Friday, June 17, 2005
MCCAIN, LIEBERMAN ADD NEW TECHNOLOGIES PROVISION TO GLOBAL WARMING BILL
MCCAIN, LIEBERMAN ADD NEW TECHNOLOGIES PROVISION TO GLOBAL WARMING BILL Senators Reintroduce Climate Stewardship Act With Alternative Technology Incentives
For Immediate Release
Thursday, May 26, 2005
WASHINGTON – Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT) introduced today a modified climate change bill, the Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act. This legislation includes the provisions of the Climate Stewardship Act of 2005 introduced in February, along with new provisions to promote the development and deployment of low or zero greenhouse gas emitting technologies. “This new title, when combined with the ‘cap and trade’ provisions of the previously introduced bill, will promote the commercialization of technologies that can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, mitigate the impacts of climate change, and increase the nation’s energy independence,” McCain said. “And, it will help to keep America at the cutting edge of innovation where the jobs and trade opportunities of the new economy are to be found.” “We face an urgent and complex challenge -- cutting emissions of climate-changing gases like CO2 while growing our economy. Every technology, every innovation has to be on the table so that the market can choose the best ideas and inventions,” Lieberman said. “Senator McCain and I have developed a bill that shuns picking winners and losers between and among different technologies – we want the market to do that. Instead, our bill would create a system that puts every technological option on the menu to ensure that there will be viable low greenhouse gas emitting products and energy services available to face the challenge of climate change.” "The technology provision, which will be added as “Title IV” to the Climate Stewardship Act of 2005, would use the financial resources generated by the emissions trading program that the legislation creates to provide incentives for the development of a variety of alternatives to conventional fossil fuel power production. These alternatives would include, but would not be limited to, solar, nuclear and integrated (coal) gasification combined cycle technologies, as well as more efficient products and vehicles, and a variety of alternative vehicle fuels that result in lower overall emissions. “There is much that the country can and should do to promote the most environmentally and economically promising technologies,” McCain said. “This includes removing unnecessary barriers to commercialization of new technologies so that new plants, products, and processes can move more efficiently from design and development, to demonstration and, ultimately, to the market place. Again, without cap and trade, these efforts will pale, but the new technology title we propose will work hand in glove with the emission cap and trade system to meet our objectives.” “By reintroducing the original climate bill with a new technology title, we are sending a signal to our Senate colleagues that the time is now and the opportunity is here to come forward and work with us to put together a package that works to get the politics, the economics and the policy right,” Lieberman said. The Climate Stewardship Act, crafted by Lieberman and McCain in close consultation with industry leaders and the environmental community, is modeled after the successful acid rain trading program of the 1990 Clean Air Act. It would require a reduction in carbon dioxide emission levels to 2000 levels by the year 2010 by capping the overall greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity generation, transportation, industrial, and commercial economic sectors, and creating a market for individual companies to trade pollution credits. McCain and Lieberman first introduced the legislation in 2002 and despite strong Senate support, the legislation fell short of passage in a vote in October 2003 on the Senate floor. The Senators have pledged to bring the legislation to another vote this year. A summary of the newly introduced bill is available at: http://lieberman.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=238307
For Immediate Release
Thursday, May 26, 2005
WASHINGTON – Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT) introduced today a modified climate change bill, the Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act. This legislation includes the provisions of the Climate Stewardship Act of 2005 introduced in February, along with new provisions to promote the development and deployment of low or zero greenhouse gas emitting technologies. “This new title, when combined with the ‘cap and trade’ provisions of the previously introduced bill, will promote the commercialization of technologies that can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, mitigate the impacts of climate change, and increase the nation’s energy independence,” McCain said. “And, it will help to keep America at the cutting edge of innovation where the jobs and trade opportunities of the new economy are to be found.” “We face an urgent and complex challenge -- cutting emissions of climate-changing gases like CO2 while growing our economy. Every technology, every innovation has to be on the table so that the market can choose the best ideas and inventions,” Lieberman said. “Senator McCain and I have developed a bill that shuns picking winners and losers between and among different technologies – we want the market to do that. Instead, our bill would create a system that puts every technological option on the menu to ensure that there will be viable low greenhouse gas emitting products and energy services available to face the challenge of climate change.” "The technology provision, which will be added as “Title IV” to the Climate Stewardship Act of 2005, would use the financial resources generated by the emissions trading program that the legislation creates to provide incentives for the development of a variety of alternatives to conventional fossil fuel power production. These alternatives would include, but would not be limited to, solar, nuclear and integrated (coal) gasification combined cycle technologies, as well as more efficient products and vehicles, and a variety of alternative vehicle fuels that result in lower overall emissions. “There is much that the country can and should do to promote the most environmentally and economically promising technologies,” McCain said. “This includes removing unnecessary barriers to commercialization of new technologies so that new plants, products, and processes can move more efficiently from design and development, to demonstration and, ultimately, to the market place. Again, without cap and trade, these efforts will pale, but the new technology title we propose will work hand in glove with the emission cap and trade system to meet our objectives.” “By reintroducing the original climate bill with a new technology title, we are sending a signal to our Senate colleagues that the time is now and the opportunity is here to come forward and work with us to put together a package that works to get the politics, the economics and the policy right,” Lieberman said. The Climate Stewardship Act, crafted by Lieberman and McCain in close consultation with industry leaders and the environmental community, is modeled after the successful acid rain trading program of the 1990 Clean Air Act. It would require a reduction in carbon dioxide emission levels to 2000 levels by the year 2010 by capping the overall greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity generation, transportation, industrial, and commercial economic sectors, and creating a market for individual companies to trade pollution credits. McCain and Lieberman first introduced the legislation in 2002 and despite strong Senate support, the legislation fell short of passage in a vote in October 2003 on the Senate floor. The Senators have pledged to bring the legislation to another vote this year. A summary of the newly introduced bill is available at: http://lieberman.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=238307
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