Climate change legislation news

Joseph Lieberman (former Democrat, current Independent, generally more conservative than many Democrats) and John Warner (Republican) have proposed a sort of compromise carbon cap legislation that would reduce utility emissions 15% below 2005 levels by 2020, and 70% by 2050. Utilities account for 80% of carbon emissions in the US. The Natural Resources Defense Council believes that the bill does not go far enough, and that loopholes will result in lower actual emissions reductions (13-19% and 51-63% respectively).

The bill is seen as a long shot. It now needs to move out of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, chaired by Barbara Boxer (a Democrat). Boxer supports this bill.

Among environmental and interest groups there is an obvious rift over the Lieberman-Warner bill. Although the final draft of the bill was stronger than an earlier version in some respects, groups like the Friends of the Earth found plenty of problem spots and concluded that the bill lacked "critical targets and timetables" and is too industry-friendly.

The Audubon Society and the Environmental Resources Defense Council want an 80% cut within 50 years. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said the bill "falls short" in several respects, noting that it wouldn't protect low-income Americans from the impact of higher energy costs. U.S. PIRG said the legislation represented a "starting point" that would need significant changes. What happens if those changes don't materialize?

Boxer has said she sees the bill as a pragmatic starting point for federal legislation rather than a gold standard. The senator said the bill "will send a strong early signal to the marketplace, which is a very important part of getting where we need to go."

On the Republican side of the equation, Warner is seen as a potential draw for other conservatives, though the most likely Republican converts may be those testing the waters of support for climate change policy ahead of the 2008 election cycle. Senators Norm Coleman, R-Minn. and Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., have signed on as co-sponsors of the legislation and are both up for re-election in 2008. Dole has called the proposal a "responsible, market-driven approach."

Warner's decision to push for climate change legislation comes at the end of his Senate career. With 28 years in the Senate under his belt, Warner has announced plans to retire in January 2009.

But regardless of what Boxer, Lieberman and Warner can achieve in the Senate by making tweaks in the bill, a far bigger issue will be constructing and passing a bill in the House of Representatives. After becoming Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., quickly created a special committee on global warming but it quickly became apparent the committee lacked authority to engineer any legislative success and House Democrats have taken little action on the issue since.