Morgan Meguire News

In a July 9 speech to the New Democrat Network, a group of more centrist party members, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) discussed four legislative strategies that have emerged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and outlined ten principles that he believes should be considered when Congress returns to the task of writing climate change legislation (following the failed effort on the Boxer-Lieberman-Warner bill).

Bingaman's thoughts of the four strategies advanced included:

1. Imposing a carbon tax - He does not favor a carbon tax because we cannot know, ahead of time, what price would result in the most effective reductions of such emissions;
2. Funding new energy technology research and development - By itself, a technology development strategy cannot work because "new technology will always be more expensive than the conventional way of doing things," Bingaman believes;
3. Regulating greenhouse gas emitters through command-and-control regulations - Bingaman said this approach was "very impractical" and would also likely be more expensive to consumers;
4. Implementing a cap-and-trade program - This approach is the most reasonable, Bingaman said, and has the advantage of placing a specific cap on total emissions, while incorporating flexible mechanisms that allow regulated entities to seek out the cheapest reductions.  

The ten principles that Sen. Bingaman believes Congress should consider when crafting legislation in the future are:

1. Focus on the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
2. Avoid making climate change legislation excessively complicated;
3. Be realistic about how well we can plan for the distant future;
4. Make use of our existing departments and agencies to administer the programs and appropriating the funds through existing committee structures;
5. Set ambitious but achievable targets for emission reductions;
6. Provide assurances that the costs of a cap-and-trade system will not go out of control, either through excessive prices for emission allowances or excessive volatility;
7. Make upfront commitment to technology even before cap-and-trade legislation could take effect;
8. Figure out how any new climate change law will interact with the Clean Air Act;
9. Ensure that we start the program up in a workable manner, including the initial deadlines and timelines that we set in law; and
10. Create a single national cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gases. 

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, chaired by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), has primary jurisdiction over the Clean Air Act and climate change legislation.  Ordinarily, the Senate does not refer bills to more than one committee, but it does happen, sometimes, on complex issues, such as this one.  While Chairman Bingaman introduced his own climate bill (S. 1766), with Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), his committee has not vigorously asserted jurisdiction over the issue.  This speech could be an indication that Bingaman will become more active in claiming jurisdiction over certain aspects of the climate debate in the next Congress, which produce a bill that imposed fewer costs on electric consumers.