Senator Coons hails new international cooperation on climate change and clean air

This morning, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a new climate change and clean air initiative at the State Department. This initiative will bring together a coalition of countries including Sweden, Mexico, Canada, Bangladesh, and Ghana to fight some of the biggest contributions to global climate change.

The Climate and Clean Air Coalition, in cooperation with the U.N. Environment Programme, will target so-called short-lived “climate forcers.” Those substances like methane, black carbon and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) remain in the atmosphere only days or weeks, unlike carbon dioxide, which lasts generations.  Collectively, they account for 30-40% of current global warming. The initiative will look to find ways to reduce these pollutants that have the potential for reducing average global temperatures by ½ degree Celsius. This could be a significant reduction in light of the recent pledge reduce average global temperatures by 2 degrees Celsius at last year’s international conference on climate change.

Senator Coons is a strong supporter of cooperative, international approaches to fighting climate change and improve clean air. Prior to last year’s international conference on climate change in Durban, South Africa, he joined 15 of his Senate colleagues in signing a letter urging coordinated international efforts as we transition to a clean energy economy.

Chris was also glad to hear that additional countries, including many in Europe and Latin America, are expected to join the coalition next year. All reductions are voluntary and the programs are low cost or even cost neutral.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency head Lisa Jackson joined Secretary Clinton for this morning’s announcement, highlighting the health benefits of the initiative. Her agency estimates these programs could save over 2.5 million lives and prevent some of the 30-50 million tons of agricultural losses each year due to these pollutants.

Budget Analysis: Clean energy and innovation

As a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator Coons has been leading the fight for solutions to promote clean, affordable energy technologies. His analysis of President Obama’s budget proposal included a close review of clean energy programs.

The budget request for clean energy and environmental programs is on track with last year’s request, although it includes notable increases for certain energy and advanced manufacturing programs.  The blueprint also highlights the need for Congress to extend clean energy tax incentives, something Chris strongly supports.

Clean energy programs are divided among several agencies, including:

Department of Energy Programs

• Energy efficiency and renewable energy programs receive a request for $2.3 billion, an increase of $527 million from FY12.  Notable increases include biomass R&D, wind (including offshore wind), vehicles, advanced manufacturing, and buildings programs.   
• The request triples funding for groundbreaking research in the transportation sector, which helps reduce our dependence on foreign oil.  The focus will be on sustainable biofuels, vehicle electrification, and manufacturing advancements.     
• The budget requests $6 billion for the HOME STAR program, an initiative at the Department of Energy designed to create jobs in existing industries by providing short-term incentives for energy efficiency improvements in residential buildings.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Energy Programs

• The budget proposes $6.1 billion in loans to rural electric cooperatives and utilities for clean-energy generation, transmission, and distribution sites in rural communities.
• The budget also proposes $19 million for Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) and over $200 million for the development of advanced biofuels.

Department of the Interior Energy Programs

• The budget proposal includes $86 million for permitting new renewable energy projects on federal lands and waters, with the goal of permitting 11,000 megawatts on DOI-managed areas by the end of 2013.

Energy Tax Extenders 

• The budget request supports the extension of the 1603 Treasury grant program and the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind power.
• The administration also proposes spending $5 million to extend the 48c manufacturing tax credit which expired in December 2010.
• The budget includes tax credits mirrored Senator Coons’ Job Creation Through Innovation Act

• The budget seeks to eliminate $4 million in fossil fuel subsidies, mostly from oil and gas companies.

Budget Analysis: Promoting trade

In today’s global economy, it is critical for American businesses to be able to sell their goods and services to customers overseas. Senator Coons has been working to ensure Delaware businesses have access to the more than 95 percent of the world’s consumers who live outside the United States.

At his first Opportunity: Africa conference held this year in Wilmington, Senator Coons worked to connect Delawareans with some of the nation’s leading authorities on sustainable development and trade with Africa to help open new markets for Delaware businesses.  

President Obama’s budget proposal contains several important programs that can help meet that goal. For example:

• Export promotion. The budget provides an increase of $19 million, for a total of $432 million, to strengthen efforts at five international trade-related agencies to promote and enforce international trade, and meet the goals of the National Export Initiative. The funding will be divided among the Export-Import Bank, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. International Trade Commission and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.   
• Economic Diplomacy. Included in the State Department budget is funds for economic diplomacy and export promotion with the goal of increasing the number of “market-oriented economic and commercial policy activities and accomplishments” by 15 percent by September 2013.

Budget Analysis: Protecting innovation

Senator Coons has been hard at work on the complex issue of protecting American intellectual property from theft by foreign criminals. After hearing from local businesses, both large and small, about the importance of this issue, Chris recently said “protecting American innovation is an economic imperative, and whether that innovation comes in the form of an idea, a design, or a product.”

