Shades of Green

America's environmentalists were torn about whether to support the Waxman-Markey climate bill, which passed the House on June 26, and for good reason. On the one hand, passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act was a historic achievement. After twenty years of denial, deception and delay, Washington had at last ordered reductions in the greenhouse gas emissions that drive global warming. On the other hand, the bill's specifics fell far short of what science says is necessary to (perhaps) prevent catastrophic climate change.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)has said that global emissions must fall by 25 to 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020. The cap-and-trade provisions of Waxman-Markey will cut US emissions by only 1 percent by 2020, a shortcoming backers disguise with creative accounting. They claim the bill will cut emissions by 17 percent--which it might, if one measures against the higher baseline of 2005--and includes credits for halting deforestation overseas, though of course the earth's atmosphere would not be tricked by such maneuvers. Adding insult to injury, most of the bill's pollution permits will be given away rather than sold, thus subsidizing today's polluters and delaying the transition to low-carbon energy sources. Finally, the bill cancels the president's current authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse emissions, a clear step backward.

Supporters argued that such dilutions were necessary to gain enough votes to pass the bill (the vote was still close--219 to 212) and that Congressional backing of emissions cuts is essential to establish US credibility at the crucial global climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December. Doubtless these same arguments will be repeated when Waxman-Markey goes to the Senate, where the legislation is likely to be weakened further, if it passes at all.

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