S.1733 Senate Climate Change bill gains support of Lindsey Graham of the GOP

  Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC)   (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Though the Senate’s version of climate change legislation, S.1733, faces more time in committee, there appears to be the blossoming of slight bipartisan support for this legislation. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has come out in support of this bill. In doing so, he has split with the general consensus of his party.

In an article co-written by Senator John Kerry and Senator Lindsey Graham in the New York Times on Saturday, they wrote, “Our partnership represents a fresh attempt to find consensus that adheres to our core principles and leads to both a climate change solution and energy independence. It begins now, not months from now — with a road to 60 votes in the Senate.”  They further continued, “We agree that climate change is real and threatens our economy and national security. That is why we are advocating aggressive reductions in our emissions of the carbon gases that cause climate change.”

In their closing, they stated, “We are confident that a legitimate bipartisan effort can put America back in the lead again and can empower our negotiators to sit down at the table in Copenhagen in December and insist that the rest of the world join us in producing a new international agreement on global warming. That way, we will pass on to future generations a strong economy, a clean environment and an energy-independent nation.”

Though the bill is expected to pass the committee vote in late October without difficulty, the bill is expected to have a more difficult time in passing a full Senate vote. Despite Senator Graham’s support, few other Republicans, if any are expected to join him. In addition, like the House Democrats from states which are rural or have a large energy industry, Senators from such states may be hesitant in supporting such a bill.

The Senate Climate bill, formally titled “A bill to create clean energy jobs, promote energy independence, reduce global warming pollution, and transition to a clean energy economy” was read twice and referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on September 30.

Sponsored by Senator John Kerry (D-MA) with Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Senator Paul G. Kirk (D-MA) as co-sponsors, this bill requires greater reductions in CO2 emissions than its counterpart from the House of Representatives. The Senate bill calls for 20% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020, whereas the House bill only calls for a 14% reduction by that time. Even so, both of these reduction levels are less than what European countries have pledged.

The Senate bill uses a measure similar to the “Cap and Trade” of the House bill in order to bring about the reduction in CO2 emissions. Also like the House bill, a key selling point to the Senate bill is the creation of new green jobs, which in turn will bolster the economy. Another major selling point to the bill is its vital role in the security of America. “This is really about America’s security. It’s about our economic security, our energy security and our national security,” Senator Kerry stated, according to ABC News.

The House of Representatives version of the climate change legislation, HR2454, was narrowly passed at the end of June with a vote of 219-212.
 

 
Copyright © 2009 by Raymond Gellner