President Obama’s budget proposal also recognizes the imperative of protecting innovation and through that, American jobs. It includes several solutions, such as: 

• Improve the Patent System and Protect Intellectual Property. The budget proposes to give the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USP­TO) full access to its fee collections and strength­en USPTO’s efforts to improve the speed and quality of patent examinations through reforms authorized by the America Invents Act. This will provide the USPTO with more than $2.9 billion in resources in 2013.
• Strengthen Enforcement. The budget supports strengthened intellectual property enforcement domestically and overseas as set out in the Intel­lectual Property Enforcement Coordinator’s Joint Strategic Plan required by Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 (Pro-IP).
• Promotes Innovation by Protecting Intel­lectual Property Rights. The Administration proposes de­voting nearly $40 million to identify and defeat intellectual property criminals, an increase of $5 million over 2012. The Administration’s efforts have already resulted in shutting down 350 web­sites engaged in the illegal sale and distribution of counterfeit goods and copyrighted works. Addi­tionally, international partnerships and joint ini­tiatives have enabled experts to train or educate in IP protection more than 2,500 foreign judges, prosecutors, investigators, and other officials from over 30 countries.

Budget Analysis: College access and completion

It was fitting that President Obama unveiled his budget at a community college, because his plan focuses heavily on ensuring the next generation of American workers have access to an affordable higher education. 

This is a top priority for Senator Coons, who said “if we are to compete and succeed in the global economy, we have to invest now in the training and education required for highly skilled, good quality jobs. If we have the right workforce, we can revitalize American manufacturing so products are made in America and manufactured in Delaware.” 

In analyzing the President’s budget request, there are a several key programs related to college access, including:

• Race to the Top: College Affordability and Completion.  The budget proposes a $1 billion investment in a new Race to the Top challenge for states to spur higher education reform that will help improve affordability, quality, productivity, and degree completion.
• First in the World Fund.  The budget proposes a new $55 million First in the World Fund that introduces an evidence-based framework to test, validate, and scale up effective strategies to improve higher education.
• Community College to Career Fund.  Co-administered by the Department of Labor and the Department of Education, this fund will help forge partnerships between community colleges and businesses to train workers for good-paying jobs in high-growth and high-demand industries, such as health care, transportation, and advanced manufacturing.

Budget Analysis: Manufacturing and competitiveness

In reviewing President Obama’s budget proposal, Senator Coons was especially interested in programs to create good-quality jobs and help Delaware and America compete and win in a global economy.

To achieve these goals, Chris has actively supported manufacturing programs, as well investments in research and development, in previous legislation.  President Obama zeroed in on some of these same solutions in his budget. Highlights include:

• Manufacturing Tax Incentives.  The budget plan includes tax incentives for manufacturers who create jobs here and doubles the deduction for advanced manufacturing.  It also ends tax deductions for shipping jobs overseas and creates a Manufacturing Communities Tax Credit to encourage investment in communities affected by job loss.

• Innovation Corps.  The Administration proposes $19 million for a new public-private “Innovation Corps” program aimed at bringing together the technological, entrepreneurial, and business know-how necessary to bring discoveries ripe for innovation out of the university lab.

• Research and Development. The budget blueprint makes the R&D tax credit permanent, an idea Senator Coons strongly supports and has introduced as legislation because of its importance to economic competitiveness. The budget proposal includes an overall number of $140.8 billion for R&D and increases the level of investment in non-defense R&D by 5 percent from the 2012 level as well as provides $2.2 billion for advanced manufacturing R&D, a 19% increase over 2012.

• International Trade Administration.  Proposed funding for this program, which promotes exports and trade enforcement, is increased by $60 million, or 14%.

Budget Analysis: Deficit reduction

President Obama’s budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year (FY13) hit Capitol Hill this week, hot off the presses. Senator Coons reviewed the blueprint and praised it for responsibly reducing our country’s dangerous deficits while still investing in America’s long-term competitiveness.

After digesting the budget proposal’s many charts and numbers, our team has identified a few key highlights for Delaware, starting with responsible deficit reduction.

President Obama’s budget plan would save more than $4 trillion over 10 years, stabilizing public debt at 76.5% of GDP by 2022, with deficits declining to an average of 3% of GDP per year. 

