TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2010


KLMNO


EZ SU POLITICS & THE NATION Environmentalists plan to redirect strategies


FRUSTRATION OVER IMPASSES


More grass-roots work BY JULIET EILPERIN


As 2010 comes to a close, U.S.


environmentalists are engaged in theirmost profound bout of soul- searching in more than a decade. Their top policy priority—impos- ing a nationwide cap on carbon emissions—has foundered in the face of competing concerns about jobs.Many of their political allies on both the state and federal level have beenousted.And theObama administrationhas just signaledit could retreat on a couple of key air-quality rules. Hence a shift of focus away


from the toxic partisanship of Washington back to the grass roots and the shared values that gave themovement its initialmo- mentummore than40 years ago. “Certainly I think we have fig-


ured out we need to find a way to really listen harder and connect with people all over America, es- pecially in rural America,” said FredKrupp,president of theEnvi- ronmental Defense Fund. “I don’t think we’ve done a particularly


good job of that.” The change casts a sudden pall


over environmentalists’ top-down approach. “The tragedy is that they spent


the last 10 years on this and not anything else,” saidCleanAirTask Force ExecutiveDirector Armond Cohen, whose group has pursued an array of alternative strategies aimed at curbing climate change and air pollution. Now, instead of spending mil-


lionsofdollars seekingtowinover wavering lawmakers on the Hill, greengroupsarerampinguptheir operations outside D.C., focusing on public utilities commissions that sign off on new power plants and state ballot initiatives that couldpotentiallyfunnelhundreds ofmillions of dollars to conserva- tionefforts. The Nature Conservancy, for


example, successfully champi- onedaballot initiativeinIowathis fall that will devote a portion of any future sales tax increase to land and water conservation ini- tiatives. According to its presi- dent, Mark Tercek, a series of floods helped focus Iowans’ atten- tion on the benefits of preventing soil erosionand other problems. “The average Iowanisnot liber-


al,” Tercek said, noting the initia- tive could generate $150million a year for conservation. “They’re saying through this, ‘We need to


invest inecosystems.’ ” The Sierra Club, meanwhile, is


bolstering its long-standing cam- paign to block the construction of power plants across the country, assemblingateamof 100full-time employees to focus on the issue in 45 states. “This iswhere the environmen-


talmovement willmake themost progress in the next five years,” said Sierra Club Executive Direc- torMichaelBrune. 350.org founderBillMcKibben,


who has been trying to foster a global grass-roots movement, wrote in an e-mail he sees it as the only way to overcome traditional opponentswhoare farbetterposi- tioned in Washington: “Since we’renever going to competewith Exxon in money,” he wrote, “we better find another currency, and tome bodies, spirit, creativity are probably our best bet.” This strategic reassessment


alsohas givenhope to thosework- ing on lower-profile environmen- tal issues,whichwere largely side- lined during the climate change debate. Vikki Spruill, president of the Ocean Conservancy, noted that thecombinationof theGulfof Mexico oil spill and the fact that oceans have “less partisan bag- gage”couldenhancetheprospects formarineconservationnextyear. And some of the philanthro- pists who have directed much of


DIGEST


their spending on federal climate change policy in recent years are looking at funding local or inter- national greenefforts. “We can’t just depend on every-


thing to happen in Washington,” saidRachel Leon, executive direc- tor of the Environmental Grant- makersAssociation. But severalnationalgreenlead-


ers said they cannot afford to abandon Washington, with Re- publicans indicating they may seek to limit the Environmental ProtectionAgency’spowersunder the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases.Looking ahead, League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski said, “Sadly, too much of our work in Congress may be focused on pro- tecting EPA’s job to hold polluters accountable and protect our health.” It remains unclear how hard


President Obama will fight to ad- vance environmental priorities: last week the EPA said it would postpone regulations onsmogun- til July 2011 and on industrial boilers until April 2012, handing two victories to business interests and a bipartisan coalition of law- makers who warned the stricter rules couldexactasevereeconom- ic toll. White House aides who had


met with manufacturing and union representatives on the boil-


er rule urged EPA to take a closer look at its economic impact, help- ing prompt the delay. U.N. Foundation president Tim


Wirth, who served in both the House and Senate, said he is still working on “fathoming” the ad- ministration’s environmental agenda. “One of the failures of the administration has been not de- veloping the economic case for what they’re trying to do,” he said. “They’ve got to construct a bullet- proof case, and that’s not been done.” White House spokesman Clark


Stevens said regardless of the po- litical climate, the administration “will continue to take steps to develop science-based, common- sense policies that focus on creat- ing jobs, reducing dependence on foreignoil, and cutting pollution.” Many both inside and outside


the environmentalmovement say it needs to overhaul its traditional policy prescriptions, aswell as the way it frameswhat’s at stake. This fall threethinktanks—the


Breakthrough Institute, Brook- ings Institutionand theAmerican Enterprise Institute—offered the idea of a “post-partisan power” plan to devote $100 billion a year to pioneering low-carbonenergy. Others suggest these groups


wouldbebetteroff cuttingmodest deals with Republicans, whether it involves new energy efficiency


mandates or subsidies for nuclear power plants. “It shouldn’t be all or nothing,”


said Keith McCoy, the National Association of Manufacturers’ vice president for energy and re- sources policy . But Green Strategies president


