Lieberman-Warner Global Warming Proposal
(Washington, DC) Today SmartPower released the following statement voicing their disappointment with the bi-partisan Lieberman-Warner global warming proposal. Along with much of the environmental community, SmartPower does not think the proposal goes far enough in the amount of the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions it proposes, nor does it mandate the reductions quickly enough. SmartPower is the national, non-profit marketing organization that is leading the creation of a vibrant, voluntary market for clean energy and promoting energy efficiency measures.
“It is critically important that the federal government craft a realistic response to the potentially catastrophic problem of global warming,” stated Brian F.Keane, President of SmartPower. “We applaud both Senators Lieberman and Warner for their attention to this crisis, but they need to strengthen and improve this bill if it is to accomplish anything significant. We need to work together as a mainstream community to craft a bill that will reduce greenhouse gases, encourage the expanded use of clean energy, and make America energy independent,” Keane concluded.
The proposal is a series of joint proposals put forth by Senators Lieberman and Warner that will become the basis for a bill they intend to complete shortly. The main aspects of the proposal call for a 70% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050 and a 10% reduction by 2020. Further, it creates a corporate body to oversee the auctioning of the carbon-emission allowances.
The majority of the scientific community agrees that reductions of greenhouse gases of at least 80 percent by mid-century are required in order to prevent the worst effects of global warming. Additionally, the proposal relies heavily on carbon-emission offsets, rather than making corporations reduce the amount of pollution that they actually create.
For more information about the Lieberman-Warner America’s Climate Security Act of 2007, please visit: http://lieberman.senate.gov/documents/acsa.pdf
For more information about clean energy and energy efficiency, please visit: www.SmartPower.org
