Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., is preparing legislation to encourage the use of greenhouse gas reduction technology in the United States and overseas, particularly in developing countries that are large emitters of the gases.
The proposal will stop short of requiring companies to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide or other gases that scientists believe are causing the earth to warm, according to people familiar with Hagel’s effort. Instead it will offer financial incentives, probably in the form of tax credits or better equipment depreciation schedules, for companies that take steps to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
The bill may also include other provisions – such as more money for research and development into greenhouse gas reduction technologies – to help large emitters in the developing world reduce their production of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
“I would call it a deployment initiative,” said one lobbyist familiar with Hagel’s effort. “It’s meant to promote the use of energy and carbon dioxide efficient technologies, both domestically and internationally. ”
One of the legislation’s main goals will be to address a criticism of the Kyoto Protocol, the recently ratified international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: That it doesn’t require any action from China, India and other developing countries, despite the rapid increase in greenhouse gas emissions due to their robust economic growth. Republicans, energy industry officials and some Democrats have argued that capping carbon dioxide emissions in the United States without similar actions by developing nations would undermine the competitiveness of the U. S. economy and prevent a solution to global warming.
Hagel plans to introduce his bill by Feb. 16, the day the Kyoto treaty comes into force, people familiar with his plans said. Sources say the senator’s aides are consulting with other Senate offices, a broad array of industry groups and even some environmental groups as they prepare the legislation.
In a December meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Hagel said he planned to introduce a greenhouse gas reduction bill next year, though he expressed skepticism about whether carbon dioxide emissions are causing the earth to warm. Hagel’s office didn’t return calls seeking comment.
The Senate is currently debating Republican-sponsored legislation, known as the “Clear Skies” bill, that would require power plants to reduce their pollution. Democrats and some Republicans will likely block the proposal in the Senate unless it also addresses greenhouse gas emissions. Some lobbyists speculate that rolling Hagel’s bill into Clear Skies could win the support of Democrats and moderate Republicans for the proposal without angering conservatives who are opposed to mandatory caps on greenhouse gas legislation.
“The Hagel process may be a path through which reasonable ideas on climate change can get some legs,” said one industry lobbyist.
Passing Clear Skies appears to be the top legislative priority right now for utility industry officials, who want the bill because it would set firm pollution reduction goals that will greatly simplify the industry’s ability to plan for spending money on pollution control equipment.
Utility lobbyists acknowledge that addressing climate change in some form will be necessary to moving the Clear Skies bill out of the Senate, where 60 votes are necessary to quash the threat of a filibuster. The trick, they say, may be to come up with a proposal such as Hagel’s that addresses the issue without imposing a carbon-reduction mandate on U. S. industry.
“There may be some ways to work around the edges of the carbon issue,” said another utility lobbyist.
Sen. Max Baucus, R-Mont., a conservative Democrat on the environment committee who will be crucial to any chance of passing the Clear Skies proposal, has said he wants to address carbon dioxide emissions as part of air quality legislation such as Clear Skies. But industry lobbyists say Baucus’ concerns could possibly be satisfied without including a carbon dioxide reduction mandate in the bill.
Some lobbyists expressed skepticism about offering tax credits with the federal government running record budget deficits.
“I don’t know how they’re going to do that in a budget constrained Congress,” said one lobbyist.
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