New Centrist Energy Plan Opens Door to Consensus Climate Legislation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Tony Kreindler, 202-572-3378 or tkreindler@edf.org
                Sharyn Stein, 202-572-2296 or sstein@edf.org

(Washington, DC – May 12, 2010) Today the Senate took the first critical step toward passing legislation that will reduce America’s dependence on oil and boost production of clean domestic power.

The introduction of the American Power Act, with unprecedented support from industry and environmentalists, begins a sprint toward passage of a clean energy bill before summer recess.

“We’ve argued about oil dependence and producing more clean American power for decades,” said Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense Fund. “Over the next eight weeks we’ll see who is serious about solving this problem.”

Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman today unveiled draft legislative text that will serve as the vehicle for bipartisan negotiations over comprehensive energy and climate change legislation. The draft bill contains strong goals for reducing carbon emissions and protecting the climate, significant consumer protections against cost increases, and provisions to boost domestic energy production with environmental safeguards.

“Their plan has the support of the key stakeholders because it strikes a balance,” Krupp said. “They’re offering more domestic energy production with environmental safeguards, strong environmental goals for the climate with more flexibility, and better economic protections.

“There are some areas we think can be improved, and it’s our goal to work with the authors and the Congress to find the best approaches to increasing our own energy supplies while protecting our environment.”

The draft bill unveiled today marks a significant shift from the climate energy bill passed by the House last year. It has a new and focused approach on individual economic sectors instead of economy-wide cap and trade, resulting in a system that is more streamlined and less complex than prior proposals.

The draft maintains the fundamental climate protection goal of reducing carbon pollution by 17 percent in 2020 and by 80 percent in 2050, and aims for a higher level of economic certainty by managing the costs of emissions reductions. Importantly, it contains new authorities for states to protect their coastlines from oil spills.

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