Global Green News
Senate Gets Climate and Energy Bill, Modified by the Gulf Spill
THE NEW YORK TIMES. MAY 12, 2010. By John M. Broder
WASHINGTON — The long delayed and much amended Senate plan to deal with global warming and energy was unveiled on Wednesday to considerable fanfare but highly uncertain prospects.
After nearly eight months of negotiations with lawmakers and interest groups, Senators John F. Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, produced a 987-page bill that attempts to limit climate-altering emissions, reduce oil imports and create millions of new energy-related jobs.
Mr. Kerry said that the United States was falling behind in the global race for leadership in clean energy technology and that a comprehensive approach to climate change and energy was long overdue. Joined by representatives of industry, labor, environmental and faith groups, Mr. Kerry declared that it was time to act.
“They understand this isn’t a choice, it’s a necessity, and we’re going to get it done this year,” Mr. Kerry said.
But that may prove overly optimistic. The country is nervously watching efforts to halt a damaging oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the Senate is torn by deep partisan hostility and the public is uncertain whether the benefits of combating global warming are worth the costs. There is also no assurance that the bill will break through the crowded Senate calendar to reach the floor this year.
President Obama endorsed the bill in a statement. “Americans know what’s at stake by continuing our dependence on fossil fuels,” Mr. Obama said. “But the challenges we face — underscored by the immense tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico — are reason to redouble our efforts to reform our nation’s energy policies. For too long, Washington has kicked this challenge to the next generation. This time, the status quo is no longer acceptable to Americans.” He noted that the House had already passed a climate and energy bill, and called on the Senate to move ahead so that a final bill could be enacted this year.
One of the central elements of the Senate bill — incentives to increase domestic offshore oil production — has been radically rewritten in recent days, in the aftermath of the explosion and fire on a drilling rig in the gulf on April 20, leaving an undersea well leaking oil that has yet to be stanched. Instead of providing for a broad expansion of offshore drilling, the Kerry-Lieberman measure would have the effect of drastically limiting oil operations off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts by giving states the right to veto any drilling plan that could cause environmental or economic harm.
The original oil drilling provision was drafted in part by Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, a supporter of expanded drilling and an important envoy to other Republicans. Mr. Graham had been a partner in drawing up the climate legislation, but he dropped out of the effort last week over the problems raised by the gulf oil spill and an unrelated dispute with the Senate leadership over immigration.
Mr. Graham said on Wednesday that while he agreed with many of the goals of his former partners, he did not think that the Senate was likely to act this year.
“The problems created by the historic oil spill in the gulf, along with the uncertainty of immigration politics, have made it extremely difficult for transformational legislation in the area of energy and climate to garner bipartisan support at this time,” Mr. Graham said in a statement.
The Kerry-Lieberman proposal would treat each major sector of the economy differently, while providing something for every major energy interest — loan guarantees for nuclear plant operators, incentives for use of natural gas in transportation, exemptions from emissions caps for heavy industry, free pollution permits for utilities and modest carbon dioxide limits for oil refiners.
The bill’s overall goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent (compared with 2005 levels) by 2020, and by 83 percent by 2050. The targets match those in a House bill passed last year and in the Obama administration’s announced policy goal.
