Principles for Global Warming Legislation Page

Category: Government Committees
Type: News
Source: U.S. House Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming
Party: Democrat
Date: Thursday, October 2nd, 2008

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152 Members of Congress, led by Representatives Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), and Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) have joined together to solve both our climate and economic crisis. In a letter outlining principles for global warming legislation, the members stress the need to invest in a clean energy economy that will create millions of new green jobs here at home while simultaneously cutting the heat-trapping emissions responsible for global warming.

To Download a PDF of the letter, CLICK HERE.
To read the press release from Representative Waxman, Markey and Inslee, CLICK HERE.

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The principles outlined in the letter are science-based, technology-driven, and consumer-focused. Proposing an emissions cap with an auction system, the Members suggest taking revenues generated from polluters and investing in clean technology programs.

Every dollar invested in clean energy technologies produce three to five times more jobs per dollar than would be created in the fossil fuel industry.

In the formulation of climate legislation, the members want consumers to be the 1st to benefit from energy efficiency and new technology innovations. And vulnerable communities - those in harm's way of hurricanes, floods and sea level rise caused by increased global warming -- must have the resources necessary to protect and rebuild their neighborhoods.

The letter was sent to Speaker Pelosi in order to help guide the next Congress as it produces legislation to establish a mandatory plan to address the threat of global warming.

The text of the letter follows:

Dear Madam Speaker,

We salute your leadership on one of the critical issues of our time: the effort to save the planet from calamitous global warming. You have listened to the scientists and acknowledged the scope and severity of the threat that global warming poses to our nationâ€™s security, economy, public health, and ecosystems. You have made enacting legislation to address global warming a top priority for Congress for the 1st time in our history. We stand ready to help develop this legislation and enact it into law.

As part of this effort, we have developed a set of principles to guide Congress as it produces legislation to establish an economy-wide mandatory plan to address the threat of global warming. Acting in accordance with these principles is critical to achieving a fair and effective bill that will avoid the most dangerous global warming and assist those harmed by the warming that is unavoidable, while strengthening our economy.

The following are the principles we have developed to guide the creation of comprehensive global warming legislation.

Comprehensive legislation to address global warming must achieve 4 key goals:

Reduce emissions to avoid dangerous global warming;
Transition America to a clean energy economy;
Recognize and minimize any economic impacts from global warming legislation; and
Aid communities and ecosystems vulnerable to harm from global warming.

To meet each of these goals, climate change legislation must include the following key elements.

Reduce Emissions to Avoid Dangerous Global Warming

The U.S. must do its part to keep global temperatures from rising in excess of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) above pre-industrial levels. The scientific community warns that above this level, dangerous and irreversible changes to the Earthâ€™s climate are predicted to occur. To meet this goal, the legislation must:

Review and respond to advancing climate science. The effects of global warming are happening much faster than scientists predicted several years ago, and there may be tipping points at which irreversible effects occur at lower levels of greenhouse gas concentrations than previously predicted. A mechanism for periodic scientific review is necessary, and EPA, and other agencies as appropriate, must adjust the regulatory response if the latest science indicates that more reductions are needed.
Make emissions targets certain and enforceable. Our strong existing environmental laws depend on enforceable requirements, rigorous monitoring and reporting of emissions, public input and transparent implementation, and government and citizen enforcement. All of these elements must be included in comprehensive global warming legislation. Cost-containment measures must not break the cap on global warming pollution. Any offsets must be real, additional, verifiable, permanent, and enforceable. The percentage of required emissions reductions that may be met with offsets should be strictly limited, and should be increased only to the extent that there is greater certainty that the offsets will not compromise the programâ€™s environmental integrity.
Require the U.S. to engage with other nations to reduce emissions through commitments and incentives. The U.S. must reengage in the international negotiations to establish binding emissions reductions goals under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The legislation must encourage developing countries to reduce emissions by assisting such countries to avoid deforestation and to adopt clean energy technologies. This is a cost-effective way for the U.S. and other developed nations to achieve combined emissions reductions of at least 25% below 1990 levels by 2020, as called for by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Transition America to a Clean Energy Economy

