On July 24, 2007, four U.S. Senators proposed bipartisan global warming legislation that is intended to be less burdensome on business than competing plans that have been offered to date. John Warner (R-VA) joined Senators Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), in trying to limit the cost of mandating reductions of greenhouse gas emissions through an emissions cap-and-trade program. Their bill would allow companies to borrow emission permits and pay them back in future years with interest and to buy more offsets to meet their emission requirements.
Senator Warner commented that, "In my 28 years in the Senate, I have focused above all on issues of national security, and I see the problem of global climate change as fitting within that focus." He added that, "As we proceed to legislate on climate change, we need to be careful to protect our economy in the process. I intend to include this legislation in the climate change bill that I am drafting with Senator Lieberman, and hope that it will help allay the concerns of some Senators about the economic impacts of capand- trade legislation."
The bill would establish a seven-member, president-appointed Carbon Market Efficiency Board to oversee the carbon emissions market and, if necessary, permit a temporary increase in emission allocations when prices remain high. The Senate would have to confirm the appointed board members, who would have 14-year terms.
This legislation is an alternative to a "safety valve" provision that was included in proposed Senate Bill 1766 by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman, Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA). This bill, the "Low Carbon Economy Act of 2007," has won support from a range of labor and business groups. Under the bill, the cost for emitting carbon emissions would be limited to $12/ton for the first year, calendar year 2012. The safety valve carbon rate would then rise at the rate of 5% more than the annual inflation rate.
Environmental groups may not be satisfied with either the Warner or the Bingaman bills, in part, because of concerns that the bills would not address the global warming issues related to carbon emissions in a timely manner.
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