This blueprint reduces the deficit in four primary ways:

• Winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nearly $850 billion is saved in the Overseas Contingency Operations accounts, which primarily relates to war funding.
• Returning to Clinton-era tax levels on the wealthiest Americans.  Some $206 billion is saved by ending the George W. Bush-era tax cuts for families making over $250,000 a year.
• Reforming entitlement programs. The budget includes close to $600 billion in savings on health and other mandatory spending programs.
• Staying within Congressional budget limits. The President continues the savings plan established by Congress in the Budget Control Act, passed last year, which saves over $1 trillion through caps on discretionary spending.

Senator Coons congratulates local student on attending White House science fair

As a participant in the second annual White House Science Fair, Priyen Patel, a junior at Sussex Technical High School in Georgetown, was rewarded for his hard work with a well-deserved handshake from President Obama.

Senator Coons, who had the opportunity to meet Priyen last summer after the BioGENEius challenge, came away impressed with his practical application of his science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education.

The White House science fair celebrated student winners of a broad range of STEM competitions from across the country.  Senator Coons is a passionate supporter of STEM education, and admired the higher-order thinking skills that Patel used in his project, “Over-the-Counter and In Your Water?  The Most Effective Filtration of Pharmaceuticals.” 

“Congratulations to Priyen on this remarkable accomplishment,” said Chris. “Priyen’s project exemplifies what STEM education is all about—using science, technology, engineering and math to solve real world problems.  An education rooted in STEM will give students like Priyen a leg up when it comes to finding good quality jobs.”

Priyen’s project focused on using various water filters to determine the concentration of medicines that end up in our drinking water.  Priyen first became interested in the issue of pharmaceutical containment after reading an article in the News Journal in 2010 and learning common drugs were being found in the local water supply. 

After winning his high school science fair, Priyen advanced to the Sussex County Science Fair, then moved on to the Delaware BioGENEius Challenge. His win in the 2011 U.S. National BioGENEius Challenge earned him the spot in the White House science fair where he represented Delaware, the Delaware Biotechnology Institute, and the U.S. National BioGENEius Challenge. 

Chris earns 100% rating on women’s issues from AAUW

The American Association of University Women (AAUW) Action Fund released its annual Congressional Voting Record on Monday, providing insight into how members of Congress acted on issues that are important to women and their families. While Congress has been caught in a contentious ideological divide this past year, Senator Coons has remained an unwavering supporter of protecting the rights of women and their families and received a perfect score on AAUW’s Congressional Voting Record.

The scorecard, which covers the first session of the 112th Congress, outlines how U.S. senators and representatives voted and whether they co-sponsored legislation on priority issues affecting education, economic security, and civil rights. Chris is one of 18 senators who received a perfect 100 percent rating for the first half of the 112th Congress. 

Since 1881, AAUW has been the nation’s leading voice promoting education and equity for women and girls. Both the AAUW and the AAUW Action Fund have a nationwide network of 100,000 members and donors, 1,000 branches, and 600 college and university partners.

Click here to learn more about Chris’ work to improve America’s education system.

Click here to learn more about Chris’ work for to improve civil rights. 

Senator Coons sees job opportunities in Delaware River dredging

It has been a big week for the Delaware River, and for the new jobs that will come to the region when the river is deepened to accommodate larger ships and more trade.

On Wednesday, Senator Coons announced that the Army Corps of Engineers designated nearly $17 million for the dredging project in their 2012 work plan. Today, the release of President Obama’s budget plan for Fiscal Year 2013 included another $31 million for the dredging project.

“Deepening the Delaware River is really about keeping our region and our nation competitive in the global economy,” Chris told the News Journal. “Deeper waters mean bigger ships can come in and out of the Port of Wilmington. That means new opportunities for businesses in the region and more jobs here in Delaware. I’m glad it’s part of the President’s budget proposal and will work to protect it in Congress.”

This project deepens the Delaware River channel from 40 to 45 feet in order to accommodate larger vessels. This will reduce shipping costs and make maritime transportation more efficient, bringing more trade and making our region more attractive to private investment.  The project is expected to create an estimated 75,000 direct and indirect jobs throughout the Delaware Valley. This includes permanent, high-paying jobs as well as short-term construction jobs that will aid an industry hit hard by the economic downturn. 

After listening carefully to Delawareans and determining the dredging delivers on their desire to create jobs while also protecting our environment, Chris has been fighting hard to ensure the project has the resources necessary to proceed. Working with Senators Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), he filed a bipartisan amendment to the FY 2012 appropriations bill that sought to increase federal funding for ongoing navigation projects. The final FY 2012 appropriations bill included $74 million for the account, which was used to fund the Delaware River deepening as well as other projects across the country.

Additionally, Senators Carper, Coons, and Casey sent letters to Assistant Secretary of the Army-Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy and the Office of Management and Budget Director Jacob Lew in December asking for additional funding for the dredging project.