Washington (Platts)--23Apr2008

Legislation that would cut US greenhouse gas emissions 70% by 2050 is
unlikely to pass the Senate this summer unless the measure is "dramatically"
amended, New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici, the senior Republican on the Senate
Energy and Natural Resources Committee said on Wednesday.

The bill (S.B. 2191), which was introduced last year by Senators Joseph
Lieberman, a Connecticut Independent, and John Warner, a Virginia Republican,
was approved in December by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
and is expected to come to the Senate floor in June.

In remarks at a Washington news conference sponsored by The Energy Daily,
Domenici said he doesn't believe the bill will win Senate approval unless "it
is dramatically altered and amended."

Domenici said he is particularly concerned that there is little if
anything in the measure that would prod China and India, two of the world's
fastest developing economies, to cut their GHG emissions. "The bill will not
address the issue of climate change by any insignificant figure as long as
other contributors don't do more," he said.

The senator also criticized the bill's proposal to establish a
cap-and-trade system for US carbon emissions, saying that "a lot of Republican
senators and a few Democrats are finding that cap-and-trade might not be the
best way to approach [global warming] as a solution."

Domenici said the European Union's cap-and-trade system "is not working,"
and cited the over-allocation of carbon allowances during the first phase of
the program.

He added that a recent US Environmental Protection Agency review of the
Lieberman-Warner bill showed that its costs would "incredibly high."

"I am not sure we are willing to take such a gamble with the US economy,"
he said.

The senator said that refocusing away from cap-and-trade and toward
technology development is a better strategy to combat climate change.

Domenici underscored the importance of carbon capture and sequestration
technology in particular. "With the help of American science and world
science, we can find a solution in 10-15 years," making a cap-and-trade system
unnecessary.
--Christine Cordner, christine_cordner@platts.com