Washington's Maria Cantwell has drafted a Senate alternative to the cumbersome and complex Waxman-Markey House Bill to reduce U.S. carbon emissions. Caltwell's draft named CLEAR shifts the focus from carbon emissions to carbon inputs drastically reducing the complexity to implement, and produces a far more equitable system for CO2 reduction. In contrast to the House Bill, CLEAR is brief and simple to understand. Best of all CLEAR eliminates the vast majority of objections that have bogged down the Waxman-Markey House Bill in the Senate, and would stand a better chance of passage in a timely fashion
New Proposed Climate Change Bill in Washington Is Simpler and More Equitable
In its introductory text, Cantwell's Carbon Limits and Energy for America's Renewal (CLEAR) Act of 2009 pdf promises "simplicity, transparency and equity." It delivers on all counts.
Cantwell's CLEAR is only 32 long compared to the 1,427 pages the Waxman-Markey bill weighs in at. If you can, take the time, do read it.
Under CLEAR all Carbon shares would be purchased, nothing would be given away to the industries with the most congressional clout, eliminating the Waxman-Markey Bill's inequitable system of carbon allowances.
By shifting the responsibility upstream to the wellhead or mine or port of entry, the bill slashes administrative costs to a fraction of what they will be under Waxman-Markey. Only a few thousand energy-producing or importing firms would be covered, versus the hundreds of thousands or more entities covered under Waxman-Markey.
How would CLEAR deal with carbon inputs for imported products bound for the American market, giving American producers a level playing field?
Impose fees on the carbon used in production processes for commodities imported into the U.S. Lift the fee for countries that have adopted comparable limits to fossil carbon use.
Opportunities to abuse the market system of carbon allowances evaporate under CLEAR.
As befits a congressional leader who has fought against speculation and price manipulation in the energy and financial markets, Cantwell has included in her bill many mechanisms to prevent hoarding and speculation. There are monthly carbon auctions. Carbon shares expire after two years. No entity can buy significantly more carbon shares than it needs. Any sale of carbon allowance must be offered to an eligible "first seller." All relevant transaction dates, carbon share quantities and prices must be made available publicly.
CLEAR achieves near perfect transparency in the carbon market.
How would CLAER affect middle class, and poor consumers? 75% of the money collected from the sale of carbon hares would be refunded to all legal residents of the U.S. on an equal per capita basis.
The remaining 25 percent will go into a fund that can be used for many purposes: clean-energy development, compensation for dislocated workers, climate-change mitigation and adaptation.
This draft bill makes me very proud that my state's senator has the expertize and vision to craft a draft a bill as timely and well thought out as CLEAR is. I hope Senator Cantwell will be able to introduce the CLEAR alternative to Waxman-Markey House Bill soon. CLEAR deserves the support of all progressive members of the Senate, and I hope they will join Senator Cantwell as co-sponsors. You can help by calling or e-mailing your Senator to sign on as a co-sponsor.
UPDATE: This comes from Politico:
Gore's carbon tax makes good sense
— Congress may not conclude work on climate change legislation in time for the U.N. Conference on Climate Change scheduled to take place this December in Copenhagen. This will be seen as a major setback for environmentalists — not to mention the planet.
But it’s not too late to salvage the situation. Congress can go back to Al Gore’s original idea about how to deal with climate change: Raise taxes on carbon, and cut taxes on work.
But by 2008, Americans’ faith in markets on which the politics of cap and trade was predicated came face to face with a financial sector that failed massively and thrust them into the worst recession in their lifetimes. The fact is, cap and trade creates a trading market for carbon, a market that will be inherently volatile and that will invite speculation. Practically overnight, Americans’ faith in "letting the market do it" became letting the market invent obscure financial instruments for the purpose of speculating on energy. As one woman I listened to put it, "You mean we’re supposed to trust the fate of the planet to Wall Street?"