For nearly four decades, April 22nd has been the day that millions of people around the world come together to promote a healthy, sustainable planet. Since the first Earth Day in 1970, the United States has taken significant steps forward to achieve cleaner air, cleaner water, reductions in pollution, the elimination of hazardous waste sites, and stronger natural resource protections. While real progress has been made, our country must renew its commitment to protect its environment and natural resources.

During the 110th Congress, Senate Democrats have aggressively promoted a legislative agenda to provide our country and the planet with a cleaner, greener, and more secure future. This Special Report outlines the environmental accomplishments of Senate Democrats in the 110th Congress. Despite these accomplishments, Senate Democrats are not satisfied because Bush Republicans have stood in the way of progress time and time again and have often refused to work with Democrats in good faith. Senate Democrats once again invite our Republican colleagues to join us and move forward cooperatively to improve our environment, create high paying jobs, and strengthen our national security.

Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007

According to an analysis from the Energy Information Administration, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 is expected to contribute to a reduction in energy-related CO2 emissions by over 500 million metric tons. For a frame of reference, this reduction is about the same amount as the current annual CO2 emissions by South Korea, the world's ninth-largest source of CO2 emissions.

The law increased the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) requirements for the first time in more than thirty years, raised the renewable fuel standard to 36 billion gallons by 2022 (21 billion must be produced from advanced biofuels like cellulosic ethanol). Additionally, the law establishes new energy efficiency and green building requirements for federal government buildings, to ensure that they use less energy and cause less air and global warming pollution, as well as grants to help local governments make their buildings more energy efficient and less polluting. Finally, among other provisions, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 includes strong new efficiency standards for lighting, and for residential and commercial appliances and equipment such as refrigerators, freezers, and light bulbs.

Water Resources Development Act of 2007

Democrats in the House and Senate led the successful fight to override President Bush's veto of the Water Resources Development Act of 2007, a law that will help protect New Orleans and Gulf Coast communities from flooding, restore coastal wetlands after massive hurricane damage, improve water quality and navigation across the country, and protect sensitive areas like the Florida Everglades and Mississippi River. After President Bush's unfortunate veto of the legislation on November 2, 2007, the House voted to override the President on November 6, 2007 by a vote of 361 to 54, and the Senate voted to override on November 8, 2007, by a vote of 79 to 14.

Lieberman Warner Climate Security Act of 2008

On December 5, 2007, the Environment and Public Works Committee approved S. 2191, Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act, by a vote of 11-8.  The legislation was approved by the Environment and Public Works Committee with support from Democrats, Independents, and a Republican.  Senator Reid plans to bring the bill to the Senate floor in early June.

By placing a price on carbon, S. 2191 would harness the power of the U.S. economy to develop clean energy technologies and capture energy efficiency gains. It allocates tens of billions of dollars to states for energy efficiency programs and energy assistance for consumers.  It would also create a massive investment in next generation low-carbon technologies, on a scale larger than the Manhattan Project and Apollo project combined.  For example, the bill would commit tens of billions of dollars over the next 20 years to the development and deployment of zero and low-carbon power generation such as wind and solar energy. The bill also would provide major incentives for states to decouple utilities' profits from their sales of electricity (so they have a big profit motive to encourage energy efficiency), and to promote the adoption of aggressive energy efficiency building codes.

The greenhouse-gas emissions caps in the bill covers U.S. electric power, transportation fuel, manufacturing, and natural gas sources that together account for 87 percent of U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions.  The cap over those sources starts at roughly 2005 emission levels in 2012, and reaches 71 percent below the 2005 emissions levels in 2050. Together, the gradually tightening cap and other provisions in the bill are projected to reduce total U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions by as much as 25 percent in 2020 and by as much as 66 percent below the 2005 emission levels in 2050.

Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring, Global Change Research Improvement, and Climate Change Adaptation Acts of 2007

On December 4, 2007, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved three bills to improve how the United States addresses climate change and ocean acidification.  S. 2307, the Global Change Research Improvement Act of 2007, improves the basic research and products that the federal government develops on climate change and its impacts and refocuses the Global Change Research Program to be more relevant to state, local, and non-governmental decision makers.  S. 2355, the Climate Change Adaptation Act of 2007, calls for the federal government to develop a strategic plan for dealing with the effects of climate change.  S. 1581, the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2007, provides for a coordinated federal research program on ocean acidification.  All three bills were reported favorably and will receive consideration this spring.

Food and Energy Security Act of 2007

The Food and Energy Security Act of 2007, which passed the Senate on December 14, 2007, makes significant investments to improve America's water, air, and wildlife habitat. The legislation would annually enroll 13.2 million acres into the Conservation Stewardship Program, which provides all agricultural producers, including livestock and specialty crop producers, the opportunity to achieve high levels of conservation on their soil and their water resources. The bill also protects valuable wetland areas by reauthorizing the Wetlands Reserve Program to enroll 250,000 acres per year through 2012.  The protection and restoration of wetlands are important because wetlands simultaneously protect wildlife habitat, defend against catastrophic flooding, and improve water quality by filtering out pollutants like nitrogen.

Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2007

Senate Democrats have taken strong action to give travelers and commuters more transportation options, relieve congestion on highways and in airports, and reduce oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by passing a six-year, $11.6 billion bill to reauthorize and strengthen Amtrak. S. 294 passed the Senate on October 30, 2007 by a vote of 70 to 22.

The Department of Energy has found that Amtrak trains are nearly 20 percent more fuel-efficient way to travel than automobiles and commercial airliners.  Also, per passenger-mile, trains emit half the amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere as jet airplanes.  These efficiencies will help stem the causes of global warming and reduce our nation's reliance on oil.

The Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008

On April 10, 2008, by a vote of 91-4, the Senate passed S. 2739 which would create the Wild Sky Wilderness area in Washington State by designating approximately 106,000 acres of national forest lands in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.  Wilderness designation provides the highest level of protection that the federal government can give to public lands.  S. 2739 also contained many other provisions that would create new natural heritage areas, develop better water resources management, and improve national parks.  S. 2739 was a compilation of 62 bipartisan bills reported by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and packaged together for floor consideration.  This step was necessary due to a Republican Senator's filibuster against moving those non-controversial bills individually.     

The America COMPETES Act of 2007

The America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Act of 2007 (The America COMPETES Act of 2007) which was enacted into law on August 9, 2007, establishes the Advanced Research Projects Authority-Energy (ARPA-E) within the Department of Energy to support research of high-risk technological barriers in the development of applied energy technologies, including carbon neutral technologies.The America COMPETES Act of 2007 also requires the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in consultation with the National Science Foundation and NASA, to establish a coordinated program of ocean and atmospheric research and development to promote U.S. leadership in ocean and atmospheric science.

Clean Energy Tax Stimulus Act of 2008

Senators Cantwell and Ensign sponsored an amendment to the Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008, which passed the Senate on April 10, 2008, and would develop wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and other clean renewable energy resources and the use of energy efficient technologies.

The Fiscal Year 2007 Continuing Appropriations Resolution

The Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, which was signed into law on February 15, 2007, provided an increase of $300 million over Fiscal Year 2006 levels for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs.

Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008 (the Omnibus Appropriations bill), which was signed into law on December 26, 2007, allocated $829 million for the drinking water state revolving fund, $689 million for the clean water state revolving fund, and $133 million for sewer and water grants. The Omnibus Appropriations bill also distributes $217 million to the states in clean air grants, $99 million into clean air research, $49 million in grants to reduce emissions from diesel fuel, $120 million for carbon capture and storage programs, $6 billion in loan guarantees for clean coal projects with carbon capture and storage, $486 million more to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (Fiscal Year 2008 request $1.236 Billion), $10 billion in loan guarantees for renewables, energy efficiency, distributed energy, transmission, and other technologies, and cut $104.5 million from the budget for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump.

The legislation also contained a Sense of the Congress resolution which found that

greenhouse gases are: 1) accumulating in the atmosphere are causing average temperatures to rise at a rate outside the range of natural variability; 2) posing a substantial risks to the planet. The Sense of the Congress also stated that human activity is a substantial cause of greenhouse gas accumulation in the atmosphere, mandatory steps will be required to slow or stop the growth of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, and Congress should enact a comprehensive effective national program of mandatory, market-based limits and incentives on emissions of greenhouse gases that slow, stop, and reverse the growth of such emissions at a rate and in a manner that will not significantly harm the United States economy and will encourage comparable action by other nations that are major trading partners and key contributors to global emissions.

Finally, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008 provides $3.5 million within the Federal Support Air Quality Management program for the EPA to use its existing authority under the Clean Air Act to develop and publish a rule requiring mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions above appropriate thresholds in all sectors of the economy.

Fiscal Year 2009 Senate Budget Resolution

The Fiscal Year 2009 Senate Budget Resolution, which passed the Senate on March 14, 2008, includes a deficit-neutral reserve fund which could be used for legislation to address global climate change and rejects the President's cuts to a variety of programs that fund climate change research. The Senate-passed Budget Resolution includes approximately $7.9 billion for the EPA. This funding level will accommodate significant increases for programs such as Superfund and EPA's programs to support clean and safe drinking water. The Fiscal Year 2009 Senate Budget Resolution also rejects the President's proposal to permit oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Fiscal Year 2008 Senate Budget Resolution

The Fiscal Year 2008 Senate Budget Resolution, which passed the Senate and House on March 17, 2007, included a deficit-neutral reserve fund for energy legislation and energy tax incentives that helped shape the Senate's passage of legislation to provide the production and use of clean alternative fuels and alternative fuel vehicles as well as expanded use of renewable energy and energy efficiency. The Budget Resolution also rejected the President's proposal to permit oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Reauthorizations of the Asian and African Elephant Conservation Funds, and of the Rhino and Tiger Conservation Fund

The reauthorizations of Conservation Funds for African Elephants, Asian Elephants, Rhinos, and Tigers through Fiscal Year 2012, which were signed into law on December 6, 2007, will support field conservation projects, including scientific research, habitat enhancement, law enforcement, monitoring and local community outreach and education that benefit African and Asian elephants, rhinos, tigers and their habitats.