Isramart : Carbon cutting bill hits Senate

Isramart news:
With the focus this week on the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said it is an opportune time for her to announce she is co-sponsoring a Senate carbon reduction bill that she sees as innovative and beneficial to all of New England.

Collins is the lead Republican co-sponsor of a bill to be filed today by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., that promises "simplicity, transparency and equity" in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The bill is introduced at a time when Senate action on climate change is uncertain.

A bill sponsored by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. — essentially the Senate version of the House bill that passed by a very narrow margin (219-212) in June — has failed so far to get the necessary 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.

Kerry in the past month or so has been meeting with Sens. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to craft a new bill. Lieberman said in published reports last week, however, that the three were making little progress.

Into this atmosphere comes Cantwell's bill, called the Carbon Limits and Energy for America's Renewal (CLEAR) Act.

"I think we need a fresh start, and that's what Sen. Cantwell and I have done," said Collins. "We talked with a lot of experts and designed a bill that's far better, far simpler than the House bill."

The CLEAR Act is different from other climate change legislation in several respects. For one, instead of being "truly a monstrosity of 2,000 pages with something for every special interest," as Collins describes the House bill, it is 36 pages long.

Significantly, instead of a "cap and trade" — capping carbon emissions made by plants and industrial facilities and creating a mechanism to trade carbon units — CLEAR sets up a very different approach.

Rather than requiring plants to reduce carbon emissions, the CLEAR Act targets the coal, natural gas and oil companies that supply the power plants, requiring them to limit carbon production. The number of such suppliers is in the several thousand, as opposed to tens of thousands of producers nationwide.

The CLEAR Act mandates that the Department of Energy, not the stock market, oversee the auction of allowances.

"I have been troubled by the cap-and-trade approach because it creates complex new markets, and I feel my constituents would be subsidizing Wall Street traders," Collins said. The CLEAR Act "is far more straightforward."

One of the sticking points with any carbon reduction legislation is that it is perceived to be unfair to certain industries in certain states. Collins agreed the CLEAR Act would not win any friends among senators in coal-producing states.

"But they don't like the cap-and-trade approach, either. They want huge subsidies so these plants can continue to pollute, and coal-fired power plants are a major source of pollution in Maine. I don't have much interest in relieving pressure on coal-producing states," she said.

Of the money raised, 75 percent goes back to Americans as a direct refund to offset increases in energy costs and 25 percent goes into a fund to be used for clean-energy development, climate change mitigation, adaptation, weatherization and similar purposes.

That was key for Collins.

"I want to get money back in the hands of consumers. Consumers in New England will actually benefit from this bill," she said.

Andy Maguire, an analyst for Portsmouth-based Clean Air-Cool Planet in its Washington, D.C., office, sees a great deal of merit to the CLEAR Act, saying it's the only other real player besides the Kerry-Lieberman-Graham effort. It is much simpler than the House bill and "it comes close to 100 percent recycling" of funds without Wall Street middlemen.

He said he can see the allure to Collins and perhaps other moderates.

"By and large, moderates don't want a bill that's cumbersome and doesn't get money into the hands of taxpayers. Many, like Collins, don't like the trading aspect and want Wall Street out," he said.

He agrees with Collins that the CLEAR Act could become a major player in the months ahead when the Senate focus turns to climate change.