There’s a growing sense in Washington that a climate change bill addressing greenhouse gas emissions could be passed by Congress this year.
The signing into law of the Energy Bill last year, which raised vehicle fuel efficiency, was a surprise to many, and a signal that Democratic leaders are serious about pushing environmental legislation, even with a reluctant Republican administration still in Congress.
On Tuesday, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), who guided a climate change bill through her Environment and Public Works Committee last year, said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) wants to bring the bill to the Senate floor before the May break.
Representative Rick Boucher (D-VA), chairman of a House subcommittee on energy and air quality said, "There is a sense of inevitability, which is pervasive in corporate America, that the control program is coming."
He added, "I would predict with a high degree of certainty that if it does not pass this year, it will certainly pass in the next."
Some have suggested that big industry may support a carbon cap-and-trade bill this year out of fear that a tougher bill could be passed in 2009, if a Democrat is elected president.
The front runner bill is clearly the one passed by Boxer’s committee and sponsored by Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and John Warner (R-VA). However, the bill, which calls for a 70% reduction of 2005 greenhouse gas levels by 2050, has opponents in both industry and environmental camps.
"The bill is deeply flawed, and unless major changes are made to key aspects, we will not be able to support the legislation," said Lou Hayden, a senior policy analyst at the American Petroleum Institute.
Many environmentalist feel the Lieberman-Warner bill is too weak, and Friends of the Earth have launched a "Fix It or Ditch It" campaign, which was backed buy Greenpeace earlier in the week.
Ultimately, there is much ground to be covered, before significant climate legislation is passed here in the U.S., but it appears that the motivation to do so is building.
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