Global warming legislation provides an opportunity to create new jobs, while transforming the way we live and work through renewable energy, green buildings, clean vehicles, and advanced technologies. To realize this opportunity, the legislation must:

Invest in the best clean energy and efficiency technologies. A significant portion of revenues from auctioning emissions allowances should be invested in clean energy and efficiency measures, targeted to technologies and practices that are cleaner, cheaper, safer, and faster than conventional technologies, as determined through the application of clear requirements set by Congress.
Include and encourage complementary policies. Complementary policies can lower plan costs by producing lower-cost emissions reductions from economic sectors and activities that are less sensitive to a price signal. Smart growth measures, green building policies, and electricity sector efficiency policies are important types of complementary policies. The legislation should include federal complementary policies and encourage state and local complementary policies in areas better addressed by states and localities.
Preserve statesâ€™ authorities to protect their citizens. Federal global warming requirements must be a floor, not a ceiling, on statesâ€™ ability to protect their citizensâ€™ health and state resources. Throughout our history, states have pioneered policies that the nation has subsequently adopted. Addressing global warming requires state and local efforts, as well as countrywide ones.

Recognize and Minimize Any Economic Impacts from Global Warming Legislation

Reducing global warming pollution will likely have some manageable costs, which would be far lower than the costs of inaction. To minimize any economic impacts, the legislation must:

Use public assets for public benefit in a fair and transparent way. Emissions allowances should be auctioned with the revenues going to benefit the public, and any free allocations should produce public benefits. If any allocations are given to polluters, they must be provided only to existing facilities for a brief transition period and the quantity must be limited to avoid windfall profits.
Return revenues to consumers. Revenues from auctioned allowances should be returned to low- and moderate-income households at a level sufficient to offset higher energy costs.
Return revenues to workers and communities. Workers and communities most affected by the transition to a clean energy economy should gain a portion of the revenues to ease the transition and build a trained workforce so that all can participate in the new energy economy.
Protect against global trade disadvantages to U.S. industry. In addition to providing incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions, the legislation should provide for an effective response to any countries that refuse to contribute their fair share to the international effort. These elements will protect energy-intensive U.S. enterprises against competitive disadvantage.

Aid Communities and Ecosystems Vulnerable to Harm from Global Warming

Global warming is already harming communities and ecosystems throughout the world, and even with immediate action to reduce emissions and avoid dangerous effects, these impacts will worsen over the coming decades. To ameliorate these harms, the legislation must:

Assist states, localities, and tribes to respond and adapt to the effects of global warming. A portion of auction revenues should be provided to states, localities, and tribes to respond to harm from global warming and adapt their infrastructure to its effects, such as more severe wildfires, intensified droughts, increased water scarcity, sea level rise, floods, hurricanes, melting permafrost, and agricultural and public health impacts.
Assist developing countries to respond and adapt to the effects of global warming. A portion of auction revenues should be provided to help the developing countries most vulnerable to harm from global warming and defuse the threats to countrywide security and global stability posed by conflicts over water and other natural resources, famines, and mass migrations that could be triggered by global warming. Vulnerable countries include least developed countries, where millions of people are already living on the brink, and small island states, which face massive loss of land.
Assist wildlife and ecosystems threatened by global warming. A portion of auction revenues should be provided to federal, state, and tribal natural resource protection agencies to manage wildlife and ecosystems to maximize the survival of wildlife populations, imperiled species, and ecosystems, using science-based adaptation strategies.

These principles, if adopted as part of comprehensive climate change legislation, will meet the United Statesâ€™ obligations to curb greenhouse gas emissions and also will provide a pathway to the international cooperation that is necessary to solve the global warming problem.

We commend these principles to you and hope that you find them helpful as we move forward together to develop and adopt global warming legislation.

