Statement of Congressman John D. Dingell, Chairman
Committee on Energy and Commerce

Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality hearing entitled, "Legislative Proposals to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions: An Overview"

June 19, 2008

Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing today. I believe it will be most informative. I also wish to thank the witnesses. We gave you a difficult task – comparing and commenting on five key climate change legislative proposals – a total of more than a thousand pages of legislative text. I appreciate your willingness to prepare thoughtful testimony on this complex issue.

Since this hearing was announced, we have been asked why we are holding a hearing that looks at five different, lengthy, and complicated legislative proposals.

The answer is simple. As we move forward with drafting our own climate legislation, there is much we can learn from these five legislative proposals. The authors of these bills, including Mr. Waxman and Mr. Markey, have put considerable thought and effort into their bills. We need to build on those efforts as we move legislation forward.

We also can see what we can learn from the efforts of the other body. The Senate debate revealed strong, bipartisan support for addressing climate change with a cap-and-trade program. This is an important development.

The Senate debate also showed, however, that the other body is still far from a consensus on what to include in such a program. I mean no disrespect when I say that. This is the most complicated issue I have addressed in my time in Congress. I have no illusions about the amount of effort it will take to build a coalition to pass responsible climate change legislation, but pass it we must.

Today’s hearing is designed to give us an overview of these key legislative proposals. We will also need additional hearings to delve into the details of legislation.

I look forward to the testimony of our witnesses today. I want to know what issues are most important to them. I want to hear what the witnesses think about these bills: what they do right; what they do wrong; what they fail to address that needs addressing; and how our legislation can improve on them.

Given the number of witnesses appearing before us today, I will conclude my statement here and thank the Chairman for allowing me this time.