Hallita, age 4 at Six Flags Marine World

Does D.C. Backyard Chicken Ban Apply to The White House?

AAEA wants to know. According to the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA), the District does not permit backyard chickens. We disagree with this ban on the possession of backyard chickens and believe that President and First Lady Obama should push the District to lift this ban. The Obamas are early risers anyway and a rooster call would not disturb any nearby residents. Is the early morning rooster call the main motivation for the ban? If so, that is a flimsy reason to practice backyard bias against the possession of these magnificient birds.

Moreover, the first family could demonstrate their commitment to backyard chickens by putting a small chicken coop in their 1,100-square-foot vegetable garden at The White House. We do not believe the DCRA regulations apply to The White House. And even if they do, how would DCRA enforce a ban on backyard chickens at The White House? Would DCRA send in a team to seize the chickens?

The Park Service already removed the raccoons from The White House lawn. We are now concerned that any possible incursion by groundhogs or moles could be met with similar resistance. The Obamas could have an upscale chicken coop constructed in their garden [see photo at left, courtesy: Tatertots and Jello]. We are sure the first family would enjoy those fresh eggs. (WashPost, 5/14/09)

Robert Stanton Appointed Deputy Assist Sec of Interior

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, right, today appointed former National Park Service Director Robert G. Stanton, left, as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Policy, Management, and Budget. Secretary Salazar said:

“Since beginning his career as a National Park Service ranger 47 years ago, Bob Stanton has dedicated his life to improving the conservation and management of our treasured landscapes and national icons. The Department of the Interior will benefit greatly from his vast experience, extraordinary management skill, and dedication to our public lands.”

Concluding a long career with the National Park Service, Stanton served as the agency’s director from 1997 to 2001. As director, he oversaw major planning and resource preservation programs at the White House, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Gettysburg, and other national parks and inaugurated and oversaw the National Resource Challenge, a plan to revise and expand the agency’s natural resource programs. Since 2001, he has served as an executive professor at Texas A&M University and a visiting professor at both Howard University and Yale University. He also has provided consulting services to the National Resources Council of America on increasing cultural diversity in conservation organizations and programs. From 1988-1997, Stanton served as the regional director of the Park Service’s National Capital Region, which includes 40 national park units in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area and surrounding states.

Stanton is a graduate of Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas and has received honorary doctorate degrees from Texas A&M, Unity College, Southern University, and Huston-Tillotson.

Legislation For Creating Green Jobs in Gulf Coast Recovery

The newly introduced Bipartisan Gulf Coast Civic Works Act of 2009 (HR 2269) (GCCW Act) promotes infrastructure, training, comprehensive flood protection and energy efficiency. The Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign, a diverse national partnership of community, environmental, faith-based, human rights and student organizations, applauds the introduction of this bipartisan legislation to rebuild more equitable and resilient communities across the areas still recovering from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

The GCCW Act would create 100,000 “green” living wage jobs and training opportunities for Gulf Coast residents and displaced people to rebuild critical infrastructure, restore natural flood protection and increase energy efficiency. This important legislation allows the federal government to partner directly with local leaders and non-profits to address remaining recovery challenges while building resilience to climate change, mitigating the effects of future deadly storms and confronting poverty. It also addresses the challenges faced by internally displaced, elderly, disabled, women, low income, immigrant and minority communities.

Almost four years after Hurricane Katrina, our nation’s largest natural disaster, America’s Gulf Coast remains a domestic human rights crisis. As we approach the 2009 Hurricane Season beginning June 1st, levees remain vulnerable, tens of thousands of people have not been able to return home, schools, hospitals and transportation infrastructure remains damaged, and residents continue to struggle for access to affordable housing and living wage jobs.

The GCCW Act will efficiently allocate funds for job creation and infrastructure development, two significant recovery needs, by avoiding layers of governmental red tape and dispersing funds directly to the entities, regardless of sector, which are ready to do the work. The legislation will establish a pilot project not just for rebuilding the Gulf Coast from the 2005 hurricane season, but will also provide a community driven recovery plan for any and every part of America where natural or other disasters occur. Passing HR 2269 would be a bold stand for the basic human rights of displaced and low-income Gulf Coast residents, including the right to participate in the recovery, the right to return home with dignity and safety, and the right to decent work opportunities

HR 2269 was introduced in the U.S. House yesterday afternoon by Representatives Zoe Lofgren (CA), Rodney Alexander (LA), Joseph Cao (LA), Charlie Melancon (LA), Gene Taylor (MS), Bennie Thompson (MS), John Conyers (MI), Barbara Lee (CA), John Lewis (GA), Peter Stark (CA), and Charlie Rangel (NY).

Lisa P. Jackson: Super Cool in a Global Warming World

PRESIDENT'S CORNER

By Norris McDonald

It's official. We are big fans of the new EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. We've had a chance to look her over from her confirmation hearing to recent budget and stimulus package hearings. And our verdict is in: Lisa P. Jackson is not only super cool, but super smart. And to top that off she's nice and approachable too. Not everybody in this town thinks that just anybody can walk up and talk to them. But in Jackson we're talking megastar with a heart. President Obama is cool, but Administrator Jackson, dare we say it, could be cooler. Sorry Mr. President, but your EPA administrator is every bit as cool as you.

