate system for future generations. Individuals, communities, and governments must continue to address this issue, while considering the ramifications of their decision at all levels — local, state, regional, national, and global.

 

League History

In the late 2000s, LWVUS significantly increased its advocacy concerning global climate change. LWVUS believes that climate change is a serious problem that requires immediate domestic and international action. The League believes the US government should move ahead immediately, without waiting for other nations, on initiatives to reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases like carbon, methane, and other toxic air pollutants. Such actions will reduce the threat of global climate change, combat air pollution, increase energy security, and create new jobs.

 

In late 2006, the League joined other groups in issuing a statement of principles on the importance of reducing climate change. The League also created a Climate Change Task Force to provide information and assistance to the national board and staff on issues pertaining to climate change. The Task Force also works to develop materials for use by League members at the local, state, and national levels.

 

In 2008, the League called on Congress to enact legislation to significantly cut the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global climate change and supported increased energy efficiency and a shift to clean, renewable energy. The League called for a moratorium on the building of new coal-fired electric power plants and supported requirements for utilities to produce a significant percentage of electricity from renewable resources. The League supported the Climate Security Act of 2008, as well as amendments to strengthen the bill. This legislation provided for a cap-and-trade system, which would have cut greenhouse gas emission from electric power, transportation, and manufacturing sources. The emissions cap would be reduced over time to meet pollution-reduction goals based on the best-available scientific information. These emissions reductions could be traded on a market set up by the legislation, allowing polluters to buy, sell, borrow, and trade emission allowances to ensure economic efficiency in the program. The League also urged elected officials to extend clean energy tax incentives. Though it passed the US House of Representatives, the legislation was sidetracked in the US Senate by special interests.

 

In December 2009, the League was thrilled to participate on the international stage, sending an official NGO delegation to Copenhagen for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. In March 2010, 19 League leaders from as many states went to Washington to lobby congressional leaders on strong climate change legislation. In addition, the Climate Change Task Force developed and promoted the Toolkit for Climate Action to assist Leagues and League members throughout the country in the fight to combat global climate change.

 

In the late 2000s, the League lobbied vigorously for comprehensive legislation to control global climate change by setting a cap on greenhouse gas pollution and encouraging conservation and renewable energy. As part of an education and advocacy project on climate change, six state Leagues held forums with trips by the League president to speak at public events and meet with key senators and staff. In early 2010, the LWVUS president was honored by Oxfam America with a Sisters on the Planet Climate Leader Award for the League’s grassroots work on climate change.

 

In 2012, when EPA proposed the first-ever standards to control industrial carbon pollution from power plants, which causes global climate change and increases health problems, the League joined with its environmental and social justice allies in collecting the largest number of comments ever submitted in review of an EPA regulation. More than three million comments were submitted in support of the proposed rules for new power plants urging the EPA to take the next step and set carbon standards for existing plants. In 2012, with Congress unable or unwilling to act on climate change, the League launched an initiative to urge President Obama to use his executive authority under the Clean Air Act to control carbon pollution from both new and existing power plants, which are the largest source of industrial carbon pollution in the United States. The League strongly urged the president to lead the world in the right direction in the face of the greatest environmental challenge of our generation: climate change. With the proposed rules on new power plants in limbo and standards for new plants not yet proposed, the League used paid advertising, action alerts, and new media tools to urge the president to get the job done. The League continued its strong advocacy on climate issues by supporting President Obama’s Climate Action Plan. In addition, the League voiced support for putting a price on carbon to complement the regulatory effort. By demonstrating the political salience of the climate change issue — and the effects on public health — League ads succeeded in discouraging the Senate from taking up legislation that would undermine efforts to address climate change.

 

In the 2014 – 2016 biennium, the League continued work to fight climate change by supporting regulations

from the EPA, fighting legislation to stop or hurt progress on climate initiatives, and pushing for the full rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline. The League continued support for the EPA’s Clean Power Plan and New Source Pollution Standard by participating in field hearings across the country and collecting comments from grassroots supporters in support of the regulations, all while working to fight legislation to overturn or weaken the regulations in Congress. The League strongly supported the People’s Climate March in New York City and the UN Paris Agreement, which was a historic international agreement that established a commitment to reduce carbon pollution and fight climate change. The League also endorsed regulations from EPA to reduce the levels of ozone in the atmosphere and regulate methane in the oil and gas sector.

 

In 2017 and 2018, the League opposed efforts by the 115th Congress and the Trump administration to roll back key agreements and regulations to combat climate change. This included the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, the plan to gut the Clean Power Plan, the rollback of the clean cars standards and methane regulation, and the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. In 2016, LWVUS joined with LWVOR to file an amicus brief in the US District Court for the District of Oregon in the case of Juliana et al v. United States. Together, the brief reiterates the Leagues’ support for the 21 young people from across the United States who have filed a landmark constitutional climate change lawsuit against the federal government, via Our Children’s Trust, based in Eugene, Oregon. In 2018, the Justice Department filed a motion to dismiss the case but allowed the President to be removed as a named party to the case.

 

In 2019, there was a flurry of activity as LWVUS and LWVOR filed another joint amicus brief with the Ninth Circuit Court arguing that the case is unique and timely because plaintiffs have no other mechanism to resolve their issues. However, in January 2020, the Ninth Circuit dismissed the case. Following on this, the League advocated for passage of the Children’s Fundamental Rights and Climate Recovery Resolution in the 116th Congress.

 

In the 116th Congress (2019 – 2021) the League supported the passage of the Climate Action Now Act, legislation to keep the United States in the Paris Climate Agreement and reinforce national resolve to meet America’s climate action commitments. The League also endorsed bicameral legislation, the Climate Risk Disclosure Act of 2019. This legislation took steps to ensure that shareholders have the information needed to adequately mitigate financial, physical, and legal climate related risks to their investments and accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to cleaner, more-efficient energy standards. In the 117th Congress, LWVUS support for addressing the climate change crisis continued with Senate lobbying in support of legislation and executive orders from the Biden administration that establish climate change as a major priority for the nation. In 2022, the League urged Congress to support the National Climate Adaptation and Resilience Strategy Act, which would require the federal government to create a national strategy to prepare for climate hazard.