Climate Change Bill Re-Introduced in US Congress

On March 30, the Climate Stewardship Act was re-introduced in the House by a bi-partisan group of 19 Congressmen.

The bill would cap emissions by creating an emissions trading system. Lead sponsor Wayne Gilchrist's bill shadows last year's McCain-Lieberman bill, which lost 43-55 in the Senate last year.

"We have come close to success in the past with our bill, and Senator Lieberman and I hope to carry that momentum into the spring and pass our bill through the Senate," McCain said.

The McCain-Lieberman legislation is modeled after the successful acid rain trading program of the 1990 Clean Air Act. It would require a reduction in carbon dioxide emission levels to 2000 levels by the year 2010 by capping the overall greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity generation, transportation, industrial, and commercial economic sectors, and creating a market for individual companies to trade pollution credits.