Congress Tries To Get The Carbon Emissions Out
Monday, May 18, 2009SUSIE GHARIB: Climate change legislation took a step forward on Capitol Hill today. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce began debate on a new bill which aims to cut carbon emissions by 17 percent over the next decade. As Stephanie Dhue reports, the American clean energy and security act is a major piece of legislation and is about to clear a major hurdle.
STEPHANIE DHUE, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: For months, the committee has been considering a cap and trade proposal that would auction permits to utilities and other large generators of carbon emissions. But to win support, the bill now gives most of those permits away for free. Congressman Ed Markey, who helped write the measure, hailed it as a collaborative victory.
REP. ED MARKEY, CHMN., SELECT COMMITTEE ON GLOBAL WARMING: It stands tall because it rests on a foundation of a compromise reached with business leaders, labor unions and environmental activists who worked with us to craft a policy that will create new clean energy jobs and unleash investment in clean energy technologies.
DHUE: Opponents say the plan will increase the cost of energy at a time when the economy can least afford it. Florida Republican Cliff Stearns says higher costs will lead businesses to cut spending and jobs.
REP. CLIFF STEARNS, (R) FLORIDA: That's precisely why various members of the majority have been working feverishly behind closed doors to secure hundreds of billions of dollars in free allocations for industries within their states and in their congressional district.
DHUE: Energy consultant Bronco Terzic says giving away the permits should keep utilities from raising prices.
BRANKO TERZIC, DIRECTOR, ENERGY & RESOURCES, DELOITTE: The benefit of the cap and trade without the auction, is that the money then becomes an incentive within the private sector and ought to stimulate significant reductions in CO2, just because there's money in reducing.
DHUE: Many environmental groups are worried the industries that get the permits won't use them to keep costs down. David Hamilton of the Sierra Club wants the legislation to detail how businesses will use the permits.
DAVID HAMILTON, DIR., GLOBAL WARMING POLICY, SIERRA CLUB: What has happened in other cap and trade schemes is that companies raised their prices as if they actually had to pay for them and so they ended up with what we call windfall profits. So it was like the government was just handing them millions of dollars. We have to make sure there are mechanisms in here that will not produce the same result.
DHUE: The Energy and Commerce Committee plans to complete its work on the bill by the end of the week, but there's still a long way to go. Eight other committees will also have a say on the bill before it hits the floor and the Senate is working on its own version. Stephanie Dhue, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Washington.
