Bipartisan groups of lawmakers to press Senate on emissions

Bipartisan groups of lawmakers to press Senate on emissions

Jun. 14--WASHINGTON -- By Rick Klein, The Boston Globe Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

With concern over global warming mounting in the United States and abroad, three bipartisan groups of lawmakers plan this week to press the Senate to adopt beefed-up emissions controls, despite staunch White House resistance to them.

Last week, at a news conference with Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain -- who has been encouraging the Bush administration to more aggressively confront climate change -- President Bush said more information is needed before his administration can take further steps to address global warming. But several Republican senators are endorsing proposals that would limit the release of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, that trap heat in the atmosphere and are produced by power plants and manufacturers.

Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, has teamed up with Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, to offer the proposal that is most popular with environmentalists. It would freeze carbon emissions at their 2010 levels by capping production and allowing manufacturers to trade cap room.

Senator Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, met yesterday with other senators to discuss his plan for tax and loan incentives for companies that seek to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

The chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, Pete V. Domenici, is considering whether to team up with a fellow New Mexican, Senator Jeff Bingaman, a Democrat, on another proposal that would cap emissions but allow companies to buy their way out if the cost of reducing emissions proves to be prohibitively high.

"We're thrilled at the interest being shown by Republicans at doing something that's achievable and doable," said Bill Wicker, a Bingaman spokesman.

The three separate proposals will be offered as amendments to the energy bill that is to be discussed in the Senate starting today.

The proposals vary considerably in the severity of actions they would require of greenhouse gas producers, and each would have to overcome fierce opposition from both the Bush administration and House leadership to become law. In April, the House passed its version of an energy bill, which does not address global warming.

Still, environmental groups say any vote to change federal policy on climate change would send a powerful message that lawmakers are ready to acknowledge and respond to global warming.

"The great thing about this debate is it's not going to be about 'It's happening' or 'It's not happening.' It's 'What should we do about it?' " said Karen Wayland, legislative director for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "It does represent a very fundamental shift of the politics of global warming."

Bush has resisted mandatory caps on emissions, which are included in the McCain-Lieberman and Bingaman proposals. In 2001, Bush withdrew the United States from the Kyoto Protocol, which would have forced American companies to begin limiting their emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases this year. The Bush administration also came under fire last week for allegedly allowing a White House aide to edit government climate reports to downplay links between gas emissions and global warming.

Scott McClellan, a spokesman for the White House, yesterday sidestepped questions over whether emissions caps would lead the president to veto the energy bill, a sweeping piece of legislation that Bush has repeatedly called on Congress to approve. But McClellan made clear that the administration remains committed to incentives that encourage the private sector to find ways to produce lower amounts of the gases, and wants further research into the causes of climate change.

The last Senate attempt to curb greenhouse gas production was made in 2003, when a measure similar to that being offered again by McCain and Lieberman was defeated, 55 to 43. Since then, Democrats lost four seats in the 2004 elections.

Harry Reid, the Senate minority leader, said he expects greater support for controlling global warming this year, because scientists have moved closer to settling the debate over whether greenhouse gases are affecting the environment. Reid, Democrat of Nevada, said former vice president Al Gore will be in Washington today and tomorrow to help Democrats rally support for addressing climate change.

Several Senate aides said the Bingaman proposal is the most likely to pass, because it attempts to craft a middle-of-the-road solution. It is modeled closely on recommendations made by the National Commission on Energy Policy last year.

Bingaman's amendment would mandate emissions controls starting in 2010, with a goal of returning the nation to the 2012 level of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. It would allow overproducing companies to purchase emissions credits from others who are under the cap. To control the price of those credits, it would also allow companies to pay the government $7 for every metric ton of carbon dioxide by which they exceed the cap.

The money generated -- estimated at $35 billion over 10 years -- could be used to develop new technologies and help communities cope with climate change. Environmental groups would prefer a "hard cap" on emissions, to guarantee that emissions are actually cut, but they say any step in the direction of controlling global warming would be significant.

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