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EPW chair plans Jan. hearings on emissions legislation
BY DARREN SAMUELSOHN AND LAUREN MORELLO, E&E NEWS PM, 11/14/06
The incoming chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee today promised "extensive hearings" on global warming in January when Democrats take control of Congress.
"We are absolutely going to move on two fronts very aggressively," Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) told reporters in the Capitol. "On global warming, we need to hear from all colleagues on where they stand."
Boxer said the hearings would be in January. "We're going to hit the ground as early as we can arrange for the rooms," she said.
The senator also repeated her plan to model federal legislation after California's recently enacted law that caps heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020.
Earlier today, President Bush's top environmental adviser said the next Congress should avoid "simpleminded" global warming legislation that places mandatory limits on heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions. Jim Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, told reporters that past measures introduced on Capitol Hill would cause more harm than good for the environment.
"We need to be very careful about the design of some of these strategies," Connaughton added. "I think they have been relatively simpleminded so far and have failed to take into account what I really think are unintended consequences. They haven't been thought through enough."
Asked about Connaughton's comments, Boxer replied, "I think he should reread the bills. There are many really good bills out there."
The cosponsor of one climate change approach, Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), said he plans to reintroduce legislation with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) during the next Congress. "I'm sure we will," Lieberman said. "It remains a priority for him and me."
A pair of recently elected Democratic senators offered their own perspectives on global warming for the 110th Congress.
"It's a huge issue," said Sen.-elect Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). "It's absolutely imperative the Senate and House reverse Bush's disastrous policies."
Sen.-elect Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said he was not ready to commit to a position on mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emissions, adding that he would wait until a specific approach goes before the Senate. But he added, "I think Senator Boxer's hearings will shed a lot of light on the direction we should go."
One of the chief opponents of mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emissions, Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), said he had "absolutely no idea" which direction Boxer would take the issue. Bond also cautioned that Boxer's biggest hurdle would be the 60-vote filibuster threshold. "She has to get it through the floor too," he said.
Eric Ueland, chief of staff to Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), the retiring majority leader, said global warming talks should take place in the context of a broader debate over U.S. energy policy. "It's a conversation worth having," he said.
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