Environmental Defense Fund Welcomes Stabenow Climate Offset Legislation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Tony Kreindler, 202-572-3378, akreindler@edf.org

(Washington – November 4, 2009) Environmental Defense Fund today praised Senator Debbie Stabenow for introducing legislation that would establish a domestic “offset” program for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but cautioned that the bill needs more work to guarantee that offsets are environmentally effective.

“Offsets are contentious, but they are essential to effective climate policy. Senator Stabenow deserves praise for trying to find the middle ground and move climate legislation forward,” said John Mimikakis, senior policy manager at EDF.

The design of an offset program was one of the last issues to be resolved in the debate leading up to the House vote on climate legislation this summer. Today’s proposal gives the Senate an opportunity to craft a consensus approach that delivers low-cost emissions offsets with environmental credibility.

More work must be done to guarantee that the legislation would provide the emission reductions that offset developers could claim. As currently written, the draft falls short on a number of technical details necessary to ensure that offsets are scientifically sound and accurately quantified.

“We have a number of concerns with the bill that we’d like to see addressed as the legislation moves forward,” Mimikakis said. “Offsets need to be measured as rigorously as any other emissions reduction. Otherwise there will be little faith in what offset developers are selling and no certainty that we’re achieving pollution reduction goals. We look forward to working with Senator Stabenow and other members of the Senate to build on the legislation introduced today.”

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Environmental Defense Fund, a leading national nonprofit organization, represents more than 700,000 members. Since 1967, Environmental Defense Fund has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems. For more information, visit www.edf.org