Senator to introduce landmark bill cutting fossil fuel emissions
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By DARREN M. ALLEN
Vermont Press Bureau - Published: July 16, 2006
MONTPELIER — U.S. Sen. James Jeffords this week will introduce a measure that would dramatically curb carbon emissions in the United States over the next 50 years.
The bill, Jeffords’ last major piece of legislation before retiring, is a fitting way to end a political career that started with aggressive stances on the environment more than 40 years ago, according to a key aide to the senator.
“This is truly a legacy bill,” said Kenneth Connolly, the minority staff director for the Committee on Environment and Public Works and the key author of the legislation. “The senator has been working on this for close to six years.”
The exact language of the bill has not been released — Jeffords’ staff was still busy finding co-sponsors before it is introduced — but Connolly said that, in general, the bill would force America’s manufacturers, power companies, automobile users and others to work toward lowering emissions of carbon and other so-called greenhouse gases by up to 80 percent over the next 50 years.
“The key is that we work to keep emissions down so that the global temperature doesn’t rise by 2 degrees Celsius,” Connolly said, referring to a temperature boost — equal to about 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit – that scientists say could have irreversible damage on the earth’s climate. “We have to reduce U.S. emissions dramatically. We need to stop building outdated coal power plants; move to more advanced technology, and we have to boost the use of natural gas, solar power and wind.”
The bill is being hailed by environmentalists.
“This is really a different kind of bill, one that won’t just put a Band-Aid on the problem,” said Emily Figdor, the clean air and energy advocate for the United States Public Interest Research Group in Washington, D.C. “This legislation is based on what the best science is telling us. We’re past the point of being able to talk about first steps. This bill would be a long-term solution to the problem of global warming.”
Jeffords, through his chief of staff and press secretary, declined to comment on the bill, which is expected to be formally introduced Tuesday. He will hold a press conference when that occurs, his staff said.
The senator’s interest in environmental issues has framed his entire political career. When he was the state’s attorney general, he sued International Paper Co. for pollution in Lake Champlain. He was an ardent supporter of the state’s groundbreaking land use law — Act 250 — and he has consistently fought against relaxed regulation of the country’s manufacturers and power producers.
Most recently, he applauded the U.S. Supreme Court decision to take up a case about the ability of federal regulators to monitor carbon dioxide emissions under the Clean Air Act.
“It is high time to stop relying on technicalities and finger pointing to avoid action on climate change,” Jeffords said in a June statement. “I have been a longtime sponsor of legislation to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. I further intend to introduce sweeping legislation that will serve as a roadmap to how we can stabilize and reduce our emissions of carbon dioxide.”
The bill Jeffords will introduce is already being hailed by others around the world, including the European Commission. In a speech last week in Brussels, Stavros Dimas, an environmental policy official with the commission, pointed to Jeffords’ work when he said, “We of course expect the United States —as the world’s main emitter of greenhouse gases with levels well above 1990 — to take strong and resolute action on climate change, and I believe there are encouraging signs on the other side of the Atlantic.”
Jeffords’ staff acknowledged that the bill faces a long road to passage, and they fully expect that the bill will become the responsibility of others after Jeffords retires from his seat later this year.
Contact Darren Allen at darren.allen@rutlandherald.com.
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