RogerBallentine,who chairedthe White House Task Force on Cli- mate Change under President Clinton, said neither a big spend- ing program nor government mandates are likely to gain trac- tioninthenear future. “Any policy in the past that’s


based on government largesse is doomed to failure because we are entering an era of financial re- trenchment,” he said. Instead Ballentine and others,


such as NationalWildlife Federa- tion President Larry Schweiger, argue Obama and his allies need to make the moral and scientific case for addressing climate change and other environmental challenges. “This is a values issue,” Sch-


weiger said. And in the end, Wirth said, it


will be younger activists and poli- ticians who need to chart a new course for environmentalists. “The next generation has got to


define the new agenda,” he said. “Thecurrentgenerationhasgot to hold ontowhatwe have.” eilperinj@washpost.com


Senate passes bill to protect Pacific sharks from fin trade


BY JULIET EILPERIN The Senate passed a landmark


shark conservation bill Monday that would close loopholes that had allowed the lucrative shark fin trade to continue operations off theWestCoast. Themeasure would require all


vessels to land sharks with fins attached and would prevent non- fishing vessels from transporting fins without their carcasses. Cut- ting off a shark’s fins and then dumping its body overboard, which is now banned off the At- lantic Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico but not in the Pacific, has expandedworldwide because of a rising demand for shark fin soup inAsia. “Shark finning has fueledmas-


sive population declines and irre- versibledisruptionof our oceans,” said Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), the bill’s author, in a statement. “Finallywe’ve come throughwith a tough approach to tackle this serious threat to ourmarine life.” To become a law this year, the


billwouldneedtobepassedbythe House,which could act as soon as Tuesday. The lower chamber has passed similar legislation written by Del.Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D- Guam), and backers said they hope the House will act in the scant time it has left. “It’s a real nail-biter,” said Mi-


BRUCE CHAMBERS/ASSOCIATED PRESS


Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., onMonday was looking like the wettest place on Earth as visitors leave the park after a rainstorm. Stormy weather brought record-setting downpours that began hitting the northern part of the state late Thursday and southern areas Friday.


CALIFORNIA


Storm, floods force 2,000 from homes A storm pounding California


with record rain forced authori- ties in the San Joaquin Valley to order 2,000 residents to evacuate their homes because of major flooding. An estimated 400 to 500


homes in the farming communi- ty of McFarland were endan- gered, Kern County Fire Depart- ment spokesman Sean Collins said. A sheriff ’s helicopter crewwas


trying to locate the source of flooding, which possibly was coming from ditches and canals that supply water to farms, Col- lins said. Two evacuation centers


were set up. Stormy weather has gripped


California since late last week, triggering mostly minor flood- ing, mudslides, road closures and power outages. Forecasters warned of worsening conditions Tuesday andWednesday, asmore storms bore down on the state and threatened to dump another 5 to 10 inches of rain. Fresno TV station KFSN re-


ported that a 5-year-old boy was killed Sunday night when an SUV driven by his father went out of control during a down- pour west of Temperance. Most of the state was affected


by inclement weather, from coastal cities to the Central Val- ley, Sierra Nevada and southern deserts. Sunday produced record rainfall, numerous traffic acci-


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dents snarled roads, and trees tumbled. Some locations in Southern


California received more than 12 inches of rain, saidmeteorologist Jamie Meier of the National Weather Service. It was themost rainfall in one storm event since 2005, he said.


— Associated Press NEWYORK


Free tickets cost Gov. Paterson plenty The New York State Commis-


sion on Public Integrity has fined Gov. David Paterson (D) $62,125 for accepting five tickets to the first game of the 2009 World Series at Yankee Stadium. Paterson testified that he al-


ways intended to pay for the tickets. The commission says that is “false” and contradicts his staff, the Yankees and common sense. He paid for four of the tickets days later. Paterson has said it was his


duty to attend the opening series game at the new Bronx stadium. The commission says Paterson


performed no ceremonial func- tion at the game, which still would not have entitled him to free tickets for his son and son’s friend. A message left for Paterson’s


lawyer was not immediately re- turned. An Albany prosecutor has


been reviewing whether to bring charges.


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chael Hirshfield, chief scientist for the advocacy groupOceana. Although Congress passed leg- islation aimed at protecting


sharksadecadeago, sharkfinning has continued because the fins fetch a far higher price than the meat. According to the National OceanicandAtmosphericAdmin- istration’s Fisheries Service, 1.2million pounds of sharkswere caught last year in the Pacific, although it doesnot saywhat por- tionof those landingswere fins. The bill alsowould allowfeder-


al authorities to identify and list which fishing vessels hail from nations that do not have the same shark conservation rules as the United States. Although the legislation enjoys


bipartisan support, Sen. Tom Co- burn (R-Okla.) blocked it Sept. 29 on the grounds that implement- ingitwouldcost taxpayersmoney. The bill sponsors offset the mea- sure’s five-year, $5million cost by cutting that amount froma feder- al fisheries grant program over thenext two years. “Thebillwas snatchedfromthe


jaws of defeat,” said Matt Rand, who directs global shark conser- vation at the Pew Environment Group, adding that it would help federal officialswhentheynegoti- ate for stricter global catch limits. TheObama administrationhas


pushed for cuts in global shark- fishing quotas, with mixed re- sults. In November, international authorities banned the catching of oceanic whitetip and several types of hammerhead sharks in theAtlantic, but international ne- gotiatorsdeclinedtoimposetrade restrictions last spring. eilperin@washpost.com


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