|
WASHINGTON - The Democratic-led Senate, which soundly defeated a White House plan to drill in an Alaskan wildlife refuge, is set to mark Earth Day by pressing ahead with legislation to force U.S. companies to report global warming-linked emissions. The environmental battle between Democrats and Republicans now moves to the rest of the energy bill, which includes a provision requiring firms that emit over 10,000 metric tons of carbon a year to register their output with the government. The United States is the world's largest emitter of so-called greenhouse gases. Carbon emissions from power plants and factories have been linked to global warming, which scientists warn could lead to massive flooding and rising ocean levels. On Monday's Earth Day, President Bush will appear at a park in New York state to tout an initiative that encourages power plants to voluntarily reduce their emissions. Energy and environment are political Siamese twins. Nearly 98 percent of all U.S. carbon dioxide emissions are energy-related, said Sen. Jeff Bingaman, a New Mexico Democrat who authored the provision that would require companies to report their annual emissions to the federal government. "Because of this intimate connection, much of energy policy and much of climate change policy is interlinked," Bingaman said, introducing the Democrats' broad energy bill last month. The Democrats' emissions reporting plan would lead Congress to issue an admission that man-made greenhouse gases cause global warming and charge an unspecified department with monitoring emissions, starting a year after the bill passes. VOLUNTARY VS MANDATORY As with last week's battle over Bush's proposal to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the greenhouse gas measure is expected to prompt various amendments seeking to weaken it. Republican Sens. George Voinovich of Ohio and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska said they will try to make the emissions reporting voluntary. Another amendment expected to be offered Monday by Kansas Republican Sen. Sam Brownback would allow voluntary reporting for five years, then switch to mandatory reporting if the registry fails to capture at least 60 percent of U.S. emissions. An aide to Brownback said the compromise sought "to break the logjam" over the legislation. "We're creating incentives for responsible behavior and rewarding those who take action," Brownback said last week. The White House opposes mandatory reporting requirements, echoing the views of the utility and energy industry which says mandatory reporting would open the door to eventual limits on carbon dioxide emissions. A year ago, Bush announced the United States would not participate in the Kyoto Treaty, an international attempt to limit greenhouse gases by industrial countries. Bush said the proposed reduction in U.S. emissions by about 5.2 percent of 1990 levels during 2008-2012 would be too costly to the American economy. A better approach, Bush said earlier this year, is to encourage companies to voluntarily reduce harmful emissions. The "Clear Skies" initiative calls for utilities to cut emissions of three major pollutants - not including carbon dioxide - by 70 percent by 2018 using a cap-and-trade system. "Our global climate change initiative commits our nation to significantly reducing greenhouse gas intensity," Bush said at an event honoring youth environmental award winners last week. ICE SHELF COLLAPSE ADDS URGENCY Green groups, basking in the glow of an unexpectedly large victory in killing the Alaska drilling proposal, said the greenhouse gas reporting provision was another key issue. The recent collapse of the so-called Larsen B ice shelf in Antarctica -which was the size of a small European country - adds urgency to the global warming debate, they said. The Republican-led House of Representatives did not include mandatory reporting in its energy bill, passed last summer. That means the Senate's eventual energy bill must be reconciled with the House version by negotiators from both chambers. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said he hoped to complete work on the energy bill early this week. The legislation includes incentives for increased production of U.S. oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear power as well as an array of conservation and energy efficiency provisions. "The U.S. under President Bush is presenting itself to the rest of the world as an unrepentant polluter," said Philip Clapp, director of the National Environmental Trust. Former Republican Sen. Jim Jeffords, now an Independent from Vermont, agreed. "Unfortunately, it seems part of an active agenda in the White House to change the direction of environmental protection for the worse," Jeffords said on Friday. Jeffords plans to introduce a bill in the Senate next month to cut four major pollutants from power plants, including carbon dioxide. Green groups also assailed the administration for ousting Robert Watson last week as the head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Watson, who chaired the body since 1996, had warned that inaction could bring serious impacts.
|
