Three Democratic Congressional leaders laid out their principles for effective climate change legislative yesterday on Earth Day. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) released "Principles for Global Warming Legislation," designed to provide a framework for an economy-wide mandatory program to cut global warming emissions.
The principles include the following elements:
- strong science-based targets for near-term and long-term emissions reductions
- auctioning emissions allowances rather than giving them to polluting industries
- investing auction revenues in clean energy technologies
- returning auction proceeds to consumers, workers, and communities to offset any economic impacts
- dedicating a portion of auction proceeds to help states, communities, vulnerable developing countries, and ecosystems address harm from the degree of global warming that is now unavoidable
"These are legislative principles, and they are planetary principles as well," said Rep. Markey, who is the Chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. "Any solution to global warming must cut pollution, help people, and encourage profits from a clean energy economy. These climate tenets give Congress a roadmap for an economy-wide solution to our climate challenge."
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