Webb Comes Out Against Cap And Trade, Unveils Alternative Plan

By Ravi Bhatia - Talk Radio News Service

In a news conference Monday, Sens. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) introduced their alternative to the Kerry-Boxer climate bill. The “Clean Energy Act of 2009” would allocate $100 billion in loans for technology-neutral, carbon-free electricity over the next 20 years, with the goal of doubling nuclear production during that time.

The legislation would invest $1 billion over five years on enabling the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to review new nuclear reactor designs. Hitachi and General Electric are two companies that have worked on a design that would create reactors that use fewer pumps and would cut the construction time of a nuclear power plant to 42 months.

Both senators argued that their bill could easily attract bipartisan support, unlike the cap and trade plan, which they said encourages the outsourcing of American jobs. Webb said he was particularly concerned with the complexity of cap and trade, claiming that that there is “no way to fully measure [its] potential impact on the economy.”

“[Our bill] is measurable, achievable, targeted,” Webb said.

While the Webb-Alexander bill primarily focuses on nuclear energy, it would also fund what Alexander calls five “Mini-Manhattan Projects,” which would invest in clean coal, advanced biofuels, advanced batteries, solar power, and nuclear fuel recycling.

Webb, whose opposition to the Kerry-Boxer legislation is a serious blow to the oft-debated bill, said that he and Alexander would continue to oppose it even if their legislation was included.

Republican Senators Prepare For Cap And Trade Fight

Republican staffers for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works had a briefing Tuesday on cap and trade legislation proposed by Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Barbara Boxer's (D-Calif.), saying the proposal should not be passed without further explanation of both allowance allocations and the financial implications of the bill.

EPW Minority Deputy Staff Director Mike Catanzaro said Republican members need these concerns explained before the markup process begins.

Under the House's sister Waxman-Markey bill, cap and trade allocations would be available to industries who comply with cap and trade emission standards.

Kerry and Boxer will introduce their bill to the Senate Wednesday.

Sen. Brown: Climate Bill Will Not Pass Without Manufacturers' Approval

By Leah Valencia
, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said the American Clean Air and Security Act will not make it through the Senate if harmful economic consequences facing the manufacturing industry are not addressed.

"I don't think there's any way we get to even 50 votes if we don't deal with manufacturing in the climate change bill," Brown told reporters in a conference call organized by Campaign for America's Future. "I do know for sure that there are a number of us who understand that manufacturing is so important to this country that if we don't do manufacturing right, our standard of living will continue to decline."

The American Clean Air And Security Act passed through the House of Representatives late June under the stewardship of Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.). The bill seeks to put a cap on greenhouse emissions and levy a tax on carbon.

According to Brown, the concern facing lawmakers is that new climate control legislation would constrict existing environmental regulations, and thus persuade manufacturers to advance overseas production as a means to lower labor and energy costs.

Brown said it is imperative to have at least a temporary "border equalization" step to prevent American manufacturing jobs from relocating to India and China

"We need some sort of border equalization ... temporary not permanent...until the Chinese and others move in the direction they need to on this issue," Brown said.

The Ohio senator said the President needs to take a more aggressive approach to regain trust from the American public during this week's G-20 summit in Pittsburgh.

"The public has already lost confidence in trade agreements and the way we approach globalization," Brown said.

GAO Gives Three Options For Cap-And-Trade Legislation

By Mariko Lamb-Talk Radio News Service

In a hearing with the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday, John Stephenson, Director of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Environmental Protection Issues, Natural Resources and Environmental Team, outlined three options for the distribution of emission allowances for companies under a cap-and-trade program: auctioning revenue allowances, allocating free allowances to covered entities, or a combination of the two.

According to a preliminary report by the GAO, auctioning revenue allowances would enable the government to collect substantial revenues, create incentives for companies to lower emissions before the program starts, and level the playing field for covered entities. However, “auctioning does not by itself offer compensation to covered entities that could feel the greatest economic impact of the program,” Stephenson said.

The second option, allocating free allowances to covered entities, could “help build support for the program and ease the transition," he said, but added that it may also potentially dampen incentives to decrease electricity use by businesses and households.

The third option, a combination of auctioning and free allocation, “may help compensate energy intensive industries,” noted Stephenson. A study by the Congressional Budget Office suggests that a 6% and 21% free allocation of allowances would fully compensate these industries.

According to the American Clean Energy and Security Act, passed by the House in June, 85% of emission allowances would be allocated by the government for free. Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee Max Baucus said, “whatever the approach, we need to devise a system that both meets environmental goals and passes political muster. That won’t be easy. The close vote in the House tells us that.”

“Let’s see if we can figure out how to distribute emission allowances in a way that one might call ‘just.’ Let’s see if we can figure out how to give all Americans what they deserve,” Chairman Baucus said.

The GAO will release a final report to the Senate Finance Committee later this year in preparation for a markup on a climate change bill later this year.

Western Caucus GOP’ers Predict “Cap And Tax” Disaster

By Mariko Lamb, Talk Radio News Service

“Cap and Trade is a jobs killer,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said in a bicameral Western Caucus hearing on the impact of Cap and Trade on jobs Thursday. He urged the Obama administration to “get their priorities straight,” and start creating jobs.

Bill Kovacs, Senior Vice President of the Environment, Technology, and Regulatory Division at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said the Waxman-Markey bill will promote regulatory chaos, foster lawsuits, do great harm to the economy, and ultimately not reduce carbon emissions in the atmosphere.

President and CEO of the Black Chamber of Commerce, Harry Alford pointed to a recent study by Charles RIvers Associates which concluded the Waxman-Markey bill will lead to higher energy and transportation costs fir businesses and consumers, a fall in household disposable income and consumption, decline in purchasing power, a fall in wages and returns on investments, net job loss and a decrease in the U.S.’ ability to compete internationally.

"There are two jobs destroyed for every green job created,” Former GOP Rep. Dick Armey (R-TX) argued. “Global warming might be, in fact, one of the most hyped fictions in America today.”

Armey added that the “most treasured umbrella objective in public policy” right now is to “create the illusion of a crisis and then... demonstrate the need for their policies of government growth and income redistribution as a resolution of the crisis." Armey went on to describe global warming as a “high-profile [fiction] designed to serve the political purposes of the majority party.”