BAUCUS TAKES BOLD STANCE ON GLOBAL WARMING
Senator Backs Legislation To Curb Greenhouse Gas Emissions
October 24, 2007
(Washington, D.C.) –In announcing his support for legislation to help combat global warming, Montana Senator Max Baucus today may have given Congress the boost it needs to pass climate change legislation this year. Baucus -- long considered a moderate consensus builder and key vote on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee – today backed the America’s Climate Security Act, groundbreaking legislation aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 70 percent by the year 2050. During an EPW subcommittee hearing on the bill today, Baucus said America must aggressively combat climate change. “We cannot be good stewards if we ignore the fact that climate change threatens to result in longer droughts, more severe wildfire seasons, and no glaciers in Glacier National Park,” Baucus during the panel hearing. “I believe it is a moral imperative to deal with climate change. That is why I intend to support America’s Climate Security Act.” For months Baucus has been quietly working with the bill’s sponsors -- Sens. Joe Lieberman (I – Conn.) and John Warner (R-Va.) on the legislation. The senior U.S. Senator today threw his considerable weight behind the bill after Lieberman and Warner agreed to include provisions that will, among other things, help Montana’s coal industry transition into cleaner practices and give farmers a chance to be part of the climate change solution. Baucus was given the opportunity to pick one of five witnesses to appear before the EPW subcommittee today. He chose Will Roehm, a third-generation wheat farmer from Great Falls who serves as vice president of the Montana Grain Growers Association. Roehm backed the bill and said America’s farmers are eager to help tackle climate change. “The American farmer has long been a careful steward of the land and the environment,” Roehm told the lawmakers, “and contributing to the reduction of environmentally harmful levels of greenhouse gasses is a logical extension of what we see as our stewardship responsibilities.” The Lieberman-Warner bill would place a hard cap on the amount of carbon dioxide emissions allowed to enter the atmosphere. But as part of that, industries can buy so-called offsets or carbon credits from entities that sequester carbon or reduce the overall amount of carbon in the air. It’s known as a cap-and-trade system. For example a wheat grower that practices no-till farming sequesters a quantifiable amount of carbon, thereby generating an offset that can be purchased by an energy company. The system could be a boon to agriculture in Montana while sharply curbing the amount of greenhouse gas in the air, Baucus said. Baucus helped inject several provisions good for Montana in the bill, including incentives for the coal industry to develop and use carbon capture and sequestration technology, opportunities for Montana farmers to create carbon offsets through activities like no-till farming, and protection from rising energy prices for Montana’s rural electric cooperatives. The bill also strengthens energy efficiency standards for appliances and buildings in order to address commercial- and residential-sector emissions that are not covered by the cap. Statement of Senator Max Baucus Environment and Public Works Committee “A Hearing to Examine America’s Climate Security Act of 2007” Wednesday October 24th, 2007 2:30 PM Senators Lieberman and Warner, thank you for all of your work on this critical issue and for agreeing to hold this hearing to take a closer look at the provisions in your bill. I would also like to thank all of the witnesses for agreeing to testify and share their perspectives on the issue of climate change. I am especially excited to have a fellow Montanan here testifying. Will Roehm is a third generation wheat farmer from Great Falls, Montana. As Vice President of the Montana Grain Growers Association, Will is here to highlight the important role of agricultural offsets in any cap and trade system. Welcome Will. I look forward to your testimony. The Book of Genesis tells us that “The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and care for it.” Montanans take God’s call to be good stewards very seriously. This means that we must address the issue of climate change. We cannot be good stewards if we ignore the fact that climate change threatens to result in longer droughts, more severe wildfire seasons, and no glaciers in Glacier National Park. I believe it is a moral imperative to deal with climate change. That is why I intend to support America’s Climate Security Act. I believe the bill Senators Lieberman and Warner have crafted represents a reasonable approach to dealing with the issue. While I have some outstanding concerns with the bill, I’m confident I can work through those issues with Senators Lieberman and Warner. The bill strikes a good balance. The 2050 emissions reductions targets the bill sets align with the US CAP recommendations and put the US on path to be a leader in addressing climate change. The bill also includes strong provisions to incentivise the deployment of carbon capture and sequestration. Stopping coal fired power plants will not stop climate change; clean coal technology will stop climate change. This issue is crucial. Even if another coal fired power plant was never built in the US, China would continue to develop their coal resources. We must develop carbon capture and sequestration technology here so that we can use it domestically, as well as export it abroad. That is why I am pleased that Senators Lieberman and Warner have included several provisions to incentivise the deployment of carbon capture and sequestration. Their bill sets aside 4% of annual allowances through 2035 to go towards bonus allowances for power plants that capture and sequester their carbon. The bill also sets aside 52% of auction revenues for next generation energy development. Of this amount 28% is set aside for developing and deploying carbon capture and sequestration. America’s Climate Security Act also includes the best offset provisions of any of the economy wide cap and trade bills. America’s farmers and foresters have an important role to play in stopping climate change. I am pleased that the bill allows regulated entities to satisfy up to 15% of their allowance obligations through domestic offsets from America’s farmers and foresters. I look forward to continuing to work with Senators Lieberman and Warner on ways to improve the bill. Specifically, I’m concerned about the impact of a cap and trade system on rural electric cooperatives. Rural co-ops provide cost based power to low income areas and unlike investor owned utilities lack the resources to invest in cutting edge technology and to mitigate the impacts to their members. I also want to make sure that costs to the economy are weighed carefully. We have a moral imperative to address climate change. America’s Climate Security Act is a balanced approach to a challenging issue. I look forward to working with my colleagues keep the process moving forward.
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