States, Business Fill D.C.'s Vacuum
Across the nation, state and local governments, as well as businesses and industries, are taking the lead on fighting climate change. Jim DiPeso writes that Washington is finally starting to take notice.
Across the nation, state and local governments, as well as businesses and industries, are taking the lead on fighting climate change. Jim DiPeso writes that Washington is finally starting to take notice.
Until very recently, the federal government has been remarkably unresponsive to pleas for a national policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Slowly, however, the inertia in Washington is yielding to heavy pressure from the states and business.
State policies to cut emissions, combined with business calls for stronger federal leadership, may yet prod Washington into acting in the next two years.
Nine Northeastern states are moving ahead with a cap-and-trade system designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants 10 percent by 2019. A 10th state, Maryland, will join the four-year-old group on June 30.
California pushed the envelope further last year, by enacting legislation to establish an economy-wide cap-and-trade system designed to cut the state's greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger followed up with a proposed standard to reduce the carbon intensity of California transportation fuels 10 percent by 2020.
More states, led by both Republican and Democratic governors, have joined the parade. Since last December, six governors have announced policies to push greenhouse gas emissions down significantly.
In New Mexico, Governor Bill Richardson (D) signed an executive order accepting the recommendations of a state advisory commission to cut the Land of Enchantment's emissions 10 percent below 2000 levels by 2020 and 75 percent by 2050.
Governors Deval Patrick (D) of Massachusetts and Donald Carcieri of Rhode Island (R) announced that their states will join the Northeastern power plant cap-and-trade system.
In Washington State, Governor Christine Gregoire (D) signed an executive order establishing greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets, culminating in a 50 percent cut below 1990 levels by 2050.
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (D) announced a target of cutting his state's emissions 60 percent by 2050. The same day, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine (D) signed an executive order calling for an 80 percent reduction in the Garden State by 2050.
South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford (R) established a climate change advisory committee to come up with recommendations for state action. For good measure, Sanford placed an op-ed in the Washington Post saying that it was OK for conservatives to embrace conservation.
Canada is getting into the act too. In British Columbia, Premier Gordon Campbell announced an aggressive climate plan that would require new coal-fired power plants to sequester all carbon emissions. No other jurisdiction, U.S. or Canadian, has gone that far.
Only time will tell whether this flurry of target setting will lead to the actions necessary to achieve the targets. Still, setting goals and announcing them publicly are necessary prerequisites to marshaling a commitment to act.
Which is what the federal government should be doing so that the plethora of state policies doesn't create a patchwork morass for Corporate America, according to a growing number of national business leaders.
Ten leading companies, including Alcoa, DuPont and General Electric, joined with four national environmental organizations to form the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, which is calling for mandatory carbon caps, coupled with market-oriented provisions that would enable businesses to profit from innovations that drive down emissions.
The usual bluster heard from climate skeptics is that emissions limits will cripple the U.S. economy. Essentially, that's the deer-in-the-headlights approach to policymaking.
The 10 CEOs will have none of that nonsense. Instead, they point out that carbon caps will create a market driver forcing companies to innovate more, compete harder, and push the technological envelope further.
Few politicians, even those encased in the dense amber around Pennsylvania Avenue, can afford to ignore high-powered business executives demanding action from Washington.
In reaction to the business leaders' statement, Senator John Warner, a Virginia Republican and a key swing vote in the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee, said: "A group like this, you've got my attention."
Warner's statement is a sign that odds are improving for a national policy putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions.
Jim DiPeso is the policy director for Republicans for Environmental Protection.
Until very recently, the federal government has been remarkably unresponsive to pleas for a national policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Slowly, however, the inertia in Washington is yielding to heavy pressure from the states and business.
State policies to cut emissions, combined with business calls for stronger federal leadership, may yet prod Washington into acting in the next two years.
Nine Northeastern states are moving ahead with a cap-and-trade system designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants 10 percent by 2019. A 10th state, Maryland, will join the four-year-old group on June 30.
California pushed the envelope further last year, by enacting legislation to establish an economy-wide cap-and-trade system designed to cut the state's greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger followed up with a proposed standard to reduce the carbon intensity of California transportation fuels 10 percent by 2020.
More states, led by both Republican and Democratic governors, have joined the parade. Since last December, six governors have announced policies to push greenhouse gas emissions down significantly.
In New Mexico, Governor Bill Richardson (D) signed an executive order accepting the recommendations of a state advisory commission to cut the Land of Enchantment's emissions 10 percent below 2000 levels by 2020 and 75 percent by 2050.
Governors Deval Patrick (D) of Massachusetts and Donald Carcieri of Rhode Island (R) announced that their states will join the Northeastern power plant cap-and-trade system.
In Washington State, Governor Christine Gregoire (D) signed an executive order establishing greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets, culminating in a 50 percent cut below 1990 levels by 2050.
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (D) announced a target of cutting his state's emissions 60 percent by 2050. The same day, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine (D) signed an executive order calling for an 80 percent reduction in the Garden State by 2050.
South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford (R) established a climate change advisory committee to come up with recommendations for state action. For good measure, Sanford placed an op-ed in the Washington Post saying that it was OK for conservatives to embrace conservation.
Canada is getting into the act too. In British Columbia, Premier Gordon Campbell announced an aggressive climate plan that would require new coal-fired power plants to sequester all carbon emissions. No other jurisdiction, U.S. or Canadian, has gone that far.
Only time will tell whether this flurry of target setting will lead to the actions necessary to achieve the targets. Still, setting goals and announcing them publicly are necessary prerequisites to marshaling a commitment to act.
Which is what the federal government should be doing so that the plethora of state policies doesn't create a patchwork morass for Corporate America, according to a growing number of national business leaders.
Ten leading companies, including Alcoa, DuPont and General Electric, joined with four national environmental organizations to form the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, which is calling for mandatory carbon caps, coupled with market-oriented provisions that would enable businesses to profit from innovations that drive down emissions.
The usual bluster heard from climate skeptics is that emissions limits will cripple the U.S. economy. Essentially, that's the deer-in-the-headlights approach to policymaking.
The 10 CEOs will have none of that nonsense. Instead, they point out that carbon caps will create a market driver forcing companies to innovate more, compete harder, and push the technological envelope further.
Few politicians, even those encased in the dense amber around Pennsylvania Avenue, can afford to ignore high-powered business executives demanding action from Washington.
In reaction to the business leaders' statement, Senator John Warner, a Virginia Republican and a key swing vote in the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee, said: "A group like this, you've got my attention."
Warner's statement is a sign that odds are improving for a national policy putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions.
Jim DiPeso is the policy director for Republicans for Environmental Protection.
