Further to US Congress' Progress on the "American Clean Energy and Security Act". (July 16, 2009)

On May 29, 2009 TFW reported on the passage by the US House of Representatives' Energy and Commerce Committee of the "American Clean Energy and Security Act".  Science now reports that the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee has been holding hearings on the legislation.

Climate Change Legislation in the Senate. Even though Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA) announced that her committee would wait until after the August recess to mark up a bill, with the hopes of a full Senate vote later in the fall, committee action on climate change shows no signs of slowing down. The hearings (epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=36d4e3a5-802a-23ad-46dc-18337864995f ) began July 7, with Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson unanimously expressing their support for a bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Chairwoman Boxer also has three hearings scheduled this week to consider the roles of agriculture and forestry, the role of the transportation sector, and the need to address U.S. competitiveness concerns. The last issue was also discussed by the Senate Finance Committee, which held a hearing (finance.senate.gov/sitepages/hearing070809.html) July 8 on U.S. competitiveness measures and international concerns. President Obama has cautioned against "protectionist" measures in the House bill, which would tax imports from countries which do not take steps to reduce carbon emissions.