Guliani, Climate, and New Jersey

New Jersey has taken the next step on reducing greenhouse gas emissions:

The New Jersey Legislature passed a bill yesterday that set ambitious goals for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases from power plants, refineries, motor vehicles and other sources that contribute to global warming.

Business leaders expressed concerns about the bill's effect on energy costs and the state's competitiveness, but environmental advocates hailed it as pathbreaking, and Gov. Jon S. Corzine said he was ready to sign it into law.

Under the new law, greenhouse gas emissions generated by every aspect of the state's economy, not just electricity-generating stations, will have to drop about 13 percent, to 1990 levels, by 2020. The bill further requires that emissions be capped at 80 percent of 2006's levels by 2050.

A few other states have set emissions reduction goals, but none go as far into the future as New Jersey's. California, which passed a similar law earlier this year that was widely considered the toughest in the country, extends only to 2020.

That's good, right?

Well, not according to Guliani sidekick Jeff Holmstead:

Jeffrey R. Holmstead, the former chief of air and climate change programs at the federal Environmental Protection Agency and now head of the environmental strategies group at Bracewell & Giuliani, said that without a cap and trade program or specific regulations for emissions reductions, New Jersey's efforts were unlikely to be successful.

"Having spent a lot of years working on these issues, I can see the political appeal of doing these things", Mr. Holmstead said. "But to willy-nilly go out and set goals that can't be met, and assign another group to figure out how to get there, doesn't make any sense to me."

And what did Jeff Holmstead do before he became the voice of Guliani's law firm on all things environmental? Well, he comes to Guliani from his job as Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation at EPA, where he distinguished himself as a climate change denier and shameless propmoter of the cynical "Clear Skies" initiative to weaken the Clean Air Act. According to Mother Jones:

From 1993 until his appointment to the EPA, Holmstead worked at the Washington law firm Latham & Watkins, representing the American Farm Bureau Federation in a case against the EPA, as well as Montrose Chemical and the Alliance for Constructive Air Policy. According to his official White House bio, Holmstead's work at the law firm "included a number of environmental issues--including many arising under the Clean Air Act." In fact, Holmstead represented chemical companies and industry groups seeking looser pollution standards.

From 1989 to 1993, he served as associate counsel to President George H.W. Bush, advising him on environmental policy. Holmstead also served as an adjunct scholar for Citizens for the Environment, a libertarian group founded and funded by oil giants Charles and David Koch...

...When EPA scientists came up with data indicating that the administration's "Clear Skies" proposal would increase pollution, he reportedly replied, "How can we justify Clear Skies if this gets out?"

Heckuva job, Jeffie. It is past time for someone to call Guliani out on climate change issues. A sinking candidate can always use another anchor.