Momentum has been increasing for several years in the U.S. Senate in support of mandatory limits on emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. The Bush administration has held to purely voluntary goals and a policy that depends on technological change to keep emissions rising less rapidly than the national economy expands. But senators of both parties have been pushing for more forceful measures to reduce emissions.
In 2003 Sens. John McCain (R-Arizona) and Joseph Lieberman (D-Connecticut) sponsored legislation that would have put mandatory limits on emissions of carbon dioxide, the most important of the greenhouse gases generated by human activity. Their bill was modeled on the program that caps emissions of sulfur dioxide from electric generating plants. The McCain-Lieberman bill was defeated, but by only 12 votes. The margin indicated unexpectedly strong support. |
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Two years later, in the floor debate over an energy bill, McCain and Lieberman forced another vote on their bill and were defeated again. But some senators let it be known that they were not opposed in principle and only wanted time to examine more closely the architecture of a proposal that would have very significant impacts on the ways Americans use energy.
In the course of the debate, the Senate passed a non-binding resolution declaring the need for mandatory, market-based ceilings to "slow, stop and reverse" the current rise in emissions of greenhouse gases. The administration's policy proposes only to hold the rise to roughly its recent rate. In the months after passage of this resolution Sen. Pete Domenici (R-New Mexico), chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico), the committee's ranking minority member, held two hearings on the subject. In February 2006 they circulated a paper setting out the issues that they considered crucial and invited comment. They then called a conference on April 4 to discuss the responses. This conference was the most careful examination that either house of Congress has given so far to prospective climate legislation.
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Perry Lindstrom
Energy Information Agency
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Ruth Shaw
Group Executive, Public Policy and President, Duke Nuclear,
Duke Energy Corp. |
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Elizabeth A. Moler
Executive V.P., Government and Environmental Affairs &
Public Policy,
Exelon Corp.
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David Slump
General Manager, global marketing, GE Energy,
General Electric Co.
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Jeff Sterba
Chairman, President and CEO,
PNM Resources |
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Garth Edward
Trading Manager, Environmental Products,
Shell
Group |
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Michael Murray,
Director, Legislative Policy,
Sempra Energy
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Chris Hobson
Senior Vice President, Research and Environmental Affairs,
Southern Company |
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Andy Ruben
Vice President of Corporate Strategy/Sustainability,
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. |
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Panel Question and Answer Session
Question by Senator Bingaman: How should emissions permits be allocated?
Question by Senator Lamar Alexander (to GE's Jeff Slump): Can you tell me about General Electric's coal gassification project?
Question by Senator Lisa Murkowski: What are the costs and benefits of an economy-wide emissions reduction program?
Statement by Senator Dianne Feinstein
Question by Senator Feinstein: When is the right time for a cap-and-trade auction?
- Response by Elizabeth Moler
- Response by Ruth Shaw
- Response by Garth Edward
- Follow-up question by Senator Feinstein: Does anyone disagree with an auction date of 2010 or a system where 10% of permits were auctioned and 90% given away free?
- Response by Chris Hobson
Question by Senator Domenici: Is a mandatory emissions reduction program necessary?
Question by Senator Bingaman: Does Shell oppose a "safety valve" price for carbon. If so, why?
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Donald Marron
Acting Director,
Congressional Budget Office |
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Richard Richels
Ph. D, Technical Executive, Global Climate Change Research,
Electric Power Research Institute |
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Panel Questions and Answer Session
Question by Senator Bingaman: How do the program's estimated costs relate to the allowances allocated?
Question by Senator Domenici: Has the EU carbon trading system failed?
Question by Senator Domenici: What do the terms "upstream" and "downstream" mean and how do they affect emissions permit calculations?
Question by Senator Domenici: How does the number 8400 mentioned earlier relate to permit allocations?
Question by Senator Murkowski: How does the system account for population growth?
Question by Senator Bingaman: Who would decide how to allocate permits locally?
Question by Senator Feinstein: Can emissions regulation reap economic benefits?
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Kateri Callahan
President,
Alliance to Save Energy |
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Michael Bradley
Executive Director,
Clean Energy Group |
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Michael Morris
Chairman of the Board of Directors,
Edison Electric Institute |
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| Panel Question and Answer Session
Question by Senator Bingaman: How should emissions permits be allocated?
Question by Senator Domenici: Where will savings from energy efficiencies come from?
Question by Senator Domenici: How would a mandatory greenhouse gas emissions program affect projected increases in the use of domestic energy sources such as coal?
Question by Senator Bingaman: What kinds of offsets should be allowed for meeting emissions caps?
Question by Senator Domenici: Why might a price "safety valve" for emissions permits be a bad idea?
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Michael Morris
Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer,
American Electric Power |
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Michael Walsh, Ph. D.
Senior Vice President,
Chicago Climate Exchange |
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Rafe Pomerance
Chairman,
Climate Policy Center |
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Richard Rosenzweig
Chief Operating Officer and Member of Intl’ Climate Change Partnership,
Natsource |
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Eileen Claussen
President,
Pew Center |
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Jonathan Pershing, Ph. D Director of the Climate, Energy and Pollution Program,
World Resources Institute |
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Question by Senator Bingaman: Could the Chicago Stock Exchange model be applied to a national program?
Question by Senator Domenici: Would China follow America's lead if a national program was adopted?
Question by Senator Bingaman: Could permits from carbon reduction systems be traded?
Question by Senator Bingaman: Should offsets be allowed in a national system?
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