Today, Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) announced their plans to introduce the "Low Carbon Economy Act of 2007." The bill, which is expected to be release tomorrow (7/11), will propose new greenhouse gas emissions standards in 2012, at the same time the Kyoto Protocol ends for the European Union, Japan, Russia and several other major sources of greenhouse gases.
By 2020, the Bingaman-Specter bill calls for U.S. emissions to fall to 2006 levels. By 2030, emissions would need to reach 1990 levels, with a long-term "aspirational" goal to cut emissions by about 60 percent from 1990 levels by mid-century. That goal, while voluntary, comes close to what many scientists suggest is necessary to avert some of the most catastrophic effects from climate change.
The Bingaman-Specter bill has the support of some industry and labor organizations, including American Electric Power Corporation, one of the nation's largest coal-fired electric utilities, as well as the AFL-CIO, International Brotherhood of Electric Workers and the United Mine Workers of America.
Major environmental groups said they would welcome Bingaman's decision to set tougher pollution limits thane his earlier drafts did, but they will not endorse the bill because they believe the reductions are still insufficient.