Achieving Fast Mitigation: Kerry-Lieberman and UnSNAPing a Mobile Refrigerant
It's easy to overlook crucial provisions of the Senate climate bill that address strategies to reduce non-CO2 climate-forcing that accounts for almost half of the warming effect our activities cause. In the brouhaha the bill caused, it was also easy to overlook the significance of a petition from NGOs to EPA asking it to end the privileged status of the most widely used mobile air conditioning refrigerant, which has a global warming potential (GWP) up at 1,400. Yet these two closely-related actions, despite having nothing to do with CO2 emissions from the power plants targeted by the Senate bill, may well provide the most significant climate protections the US achieves in the near term.
Continue Reading...Kerry-Lieberman (Minus Graham) Release "The American Power Act"
Talking Points
- Senators Kerry (D-Massachusetts) and Lieberman (I-Connecticut) have released the much anticipated discussion draft of the American Power Act (APA). Originally the bill was to include Senator Graham (R-South Carolina) as a co-sponsor as he played an integral role in the development of the legislation. However, Senator Graham withdrew from co-sponsoring prior to public release of the legislation, citing perceived Democratic shifting of priorities towards immigration reform as an act of bad faith by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) and the White House.
- The bill has been released and is undergoing economic modeling by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Energy Information Agency. Senator Reid has indicated the bill will only go to the floor for a Senate vote if it has a real shot at passing. 60 votes necessary to overcome a likely filibuster are not yet secured. The bill could reach the floor in June or July.
- The APA has significant stakeholder support with endorsements from a range private sector interests including Dow, Florida Light & Power, General Electric and American Electric Power. The US Chamber of Commerce and the American Petroleum Institute both released statements welcoming the legislation but stopped short of specific endorsements. Several leading environmental groups including the Environmental Defense Fund support the bill.
- The bill is framed around 5 central themes: 1) Benefits to Consumers, 2) Energy Independence, 3) US Competitiveness and Job Creation, 4) Reducing Emissions differently for power plants, heavy industry and transportation, and 5) Regulatory Predictability.
