Safe Climate Act Re-Introduced

U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman (CA), chair of the House Oversight Committee and a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee has re-introduced The Safe Climate Act.

First introduced in June 2006, the Act would reduce total U.S. global warming emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 (a 15% reduction from today’s levels) and to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. It is co-sponsored by 120 House members.

Congress currently is considering several climate change bills that call for varying levels of emissions reductions, but according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Safe Climate Act and the Senate’s Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act ­ whose primary sponsors are Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) ­ provide the best chance of staying below a 2 degrees F temperature increase above today’s levels. Both bills require a gradual but deep reduction of U.S. global warming emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.

The Safe Climate Act would freeze global warming emissions at 2009 levels in 2010, and then reduce them by approximately 2 percent per year from 2011 to 2020. After 2020, the bill would require emissions cuts of about 5 percent annually, as more advanced technologies become widely available.

To help achieve these reductions, the Waxman bill requires energy efficiency improvements, increased reliance on renewable energy, and cleaner cars. The bill also provides flexibility to help companies meet the pollution-reduction goals through a “cap-and-trade” program.