Two US Senators Introduce Legislation To Cut Greenhouse Gas
01 October 2009 - 2:46AM
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 emissions 2005 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.
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.
Utilities, which account for a big chunk of U.S. greenhouse-gas
emissions, sent representatives out 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 is also to 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."
-Siobhan Hughes, Dow Jones Newswires,
siobhan.hughes@dowjones.com, 202-862-6654