In April, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (ENR) Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) will introduce his economy wide, "climate change" legislation soon, but said that he wants the White House to become more involved with the issue. Bingaman is confident that the bill will propose reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions "over a reasonable period."
The Bingaman bill will include a "safety valve," to prevent economic damage, he said. The safety valve is intended to allow emitters to purchase GHG credits instead of taking other steps to reduce emissions. Bingaman stated that he wants to do as much as possible to reduce GHG emissions "without damaging the economy." Bingaman supports a cap-and-trade bill that would cover the entire country, as opposed to creating a system with different caps in different regions, as currently exists. (The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which covers nine Northeast and mid Atlantic states; and the new five-state Western Regional Climate Action Initiative may have different emissions targets for their respective regions.)
If the White House endorses legislative action on global warming, it is more likely a bill will advance, given that Congress probably does not have the votes to overturn a veto. Bingaman is hopeful that the Administration will get involved soon in the debate.