Monday, October 29, 2007
Editorial: Let's act, at last, on global warming
One of John Warner's final acts of public service can have a good impact on the world.
From the RoundTable blog
Read the latest entries
As he heads toward retirement, Virginia's Sen. John Warner is working with Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut on a strong bill to limit greenhouse gases in the United States. It is not the perfect bill to head off the worst effects of global warming, but unlike stronger measures, it has bipartisan support.
It also would take the nation a long way toward its needed goals. Congress should pass the measure, bearing the unwieldy name of "America's Climate Security Act," and assert necessary U.S. leadership on this global issue.
The Lieberman-Warner bill would establish a cap-and-trade system to limit greenhouse gases -- mainly carbon dioxide -- generated by electric power, manufacturing and transportation sources. Together, these account for 75 percent of U.S. emissions.
The Union of Concerned Scientists lauds the bill's short-term goal, to reduce emissions in these sectors 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. But long-term, the group says, the bill does not go far enough.
Its study shows that, to avoid some catastrophic effects of climate change, the U.S. needs to cut emissions at least 80 percent below 2000 levels by 2050. The proposed Climate Security Act falls short.
Yet, politics is the art of the do-able. In co-authoring this bill, Republican Warner has broken with a White House that still opposes any mandatory limits on greenhouse gases. Many in Congress continue to resist, for fear of hurting the economy. On the other side of the issue, California's Sen. Barbara Boxer, who has proposed stronger legislation, calls the compromise "a turning point."
And so it should be.
If the measure becomes law, it will not do all that the nation must to reduce greenhouse gases. But it will do a lot, and it will build on a growing momentum to do more.
The bill offers states incentives to target additional emissions sources, such as private homes. States such as California -- frustrated with years of Bush administration foot-dragging -- show every sign of wanting to act.
The Lieberman-Warner bill offers a good, if late, start.
