Oh Look! The House Is Introducing A Climate Bill! That's So . . . Cute!

March 30, 2004 Washington - In a bi-partisan effort to fight global warming, members of the House and Senate stood together Tuesday to introduce legislation that would cap greenhouse emissions.

Starting in 2010, the Climate and Stewardship Act would cap emissions and create a market-based system encouraging technological innovation and profitable opportunities for companies to cut emissions.

"Welcome to the battle," said Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., at a Capitol Hill news conference. "We're not going to give up until we win it." Lieberman, along with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., crafted a similar measure that came seven votes shy of passing the Senate in October. The new bill is being introduced in the House. "Every day we don't act on this issue is a day lost" because of the lengthy legislative process, McCain said. For example, he said, campaign finance reform took seven years to get through Congress.

EDIT

Michael Shanahan, a spokesman for the American Petroleum Institute, said, "The industry supports a heavy and well-funded research program," which the bill contains. But he added, "What the industry opposes is anything that would lead to mandatory targets and timetables. The concern is that legislation might take us there." At the Electric Power Supply Association, spokesman Jack Hawks said the group has no position on the bill because he doesn't expect Congress to act on it this year. He said the group would examine it more closely if it does come up."

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http://www.evworld.com/view.cfm?section=communique&newsid=5339

was saying on his show yesterday that he thinks SUVs are wasteful bas-guzzlers. Of course, his points are:
1) Drivers should voluntarily curb their consumption; no new regulations needed.
2) The reason to consume less is so we're less dependent on OPEC. "See how fast their turbans spin around" when Americans cut oil consumption by 10%, he said.

I didn't listen long enough to find out whether Oh'Really considers saving the planet a priority.

Um... so starting six years from now they're going to take baby steps? Is there something inconvenient about NOW?

- not nearly enough time for congressional "action".

Besides, the world's collective voluntary efforts to limit ghg emissions are working so well already that atmospheric CO2 content increased for the last two years running at a rate 60% higher than the average increase since 1959, when Keeling began collecting systematic data at Mauna Loa.

So, what's really called for here is more study - yeah, that's it, more sound science!