UPDATE: 2 US Senators Introduce Bill To Cut Greenhouse Gas
01 October 2009 - 3:14AM
Dow Jones News
Two Democrats in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday unveiled climate
legislation that aims to drastically cut greenhouse-gas emissions
beginning in 2012, starting an effort that threatens to divide the
party amid opposition from coal, manufacturing and oil
interests.
With the American flag as a backdrop, U.S. Senate Environment
and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass.,
outlined the measure, which would cut 2005 emissions levels 20% by
2020 and more than 80% by 2050.
"This bill addresses the major challenges of our generation,"
Boxer told the crowd of environmentalists on the East Lawn of the
U.S. Capitol. She said the measure aims to address concerns in some
regions that local economies would be harmed, and that "clean
energy" would help create jobs.
President Barack Obama welcomed the legislative package, saying
"we are one step closer to putting America in control of our energy
future and making America more energy independent."
Democrats are hoping to act to combat global warming, which
scientists have linked to more intense weather events such as
drought in some places and rising sea levels in others.
A small minority, including Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., says
there is no scientific evidence of such a threat.
Other Republicans took issue with the Boxer and Kerry bill,
calling it a new national energy tax.
"The last thing American families need right now is to be hit
with a new energy tax every time they flip on a light switch, or
fill up their car - but that's exactly what this bill would do,"
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a
statement.
In the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called the
legislation a "strong foundation" to work on, while Minority Leader
John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the measure was a "dangerous
proposal."
Utilities, which account for a big chunk of U.S. greenhouse-gas
emissions, sent representatives out to the bill's unveiling
Wednesday in a show of support. Public Service Enterprise Group
(PEG) Chairman Ralph Izzo showed up and through a statement said
that the bill is "an important step in the right direction."
Among the energy sources that the Senate hopes to give an
advantage to is natural gas. In an effort to reach Republicans, the
goal would also encourage nuclear power. And, in hopes of
safeguarding against spikes in costs for emitting carbon dioxide,
the bill includes mechanisms to limit emission-allowance prices
through a so-called soft collar.
One sign that efforts to reach other lawmakers may be paying
off: softening opposition from some quarters. Asked about reports
the Senate climate change bill would reserve 20-25% of revenues
raised to pay down the federal budget deficit, Senate Budget
Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said "I like that a lot, I like that
a lot."
Conrad wouldn't say whether that measure would be enough for him
to set aside his skepticism over the legislation and support it,
but he reiterated "I would say that I like that piece."
The timing of climate-change legislation has been thrown into a
state of flux by the continuing debate over an attempted overhaul
of health-care policy. That effort is likely to take several weeks
yet at the minimum, which could mean lawmakers don't turn their
attention to tackling climate change in earnest until 2010.
- By Siobhan Hughes, Dow Jones Newswires,
siobhan.hughes@dowjones.com, 202-862-6654
(Corey Boles contributed to this article.)