Senate Version of Climate Change Bill

Senate climate-change bill would cut greenhouse emissions 20% by 2020



The measure seeks stricter limits than those approved by the House. But it puts many details off for later -- an indication that top Democrats are willing to negotiate to ensure a bill will pass.



By Jim Tankersley

September 30, 2009

Reporting from Washington



The Senate's environment committee will take up an energy and climate-change bill today that calls for a 20% cut in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, according to a draft copy of the bill.



The measure, co-sponsored by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), will serve as the starting point for what promises to be a long and complicated series of negotiations. The Senate may not produce a final bill until next year.



A House measure passed this summer calls for a 17% reduction in greenhouse gases.



Both the Senate proposal and House bill seek to curb global warming by limiting the amount of heat-trapping gases poured into the air by power plants, factories and others, which would be required to obtain permits for their emissions.



Sen. James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma told Boxer in a letter Tuesday that until the details are set, "farmers, families and workers have no way of gauging how acutely they will be affected from job losses, higher electricity, food, and gasoline prices." Read More



We are finally getting to see the Senate version of the climate change legislation that passed the House this summer. It calls for an even more greater reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. All of the core materials that drive our country and make it so prosperous will be affected by legislation. From the wood it takes to build a house or business, to the steel we use to build machinery, to the food we put in our stomachs, everything will become more expensive. Energy costs will be especially elevated by this bill. For many families, it will make it quite difficult to eat and heat their house at the same time. And all of this to accomplish what? Supposedly it’s meant to solve a problem that we don’t know for sure even exists.