A green offensive for New England.

• Author: Kaplan, Seth
• Position: From The Clean Air And Climate Change Projects

THE TRANSFORMATION OF CLF's Energy Project to its Clean Air and Climate Change Project (CACCP) began with a realization--that international and national efforts to attack global warming and air pollution weren't proceeding rapidly enough to save New England from their devastating effects. The Energy Project had moved our power system to cleaner, more efficient forms of electricity generation, and created structural incentives for energy efficiency. But reducing greenhouse-gas emissions was just one of many reasons for undertaking that work.

We needed to refocus--on ways to create measurable reductions in emissions of gases that cause global warming, and on ways to create replicable models--for use beyond New England.

We needed to look at two major targets: electric-power plants, and vehicles propelled by internal combustion engines. The power sector produces about 33% of U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions, more than any other contributor. Transportation, with most of its emissions from passenger cars, is second, with 27%.

The challenges posed by transportation are the more complex of the two. Our roads are choked with millions of vehicles, each making a small contribution to the problem. But power comprises a relative handful of mammoth power plants, each responsible for a whopping percentage of emissions. For a results-oriented advocacy organization such as CLF, the immediate opportunities to slash emissions come in electricity production, an area in which state government has substantial power and influence. CLF is:

* fighting to implement the "Filthy Five" regulations that establish precedent-setting limits on greenhouse-gas emissions from coal-fired plants;

* working to preserve and build structures that foster renewable green energy;

* working with project developers and northern New England communities to gain acceptance for ridgeline wind development;

* working in Washington, D.C., and locally, to see that offshore wind projects are treated fairly in review processes, by ensuring that both the need to reduce emissions, and consideration of local concerns (such as aesthetics) are part of those processes;

* pressing state governments to lead the way in lowering emissions--through economic development strategies that build up the renewable power industry, by regulating sources of emissions, and by purchasing green power; and

* telling the climate story--emphasizing that global warming is the greatest threat to the human and natural...