Environment

Eight Responses to Senate Climate Change Bill

by Emily Gertz

categories: Green Jobs, Greenhouse Gas

Published September 30, 2009 @ 11:38AM PT

Senators Boxer (D-Calif.) and Kerry (D-Mass.) unveiled the Senate version of a climate bill late this morning. Called the "Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act of 2009," it's exciting some comment around the web even in these wee few hours since it went officially public.

Early impressions of the bill run the gamut from hope, to dismay, to pragmatic realpolitik:

Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica: "We commend Senators Boxer and Kerry for their dedication to combating the important problem of climate change but we cannot support a bill that fails to solve the problem. Overall the draft is riddled with loopholes and does not go far enough to protect the planet."

Frances Beinecke, President of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): "This bill will help curb climate change, strengthen our economy, and make our country more secure. It will help generate jobs, reduce our reliance on foreign oil and create a healthier future for all of us. And it will put Americans back to work, making our country the world leader in the green technologies that are driving growth in the global marketplace."

Senate climate bill stricter on emissions, Washington Times: "Sen. Inhofe, an opponent of the cap-and-trade plan, said Tuesday that the bill will almost certainly pass Mrs. Boxer's committee, which is dominated by Democrats who back the approach. But he said Democrats cannot yet muster the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster threat on the Senate floor without deals that address the concerns of individual senators."

Kerry 'convinced' climate bill has a shot, The Hill: "[Sen. John] Kerry, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and coauthor of the Senate climate bill -- along with Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) -- framed the need for the legislation as a national security issue...But after a razor-thin vote to get the climate bill out of the House, some observers have expected an even steeper uphill climb for the climate bill in the Senate, a charge Kerry rejected...The Massachusetts Democrat said it was 'no accident' that former generals and other national security experts would be on hand to support the climate bill ..."

Senate climate bill tougher than House version, msnbc.com: "The bill includes an economy-wide cap and trade system that would require power plants, industrial facilities and refineries to cut carbon dioxide and other climate-changing pollution. While there would be an overall emission cap, polluters would be able to purchase emission allowances to limit reductions. The bill, however, does not lay out how emission allowances would be distributed, a contentious issue left for resolving later. The bill will become the starting point for difficult Senate negotiations in coming months as Democratic leaders seek to work out compromises to garner the 60 votes that will be needed for passage."

U.S. climate bill seen as opening shot, Reuters: Most U.S.-based environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters and the Natural Resources Defense Council hailed the measure...Greenpeace said the bill falls short, satisfying neither the dictates of climate science nor the international community... Labor organizations including the United Steelworkers and the Service Employees Union International argued that the move to alternative and renewable energy would favor workers by creating jobs in the United States that could not be exported."

The Senate Gets in the Climate Game, The Wall Street Journal-Environmental Capital blog: "But with so much left to be decided in the bill, the timeline for completion looks even further out, in the WSJ. And remember, this draft version marks the "outer limits" of what environmentalists could expect--so even if it isn't passed, this will signal to Copenhagen what the U.S. can stomach, in the L.A. Times.

Dave Roberts at Grist got out the gate a little ahead of the pack with his summary of "what to watch for" in the measure.

According to Dave, the big battles will include including tinking with carbon markets; a power struggle between the Environment and Public Works and Finance committees over allocation of emissions allowances; and, debate over how much money the U.S. will devote to helping developing nations adapt to and mitigate climate change, aka "climate finance." Read his whole analysis, which also contains a good outline of the bill's sure-to-be-tortured path through several Senate committees.