Accurate Information Essential for Successful Reduction Program
Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) has introduced legislation today, the first day of the 111th session of Congress, to ensure that a national greenhouse gas registry being established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will contain complete, essential, reliable and accurate information. Her bill takes a necessary step toward accounting for and reducing our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to address global climate change.
The Greenhouse Gas Registry Act, co-sponsored by Reps. Jay Inslee (D-WA), Rush Holt (D-NJ), and Barbara Lee (D-CA) will ensure a well-designed greenhouse gas registry to serve as a clearinghouse for accurate, comprehensive, consistent, and transparent information on greenhouse gas emissions nationwide. Such data are critical to ensuring a successful strategy to address climate change. “The information provided by a comprehensive registry is vital to our understanding of greenhouse gas emissions and any attempt to control them,” said Baldwin. “We have learned from the experience of the European Union that a fair, effective response to the perils of climate change must be based on accurate emissions information. Our legislation gives us the foundation on which we can build a successful cap and trade program,” Baldwin said. Under legislation adopted in 2007, EPA is required to establish a mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions “above appropriate thresholds in all sectors of the economy.” Despite this provision, some questions remain unresolved; including what entities or facilities will be required to report; whether the data will be complete and consistent; and whether the data will be made available to the public. Baldwin’s legislation will provide additional guidance to EPA as they establish their registry. A carefully crafted federal greenhouse gas registry would ensure comprehensive emissions reporting nationwide and provide publicly available information that will support an array of climate change policies at the national, regional, state, and local levels.