	Sincerely,
Representative Henry A. Waxman Representative Thomas H. Allen Representative John Lewis Representative Lloyd Doggett Representative Jim McDermott Representative John P. Sarbanes Representative Chris Van Hollen Representative James P. McGovern Representative Rush D. Holt Representative Albio Sires Representative John Conyers, Jr. Representative Jane Harman Representative Steven R. Rothman Representative Carolyn B. Maloney Representative Keith Ellison Representative Zoe Lofgren Representative Patrick J. Murphy Representative Brian Baird Representative Joe Sestak Representative Andre Carson Representative Tim Ryan Representative Kathy Castor Representative Brad Sherman Representative Maxine Waters Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard Representative Eliot L. Engel Representative Donald M. Payne Representative Peter Welch Representative Linda T. SÃ¡nchez Representative Dennis Moore Representative Lynn C. Woolsey Representative Rosa L. DeLauro Representative Kirsten E. Gillibrand Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee Representative Joseph Crowley Representative Loretta Sanchez Representative William D. Delahunt Representative James L. Oberstar Representative Wayne T. Gilchrest Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz Representative Ben Chandler Representative Brian Higgins Representative Fortney Pete Stark Representative Donna F. Edwards Representative Robert E. Andrews Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson Representative Ed Pastor Representative John A. Yarmuth Representative Xavier Becerra Representative Alcee L. Hastings	Representative Edward J. Markey Representative Earl Blumenauer Representative Betty McCollum Representative John W. Olver Representative Mike Thompson Representative Robert Wexler Representative Raul M. Grijalva Representative James P. Moran Representative Henry C. "Hank' Johnson, Jr. Representative Howard L. Berman Representative Paul W. Hodes Representative Michael M. Honda Representative Ellen O. Tauscher Representative John F. Tierney Representative Adam B. Schiff Representative Bruce L. Braley Representative Bobby L. Rush Representative Anna G. Eshoo Representative Neil Abercrombie Representative Barbara Lee Representative Steve Cohen Representative Michael R. McNulty Representative Betty Sutton Representative Robert A. Brady Representative Diana DeGette Representative Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. Representative Carol Shea-Porter Representative Wm. Lacy Clay Representative Doris O. Matsui Representative Jose E. Serrano Representative Robert C. "Bobby" Scott Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton Representative Shelley Berkley Representative Eni F.H. Faleomavaega Representative Kendrick B. Meek Representative Jackie Speier Representative Phil Hare Representative Charles B. Rangel Representative Gwen Moore Representative Timothy H. Bishop Representative Gabrielle Giffords Representative Steve Israel Representative Tammy Baldwin Representative Dennis J. Kucinich Representative Madeleine Z. Bordallo Representative Al Green Representative Stephen F. Lynch Representative Gregory W. Meeks Representative Leonard L. Boswell Representative Ron Klein Representative Mel Watt	Representative Jay Inslee Representative Maurice D. Hinchey Representative Lois Capps Representative Bob Filner Representative Barney Frank Representative Janice D. Schakowsky Representative Mazie K. Hirono Representative Susan A. Davis Representative Steve Kagen Representative Yvette D. Clarke Representative Emanuel Cleaver Representative Christopher S. Murphy Representative Sam Farr Representative Elijah E. Cummings Representative Allyson Y. Schwartz Representative Nita M. Lowey Representative James R. Langevin Representative Chaka Fattah Representative Patrick J. Kennedy Representative Frank Pallone, Jr. Representative Anthony D. Weiner Representative Jerrold Nadler Representative Russ Carnahan Representative Jerry McNerney Representative Danny K. Davis Representative Grace F. Napolitano Representative David E. Price Representative Hilda L. Solis Representative David Wu Representative Niki Tsongas Representative Diane E. Watson Representative Adam Smith Representative Joe Courtney Representative Louise McIntosh Slaughter Representative Brad Miller Representative Gary L. Ackerman Representative Daniel Lipinski Representative Norman D. Dicks Representative Timothy J. Walz Representative Corrine Brown Representative Luis V. Gutierrez Representative Carolyn McCarthy Representative Donna M. Christensen Representative Bennie G. Thompson Representative John J. Hall Representative David Loebsack Representative Richard E. Neal Representative Laura Richardson Representative Rick Larsen Representative Michael A. Arcuri

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