Waxman promises quick action on climate

WASHINGTON — The chairman of a key House committee said Thursday he will move "quickly and decisively" to push legislation curbing greenhouse gases with a goal of passing climate legislation out of his committee before Memorial Day.

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., opening the new Congress' first hearing on the threats from global warming, said inaction on the climate issue is causing uncertainties that make it more difficult to emerge from the recession.

"Our environment and our economy depend on congressional action to confront the threat of climate change and secure our energy independence," said Waxman. "U.S. industries want to invest in a clean energy future, but uncertainties about whether, when and how greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced is deterring these vital investments."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., another strong proponent of moving climate legislation, has given no indication how quickly House action might come.

But given the broad impact that regulating greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels, would have, it is widely viewed that any legislation will require substantial bipartisan support, especially in the Senate.

To dramatize the business community's growing consensus that the climate issue must be confronted, Waxman invited to the first hearing 14 corporate executives and environmental leaders who have pressed for an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050.

The 14 executives and environmentalists sat shoulder to shoulder across at a witness table spanning two-thirds of the Energy and Commerce Committee hearing room.

Dealing with climate change "will not be cheap and not be easy," warned James Rogers, chairman of Duke Energy Corp. But he said coupling a short term stimulus package with a long-term climate plan, "we have the ability to stimulate greater confidence ...(and) put the recession in the rear view mirror."

Earlier the group, the 31-member United States Climate Action Partnership, outlined its blueprint for limiting greenhouse gases, calling for an 80 percent emission reduction by mid-century with half of that coming by 2030. It calls for a ramp up of 20 percent reduction as within a dozen years. Carbon dioxide emissions have been increasing about 1 percent a year since 1990.

The group endorsed a cap-and-trade system where greenhouse gas emissions would be limited, but pollution allowances would be provided by the government, especially for carbon intensive industries such as utilities with coal burning power plants. And it would provide incentives for coal plants that capture carbon dioxide.