Of all of the changes that will occur in congressional committee leadership now that the Democrats have won control of the congress in the midterm elections there may be none that are as important as this one. Senator Barbara Boxer of California will replace Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma as Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works. The Associated Press reports
that:
Sen. Barbara Boxer on Thursday promised major policy shifts on global warming,
air quality and toxic-waste cleanup as she prepares to head the U.S. Senate's
environmental committee.
''Time is running out, and we need to move forward on this,'' Boxer said of
global warming during a conference call with reporters. ''The states are
beginning to take steps, and we need to take steps as well.''
Boxer's elevation to chairwoman of the Senate Environmental Public Works
Committee comes as the Democrats return to power in the Senate. It also marks a
dramatic shift in ideology for the panel.
The California Democrat is one of the Senate's most liberal members and
replaces one of the most conservative senators, Republican James Inhofe of
Oklahoma. Inhofe had blocked bills seeking to cut the greenhouse gases
contributing to global warming, calling the issue ''the greatest hoax
perpetrated on the American people.''
The Bush administration is going to come under increasing pressure to take action on climate change.
Boxer said she intends to introduce legislation to curb greenhouse gases,
strengthen environmental laws regarding public health and hold oversight
hearings on federal plans to clean up Superfund sites across the country.
On global warming, Boxer said she would model federal legislation after a
California law signed this summer by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. That law
imposes the first statewide cap on greenhouse gases and seeks to cut
California's emissions by 25 percent, dropping them to 1990 levels by 2020.
A top environmental aide at the White House signaled Thursday that the
administration would work with Boxer.
In an e-mail to the senator's chief counsel, George Banks, the associate
director for international affairs at the Council for Environmental Quality
requested a meeting to discuss global warming, Boxer said
It is no secret that climate change policy has been badly mismanaged under the Bush administration
and the republican congress. The takeover of the congress by the Democrats and
having Senator Boxer chairing a key committee is a great opportunity to
put United States climate change policy on the right track.
Will the Bush administration cooperate in developing a climate change policy that matches the size of the problem or will they insist on sticking with their totally inadequate policy of relying on voluntary measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? I think one way we can judge that is whether or not they will support legislation that puts a price on emissions of greenhouse gases.
There are at least two ways this can be done. One way a price can be put on
greenhouse gas emissions is by using a cap & trade program which is provided
for in the California law and is widely used internationally for purposes of
meeting Kyoto emission targets. In a cap & trade program, companies (e.g.
electric utilities) are given allowances which cap their greenhouse gas
emissions. If they release less than their cap, they can sell the excess
allowances to other companies that have not been able to stay within their
limits. Over time, the allowances distributed by the government are cut back and
the price of the allowance goes up providing an incentive for companies to find
less polluting sources of energy. The other approach to putting a price on
greenhouse gas emissions is to apply an energy tax which it has been argued, is
a more efficient way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions than a cap & trade
system.
I am not holding my breath but if the Bush administration accepts the fact
that placing a price on greenhouse gas emissions is an essential component of
addressing climate change we may see some real progress. If they refuse to
accept this fact, we will have to wait for the next president.
Crossposted under a different title at
BlueClimate