Senators Kerry, Lieberman, and Graham have released a framework for moving a Senate climate bill forward. It calls for 17% reductions in GHG from 2005, along with provisions for expanding nuclear power and oil and gas drilling, investment in carbon capture and sequestration from coal, provisions to strengthen our manufacturing base, as well as carbon market oversight and other provisions.
Read Sen. Kerry's release and letter text
here.
According to the NY Times, Senators Cantwell and Snowe will supposedly release their own bill later this week.
This is an encouraging sign for US domestic legislation, and will bolster confidence in President Obama's position when he comes next week. However, whether it helps get a deal is uncertain - many countries already see the US offer as inadequate and are asking the President to put more on the table. This development reaffirms 17% below 2005 levels as a US target for 2020, which could mean that nations who want more could get discouraged and give up, or could realize that the US cannot change its position because of political realities in Congress and thus accept a compromise.
Posted By: Thomas Lee @ 2:45 AM |