2008 Woodie Awards
Legislation must be approved
Congress must address Global Warming issue with action
Issue date: 11/19/07 Section: Editorial
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The following editorial appeared in the San Jose Mercury News on Sunday, Nov. 11:
Al Gore won well-deserved glory with the Nobel Peace Prize for raising awareness of the threat of climate change - a threat that President Bush largely chooses to ignore. Now it's up to Congress to be the architect of U.S. strategy for dealing with this planetary peril.
Congress finally is advancing global warming legislation this fall. The package needs to be both strong and broad, at last moving the United States toward a position of world leadership.
The law must be up to the mammoth challenge of cutting greenhouse gas emissions to the degree scientists say is needed. And it must lead to cleaner energy without crippling the economy.
Momentum is now driving America's Climate Security Act, introduced last month by Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and John Warner, R-Va.
The bill requires the United States to cut greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent by 2020 and would create a national "cap-and-trade" system for emission credits. Companies that can cut emissions cheaply or achieve cuts beyond their emissions cap for a given year can sell credits to companies that need more time or money to achieve emissions reductions.
This is a good starting point for U.S. climate policy. Lawmakers should keep improving and resist weakening the bill. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., has said she plans to bring it to a vote in early December.
Congress has to play a strong role on climate change because the oil-centric Bush administration lacks a strategy, suggesting only voluntary emission reductions. That's not enough.
Congressional approval of mandatory cuts would provide a path for a new administration in 2008. And it would signal to the world that the United States is serious about climate change, which its consumer lifestyle disproportionately has helped create.
As this legislation moves ahead, here are five principles to keep in mind:
Make big cuts fast. Scientists warn that the United States needs to cut emissions at least 15 percent to 20 percent by 2020 and at least 80 percent by 2050 to help the world avoid the worst effects of global warming. Lawmakers should resist "safety valve" provisions supported by industry that would gut the Lieberman-Warner bill's effectiveness.
Al Gore won well-deserved glory with the Nobel Peace Prize for raising awareness of the threat of climate change - a threat that President Bush largely chooses to ignore. Now it's up to Congress to be the architect of U.S. strategy for dealing with this planetary peril.
Congress finally is advancing global warming legislation this fall. The package needs to be both strong and broad, at last moving the United States toward a position of world leadership.
The law must be up to the mammoth challenge of cutting greenhouse gas emissions to the degree scientists say is needed. And it must lead to cleaner energy without crippling the economy.
Momentum is now driving America's Climate Security Act, introduced last month by Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and John Warner, R-Va.
The bill requires the United States to cut greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent by 2020 and would create a national "cap-and-trade" system for emission credits. Companies that can cut emissions cheaply or achieve cuts beyond their emissions cap for a given year can sell credits to companies that need more time or money to achieve emissions reductions.
This is a good starting point for U.S. climate policy. Lawmakers should keep improving and resist weakening the bill. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., has said she plans to bring it to a vote in early December.
Congress has to play a strong role on climate change because the oil-centric Bush administration lacks a strategy, suggesting only voluntary emission reductions. That's not enough.
Congressional approval of mandatory cuts would provide a path for a new administration in 2008. And it would signal to the world that the United States is serious about climate change, which its consumer lifestyle disproportionately has helped create.
As this legislation moves ahead, here are five principles to keep in mind:
Make big cuts fast. Scientists warn that the United States needs to cut emissions at least 15 percent to 20 percent by 2020 and at least 80 percent by 2050 to help the world avoid the worst effects of global warming. Lawmakers should resist "safety valve" provisions supported by industry that would gut the Lieberman-Warner bill's effectiveness.
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