Her performance before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee at her confirmation hearing was the preview. I sat there thinking, "who is this woman and why has this talent been kept out of the limelight for so long?" Well Administrator Jackson is out there now. And the world had better get ready because she's just getting warmed up. Her command of facts, figures, policy and science is astounding. And she's not afraid to take questions from the public. I figured she would give her speech at the recent EPA budget briefing and leave like her predecessor, but she stayed and answered questions. Her answer to my question was precise, as were her answers to other questions. Okay, enough before the cynics start whining and describing this praise as 'green nosing.' But aint nothing [double negative intentional] wrong with acknowledging talent when you see it. And I see it clearly in our nation's environmental chief.

Global Warming Environmental Justice Allowance Reserve

AAEA believes climate change legislation and regulation will need to address environmental justice concerns related to the perception that emission trading programs cause disproportionate pollution from older, dirtier plants to negatively impact low-income and minority communities. There is also widespread belief that global warming and climate change will disproportionately affect low-income and minority communities. Some environmental justice groups oppose cap-and-trade programs.

AAEA is recommending an Environmental Justice Allowance Reserve (EJAR) to address the racial 'Hot Spots' issue. These allowances would come from a special reserve, similar to the current Acid Rain Program Renewable Energy and Conservation Reserve, when the initial allowance allocation is made. They would be awarded to utilities, automakers and others that undertake environmental justice practices and programs designed to mitigate or prevent price shocks, increase the installation of pollution control equipment, promote community education and enhance health-related activities. Utilities and automakers could choose to work with organizations and businesses that conduct environmental justice activities related to climate change mitigation and reductions in emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and mercury.

AAEA has been registered in the EPA Acid Rain Program for years.

The EJAR program will leverage allowances and resources to promote environmental justice practices and projects designed to:

Increase the installation of pollution control equipment,
Promote community education and
Enhance health-related activities.

EPA could alert businesses, mayors, states, civil rights groups, environmental justice organizations, Congress and the general public about innovative methods for participating in this program, enhancing electricity production, auto emissions reductions and protecting constituent communities.

Allowances are fully marketable commodities. Once allocated, allowances may be bought, sold, traded, or banked for use in future years. Allowances may not be used for compliance prior to the calendar year for which they are allocated.

Participation in the EJAR will clearly show that a utility or automaker is exceeding emission compliance. Significant participation in the EJAR will indicate that utilities, automakers and others are not Hot Spot plants or disproportionate emissions contributors to vulnerable communities.

H.R. 2187 - The 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act‏

UPDATE: Today (Thursday, May 14), the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2187 by a vote of 275 to 155. AAEA supported the bill. Now let's get it passed in the Senate.

ESTIMATES of Local Spending

Districts across the country would receive billions of dollars to modernize, upgrade, repair and green America’s schools under legislation approved on May 6 by the House Education and Labor Committee. By a vote of 31 to 14, the Committee passed H.R. 2187, the 21st Century Green High Performing Public School Facilities Act, which would make critical investments to provide more students with modern, healthier, more environmentally-friendly classrooms. It would also support hundreds of thousands of new construction jobs and invest more than half a billion dollars for school facility improvements in the Gulf Coast, where many schools still face considerable damage caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

“For too long, students and teachers have suffered in school buildings that are literally crumbling, posing direct threats to their safety, health and learning,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the Committee. “This legislation presents us with a vital opportunity to help boost student achievement, enhance teachers’ effectiveness, and create good jobs that transition us toward a clean energy economy – all at once.”

For years, schools have been hundreds of billions of dollars short of what it would take to bring them into good condition. In 2009, the American Civil Society of Engineers gave U.S. schools a “D” on its national infrastructure report card. According to a recent report by the American Federation of Teachers, it would cost almost $255 billion to fully renovate and repair all the schools in the country. Congress recently endorsed this type of investment by enacting the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which allows school districts to use funds they receive under the state fiscal stabilization fund for school modernization, renovation and repair projects.

H.R. 2187 would authorize $6.4 billion for school renovation and modernization projects for fiscal year 2010, and would ensure that school districts quickly receive funds for projects that improve schools’ teaching and learning climates, health and safety, and energy efficiency. To further encourage energy efficiency and the use of renewable resources in schools, the legislation would require a percentage of funds be used for school improvement projects that meet widely recognized green building standards. It would require that 100 percent of the funds go toward green projects by 2015 – the final year of funding under the bill. The legislation would also create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and help improve local economies. According to calculations by the Economic Policy Institute, the legislation would support 136,000 jobs. Recent studies also show that school quality has a direct, positive impact on residential property values and can improve a community’s ability to attract businesses and workers.

Fact Sheet

Bill Markup

[Source: Committee Press Release]