1. CLIMATE: Endorsements, amendments mounting for Senate bill (E&ENews PM, 05/30/2008)

Darren Samuelsohn, E&ENews PM senior reporter

Corporations, environmental groups, labor unions and state and local officials are lining up to offer endorsements for the Senate global warming bill scheduled for floor debate next week.

General Electric Co., the Natural Resources Defense Council and the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers urged senators today to pass S. 3036, a bill that seeks to curb U.S. heat-trapping emissions by midcentury by 71 percent compared to 2005 levels.

"A 'yes' vote for the Climate Security Act represents historic leadership to advance bipartisan solutions to climate change," the group wrote. "A 'no' vote will slow progress and maintain the status quo, which only increases the risks of unavoidable consequences and potentially greater economic costs that could result from the need for even steeper reductions in the future."

Others signing the letter: Alcoa, FPL Group, Environmental Defense Action Fund, Trout Unlimited and the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry.

Debate on the Senate climate bill starts Monday with a procedural vote scheduled for 5:30 p.m. EDT on a motion for the legislation to proceed. From there, the question will be whether Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) wants to allow unlimited debate and amendments on the measure.

Reid is expected to outline his plans for the legislation -- authored by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Warner (R-Va.) -- by the middle of next week. While the climate bill is likely to draw considerable debate, few expect final passage given the Senate's 60-vote hurdle to end debate.

States, local officials

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) yesterday offered senators his support as they face demands to revoke state climate laws in exchange for one federal policy.

"I remain committed to fighting alongside you to preserve and strengthen key principles in this bill that I believe are essential for any federal climate legislation," Schwarzenegger said in a letter to the Senate. He said the bill needs to have "explicit support" for state and local climate policies, plus funding for state and local research into technology development and adaptation.

State and local air pollution officials took up a similar line of argument in their own letter to Capitol Hill. The National Association of Clean Air Agencies praised the Senate sponsors for keeping a provision that allows states and local governments to set their own rules even if they go beyond the federal government.

"Retaining the ability of states and localities to serve as laboratories of innovation, as well as to take whatever steps they deem necessary to best protect human health and welfare in their respective jurisdictions, is imperative," the groups wrote.

Under S. 3036, states would have access to more than $560 billion in free allowances over the next four decades if they discontinue their own cap-and-trade programs in deference to a similar federal system that would be up and running in 2012. Also, companies that are holding allowances or have purchased offset project credits for compliance with a state program could redeem those credits in the federal program.

But Republicans are eyeing amendments that press for a more explicit end to state programs. "It's an issue that has to be addressed nationally if this is going to be addressed at all," Andrew Wheeler, Republican staff director for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said yesterday during a panel discussion hosted by E&ETV and the Environmental Law Institute.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors yesterday also endorsed the Senate climate bill.

Labor groups split

Labor groups are divided over the Senate climate bill.

Earlier today, Lieberman’s office released a letter signaling an endorsement from a branch of the AFL-CIO whose members include building and construction workers. A dozen unions, including the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, signed off on the legislation, saying it “takes a balanced approach” to global warming through emission cuts that won’t stop growth in the U.S. economy.

But the AFL-CIO itself will not take a position on the bill because it has affiliates on both sides of the issue, according to a labor source. Also, the United Mineworkers of America and the United Auto Workers are expected to come out next week in opposition to the Senate bill.

More funding for adaptation?

Still other groups are speaking up in search of changes to the Senate bill.

Thirty environmental, foreign aid and religious groups asked for more money to be put into the bill to help developing countries cope with the effects of climate change.

Estimates by the United Nations say poor countries will need more than $80 billion a year for adaptation. Currently, the Senate bill offers more than $340 billion over the four-decade lifespan of the U.S. cap-and-trade program.

Friends of the Earth U.S., Islamic Relief USA, the Sierra Club, Oxfam America and others wrote lawmakers to say it was "vital to significantly increase the funding for this program before 2018."

In Oslo, top U.N. climate scientist Rajendra Pachauri told reporters the Senate bill wasn't enough to confront the threats of climate change.

"I think it's enough as a first step," Pachauri said, according to Reuters. "I wouldn't say it is the final solution one is looking for."

Click here for the letter from GE, Environmental Defense, the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and other companies and environmental groups.

Click here for the adaptation funding letter.

Click here for Gov. Schwarzenegger's letter.

Click here for the NACAA letter.

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