A climate change proposal that calls for caps on greenhouse gas emissions across nearly all major sectors of the U.S. economy is expected today from Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Warner (R-Va.).
The senators and their staffs have spent the last month examining 10 legislative proposals already introduced this year in an effort to curb the U.S. contribution to global warming. In an interview Tuesday, Warner stressed that their plan likely will change over the coming weeks once other senators have a chance to make suggestions.
"It is a working document of the thoughts that we have," he said. "In other words, we purposefully didn't put it into a bill because a bill looks too rigid. ... It's a composite of a lot of work. And it's an ongoing situation."
Warner did not offer much in the way of detail regarding the economy-wide cap-and-trade plan, explaining that talks with Lieberman would continue up until the release today. "I'm rather proud of all my marks on this thing," the five-term senator said as he held up a copy of the proposal with heavy pencil edits. "I'm changing quite a bit of the draft."
Like four other bills that seek to cut emissions across the economy, Warner explained that his plan would be structured around three of the largest sources of emissions in the United States.
"You've got to have the transportation sector, the industrial sector and the power plants," he said. "You can't let one group bear the whole burden."
And Warner also signaled the bill would outline a specific strategy for allocating the tens of billions of dollars in pollution credits required for the cap-and-trade system to operate. "I felt we had to indicate where we stand at the moment," he said. "There may be a compelling case brought to us by some sector of the private sector that would dissuade us, but you've got to have a starting point."
Warner did not say which direction his plan would take on allocations, but sources off Capitol Hill predicted it would offer free "grandfathered" allocations to industry, with manufacturers coming out in the best position. The Lieberman-Warner proposal also is expected to include an auction for industries to compete against each other for some of the credits. Some of the auction revenue would benefit research and development into new energy technologies, financial assistance to low-income consumers and adaptation to climate change.
Lieberman and Warner plan a 10:30 a.m. press conference today to go over the details of their plan. Before that, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) hosts a breakfast meeting where she has invited cosponsors of the different climate change bills.
Boxer wants to use the Lieberman-Warner compromise as a starting point to move cap-and-trade legislation out of her committee before the end of the year. That strategy will no doubt draw opposition from lawmakers concerned about the costs of a first-ever cap on U.S. emissions. For example, Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) said earlier this week he would resist a global warming bill with mandatory caps out of concern that new energy technologies won't be ready.
"I suspect I'll be submitting amendments to it over the time that it's being considered by the committee," he said.
The House is expected to wrap up debate on energy legislation before the end of this week, allowing the committee with primary jurisdiction on climate change a chance to return its focus to the cap-and-trade debate.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) held more than a dozen hearings on climate during the spring, but the bulk of his attention over the last month has gone toward the Democratic leadership's "energy independence" package.
Dingell recently stirred up the Hill's climate debate with a plan to introduce legislation that would tax the carbon content of gasoline and energy. But Dingell has also said cap-and-trade would be the most likely option for his committee as it composes a broad response to global warming.
Next week, Dingell will host "town hall" forums on climate back in his district in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Tuesday, and Dearborn, Mich., on Wednesday.
Also during the congressional recess, Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), chairman of the Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee, hopes to move closer toward the release of a cap-and-trade bill. Sources on and off the Hill say staff for Dingell and Boucher will begin writing their own climate legislation during the summer break.
Environmental Defense has its focus on the House too, feeding some of its well-stocked finances in recent weeks to a key constituency: swing votes on climate change.
Over the last month, the Washington D.C.-based group ran full-page print advertisements in the local districts of the 44 Republicans and seven mostly conservative Democrats who voted on the floor in late June in favor of a "Sense of Congress" resolution on global warming. That measure, added to U.S. EPA's annual spending bill, links human activity to climate change and puts lawmakers on record in support of "mandatory steps" to slow or stop the rise in U.S. heat-trapping pollution.
Earlier this month, the Valley Chronicle, a southern California newspaper, ran this ad: "Congresswoman Mary Bono [R-Calif.] deserves our thanks for her common sense vote recognizing the real threat of climate change."
Explained Tony Kreindler, a spokesman for the group, "The main message of the campaign is that climate change is a bipartisan issue and we'll need bipartisan support to pass a strong climate bill. We're giving credit to Republicans and Democrats who are doing the right thing."
The other Republicans who voted for the climate resolution: Roscoe Bartlett (Md.), Judy Biggert (Ill.), John Boozman (Ariz.), Ginny Brown-Waite (Fla.), Vern Buchanan (Fla.), Tom Castle (Del.), Tom Davis (Va.), Charles Dent (Pa.), Vernon Ehlers (Minn.), Philip English (Pa.), Michael Ferguson (N.J.), Jeff Fortenberry (Neb.), Luis Fortuno (Puerto Rico), Vito Fossella (N.Y.), Rodney Frelinghuysen (N.J.), Jim Gerlach (Pa.), Dave Hobson (Ohio), Duncan Hunter (Calif.), Bob Inglis (S.C.), Bobby Jindal (La.), Tim Johnson (Ill.), Walter Jones (N.C.), Peter King (N.Y.), Mark Kirk (Ill.), Ray LaHood (Ill.), Stephen LaTourette (Ohio), Frank LoBiondo (N.J.), John McHugh (N.Y.), Tom Petri (Wis.), Todd Platts (Pa.), Jon Porter (Nev.), Deborah Pryce (Ohio), Jim Ramstad (Minn.), Dave Reichert (Wash.), Jim Saxton (N.J.), Christopher Shays (Conn.), Christopher Smith (N.J.), Patrick Tiberi (Ohio), Michael Turner (Ohio), Fred Upton (Mich.), Jim Walsh (N.Y.), Jerry Weller (Ill.) and Frank Wolf (Va.).
Click here for a copy of the Environmental Defense ad for Rep. Mary Bono (R-Calif.).
Advertisement
