By J.R. Pegg

WASHINGTON, DC, October 18, 2007 (ENS) – A bipartisan bill introduced today in the U.S. Senate proposes mandatory, not voluntary, limits on greenhouse gases with the goal of reducing the nation's emissions more than 60 percent by mid-century. The bill's authors say the plan is a serious and viable effort to tackle global warming and key Democrats aim to get the legislation out of committee and before the full Senate by early next year.

The proposal, introduced by Connecticut Independent Joe Lieberman and Virginia Republican John Warner, would impose greenhouse gas limits on about 75 percent of the U.S. economy, creating caps on emissions from the electric power, transportation and manufacturing industries. These sectors would be required to cut emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, with the eventual goal of reducing emissions about 62 percent from 2005 levels by 2050.

Senator Joe Lieberman, left, and Senator John Warner introduce the Climate Security Act. (Photo courtesy Office of Senator Lieberman.)

"With all the irrefutable evidence we now have corroborating that climate change is real, dangerous, and proceeding faster than many scientists predicted, this is the year for Congress to move this critical legislation," said Lieberman, who chairs a Senate Environment and Public Works global warming subcommittee.

Lieberman said he intends to hold a subcommittee vote on the bill - called America's Climate Security Act - in the next few weeks, with the intention of passing it through the full committee before the end of the year.

"This is a day of breakthrough, but it is only the beginning," Lieberman told colleagues today.

Warner, who is ranking member of the global warming subcommittee, said the bill is a "good, sound, starting point," yet he cautioned that "this is going to be a very long and contentious."

The 80 year old Virginia Republican acknowledged that addressing climate change will place a financial burden "on almost every single American" but challenged fellow lawmakers to find solutions.

"This is like a great ship that has been launched today," said Warner, a former secretary of the U.S. Navy. "Now it is up to our colleagues to come forth with their ideas."

Warner, who is retiring next year, said the problem of global climate change "fits squarely" within his focus on national security issues and voiced frustration with the Bush administration's climate policies.

"The basic difference between the administration approach and our approach is that we feel that voluntary [measures] will not achieve the goals - the leadership - that the United States of America must simply take on this issue," said Warner.

Senator Barbara Boxer, chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, endorsed the measure - even though she has called for more aggressive action to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

Boxer touted the bipartisan nature of the Lieberman/Warner bill and called it "a turning point in the fight against global warming."

Rail systems help Metro-Dade County reduce carbon dioxide emissions from transportation. (Photo by Walter Marks courtesy Metro-Dade Transit Authority)

Cosponsors include Democrats from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Iowa and Minnesota, and Republicans from Maine, Minnesota and North Carolina.

Support from Republicans, notably Minnesota's Norm Coleman and North Carolina's Elizabeth Dole, came in part from the inclusion of provisions that allow companies to generate emission credits by encouraging sectors not covered by the bill, primarily agriculture, to reduce their emissions or capture and store greenhouse gases.

The bill also calls for using emission allowances and money raised by auctioning the credits for funding research into technologies for reducing emissions, helping low-income Americans with high energy costs and protecting U.S. jobs.

The proposal takes a "responsible approach to greenhouse gas reduction that will not undermine our economy," Coleman said.

The legislation has drawn cautious praise and optimism from a slew of national environmental groups, including Environmental Defense, Natural Resources Defense Council and the National Wildlife Federation.

"Lieberman and Warner have paved the way for a historic committee vote on a bill that promises to make great strides toward climate security and economic growth," said Steve Cochran, the national climate campaign director for Environmental Defense. "Thanks to their thoughtful approach we're moving beyond talk and quickly toward action."

Allegheny Energy's Harrison coal-fired power plant in West Virginia (Photo courtesy Allegheny Energy)

But other organizations, such as Friends of the Earth and the Sierra Club, focused less on hailing the political progress represented by the proposal and more on criticizing the specifics of the plan.

The legislation "falls far short of our responsibility as one of the world's largest global warming emitters," said Friends of the Earth President Brent Blackwelder.

The plan misses "critical targets and timetables," said Blackwelder, who criticized the free allocation of some of the emission permits as well as the failure to help the world's poor adapt to climate change.

Two senators who sit on the seven-member subcommittee committee have voiced similar concerns, illustrating the potential difficulty in crafting a climate bill that can garner votes need to make it out of subcommittee - let alone the 60 needed to pass the Senate.

Senators Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat, and Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Independent, support larger emission cuts and on Wednesday released a set of principles that will determine their support of climate legislation. Among their concerns are the 2020 emission targets, the distribution of carbon allowances and use of emission offsets.

"We need to work together to address the most significant environmental threat to our planet, but this is no time for timidity," Sanders said. "Dealing with scientific reality is more important than cutting deals."

Sanders added that the latest evidence shows scientists have "underestimated" the ramifications and pace of climate change.

"The consequences of climate change are occurring sooner than expected," he said. "We must act boldly if we are to prevent planetary catastrophe."

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2007. All rights reserved.