What problem is this dolt proposing to fix and how ?


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http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D95NNE8O0&show_article=1

Waxman promises quick action on climate  
 
Jan 15 12:44 PM US/Eastern
By H. JOSEF HEBERT
Associated Press Writer 

WASHINGTON (AP) - The chairman of a key House committee said Thursday he 
will move "quickly and decisively" to push legislation curbing 
greenhouse gases with a goal of passing climate legislation out of his 
committee before Memorial Day. 

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., opening the new Congress' first hearing on 
the threats from global warming, said inaction on the climate issue is 
causing uncertainties that make it more difficult to emerge from the 
recession. 

"Our environment and our economy depend on congressional action to 
confront the threat of climate change and secure our energy 
independence," said Waxman. "U.S. industries want to invest in a clean 
energy future, but uncertainties about whether, when and how greenhouse 
gas emissions will be reduced is deterring these vital investments." 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., another strong proponent of moving 
climate legislation, has given no indication how quickly House action 
might come. 

But given the broad impact that regulating greenhouse gases, especially 
carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels, would have, it is 
widely viewed that any legislation will require substantial bipartisan 
support, especially in the Senate. 

To dramatize the business community's growing consensus that the climate 
issue must be confronted, Waxman invited to the first hearing 14 
corporate executives and environmental leaders who have pressed for an 
80 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050. 

The 14 executives and environmentalists sat shoulder to shoulder across 
at a witness table spanning two-thirds of the Energy and Commerce 
Committee hearing room. 

Dealing with climate change "will not be cheap and not be easy," warned 
James Rogers, chairman of Duke Energy Corp. But he said coupling a short 
term stimulus package with a long-term climate plan, "we have the 
ability to stimulate greater confidence ...(and) put the recession in 
the rear view mirror." 

Earlier the group, the 31-member United States Climate Action 
Partnership, outlined its blueprint for limiting greenhouse gases, 
calling for an 80 percent emission reduction by mid-century with half of 
that coming by 2030. It calls for a ramp up of 20 percent reduction as 
within a dozen years. Carbon dioxide emissions have been increasing 
about 1 percent a year since 1990. 

The group endorsed a cap-and-trade system where greenhouse gas emissions 
would be limited, but pollution allowances would be provided by the 
government, especially for carbon intensive industries such as utilities 
with coal burning power plants. And it would provide incentives for coal 
plants that capture carbon dioxide. 

The business group's plan does not go as far as what President-elect 
Barack Obama has proposed, nor one that Waxman has floated. Obama has 
called for an 80 percent reduction in emissions by 2050 from 1990 
levels, meaning greater reductions would have to be made. 

Obama also has opposed giving industry free emission allowances, saying 
that 100 percent should be auction and the proceeds used to promote 
clean energy, energy efficiency and carbon capture from power plants. 
The coalitions plan would phase in auctions. 

But the proposal outlined by the business and environmental leaders is 
expected to be a starting point. 

"This is the model to solve the problem," Rep. Jane Harmon, D-Calif., 
told the group. 

Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., who chairs the subcommittee that will write 
the initial legislation and chairs a separate committee on climate, said 
a consensus for mandatory emissions reductions is clear. 

"Now the hard task of enacting global warming legislation is before us," 
said Markey. 

That point was demonstrated by Texas Rep. Joe Barton, the committee's 
top Republican, who said the cap-and-trade plan threatens jobs. And he 
recounted how each of the companies represented by the witnesses had 
recently suffered dramatic declines in the value of their stock. 

"You cannot tell me if we adopt mandatory cap-and-trade it's going to 
help your stock prices," said Barton. 

Among the executives were the chairmen of ConocoPhillips, General 
Electric, DuPont and electric utilities Exelon, NRG Energy Inc. and Duke 
Energy. Environmental groups included Environmental Defense Fund, 
Natural Resources Defense Council, Nature Conservancy and World 
Resources Institute. 

CMPQwk 1.42-21 9999 
Democrats --  The party of trickle-up poverty ....

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