Senator Bingaman to offer 'improved' climate bill in April

Washington (Platts)--12Mar2007

US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman,
Democrat-New Mexico, said Monday that he hopes to offer an "improved" climate
change bill in April, with a stronger greenhouse gas reduction and a possibly
higher safety valve price on carbon dioxide.
Bingaman and Senator Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, have been
working on a bill to reduce greenhouse gases on an economy-wide basis to address
climate change and circulated a draft of the bill earlier this year.
"We are looking at an actual reduction in the final bill. I'm very
optimistic that we are proposing an actual reduction in actual greenhouse gas
emissions," Bingaman said at the Platts Energy Podium in Washington.
The circulated draft bill involved GHG intensity reductions and included
a $7/ton of carbon equivalent to keep the price of GHG emissions in check with
technology development to control emissions.
Bingaman said when the bill ultimately would be considered on the floor
of the US Senate is "uncertain" but he believed progress was being made.
--Cathy Cash, cathy_cash@platts.com