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First Impressions on the Senate Climate Bill
by Art von Lehe, Policy Officer
Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) released their American Power Act yesterday. After months garnering support from both sides of the aisle, Kerry and Lieberman have moved forward after their co-sponsoring colleague Republican Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) took his name off the bill citing a suite of political complexities.
ICLEI is currently hard at work combing through the nearly 1,000 pages of legislation – and will provide a summary for our members to help understand what the bill means for local sustainable practice. An outline of the major provisions of the bill:
- Reduction goals: 17% below 2005 by 2020, 80% below 2005 by 2050, plus a focus on quickly lowering levels of super-GHGs and black carbon
- $70 billion for clean transportation over a 10-year period
- Heavily supports nuclear, natural gas vehicles, advanced coal
- Support for renewables
- Consumer protection funding through rebates and efficiency measures
- $7 billion per year allocated for smart growth funding
- Offshore drilling provisions with revenue sharing, and neighboring states have an oil spill veto
- Override of the EPA’s current authority to regulate GHGs, and preempts existing state cap-and-trade programs
- Programs and funding for climate adaptation
For more information, visit http://kerry.senate.gov/americanpoweract/intro.cfm
