CLIMATE CHANGE BILL, THE PLAYERS

White House Seeks Bill on Climate by December
Mark Peters, April 13, 2009 (Wall Street Journal)

"Climate czar Carol Browner said she wants Congress to establish a broad U.S. greenhouse-gas policy before global climate-change talks near the end of the year…[She] said she is confident Congress can move forward on a climate-change policy, citing hearings scheduled for next week on sweeping legislation proposed by Rep. Henry Waxman (D., Calif.) and Rep. Ed Markey (D., Mass). Ms. Browner didn't provide a timetable for when she would like to see congressional action, but said advancing climate-change legislation is "absolutely essential" to what the U.S. can accomplish during United Nations negotiations scheduled for December in Copenhagen…"

Fromclimatebrad via YouTube

"As early as this month, the Environmental Protection Agency could declare that carbon dioxide is a danger to the public, triggering regulation of emissions under the Clean Air Act. Such a regulatory move is widely seen as part of the Obama administration's strategy to pressure reluctant lawmakers into action.

"Rep. Markey…said the goal is to complete federal legislation ahead of the U.N. meetings. But he added that even if Congress hasn't passed a final bill, it will be clear to other nations that the U.S. is moving in a dramatically different direction on climate change…[He] said legislation -- rather than EPA regulation of carbon dioxide -- would provide greater flexibility to ease the potential impact on the economy and consumers. He declined to give a specific time when the process should be taken over by the EPA if Congress can't reach an agreement…"

From StartLoving1 via YouTube

"The Waxman/Markey bill introduced late last month would put in place a cap-and-trade market to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions, while requiring that an increasing share of U.S. electricity come from renewable sources such as wind and the sun.

"In his fiscal 2010 budget, President Barack Obama proposed cutting greenhouse gases 14% by 2020 and 83% by 2050 from 2005 levels, and auctioning off 100% of emission credits, or the right to emit…But the Obama administration has remained largely silent on the details of climate legislation."