The Lieberman-Graham-Kerry Climate Bill Exposed! Sort of!

In the midst of the huge health care debacle going on this week, Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) introduced an outline to the Climate Bill on Wednesday. Although Congress has not explicitly stated what the outline will address, several unidentified sources (via The New York Times) have come out saying the bill plans on curbing greenhouse gas emissions to pre-2005 levels by 2020 and regulating power plants by 2012. The bill also attempts to reach out to industry groups by making the bill only applicable to factories and plants that emit more than 25,000 tons of greenhouse gases per year.

Personally, this proposed outline is somewhat bittersweet. Since this bill was a "bipartisan" effort--tri-partisan, with respect to Lieberman's status as an Independent--the overall content is definitely more moderate that I was hoping. The fact that the climate bill is so considerate to the industries engaging in this pollution is disconcerting. However, the Kerry-Graham-Lieberman bill seems to have two benefits to the Senate's Climate Bill. Firstly, as a bipartisan bill written by three of the more well-known members of the Senate, this bill has a more realistic chance of getting passed. This bill will appease more members in Congress than if it was a specifically liberal effort. Secondly, this bill retains the idea of a cap on carbon emissions. Which, despite the limited application the Senators gave the bill, it will still have some effect on our carbon footprint.

Overall the bill doesn't seem to achieve anything radical, which isn't surprising. Fortunately, the bill seems like it will still be a progressive piece of legislation that will help the United States get closer to becoming a cleaner, less polluted nation.

Michael