Summer 2010
Perspective
Alternate Routes to Climate Solutions
Although the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill last summer that would reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases, the prospects for similar action in the Senate are unclear. So, while UCS continues to work overtime with our Senate champions to bring a comprehensive climate and energy bill to the floor this year, we are also pursuing a range of other strategies that will ensure we reach our needed goal of reducing emissions at least 80 percent below 2005 levels by 2050.
| In this issue of Catalyst:
> The Weight of the Evidence |
First and foremost, we are working to preserve the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) authority to regulate heat-trapping emissions under the Clean Air Act. Despite the Supreme Court’s affirmation of this authority in 2007, some in Congress are looking either to block the EPA from promulgating emissions standards for power plants and other major stationary sources, or to eliminate its authority in this area altogether (which would halt implementation of the EPA’s new tailpipe emissions standards issued last April for cars and light trucks). Second, UCS is continuing to promote solutions at the state level, such as renewable electricity standards that require utilities to obtain an increasing share of their electricity from renewable resources. Our new analysis of state spending on coal imports shows the billions of dollars that the most coal-dependent states could invest in energy efficiency and clean, local energy rather than sending these dollars to other states or nations for a dirty fossil fuel.
Finally, we have been engaged in regional initiatives to place binding limits on global warming pollution, including California’s Global Warming Solutions Act and the Northeast’s Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
The driving force behind these efforts, as always, is science. We must ensure that policy makers have access to the best available scientific information and not allow their decisions to be influenced by contrarians who have access to the media but little credibility. To that end, we recently launched our “Weight of the Evidence” campaign, which aims to raise public understanding of the science behind global warming.
A comprehensive federal climate and energy bill would provide the foundation on which the United States can build a clean and stable energy economy. But even if Congress fails to act this year, we have already set the stage for significant progress toward our ultimate climate goals.
—Kevin Knobloch, president
