The sector-specific GHG emissions limits being planned by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., John F. Kerry, D-Mass., and Joseph I. Lieberman, ID-Conn., would begin with limits on utilities and then proceed to limits on industrial firms, Environment and Energy Daily reported. Graham said the plan signaled that "cap and trade as we know it is dead," but "pricing carbon" was still essential to prod the economy toward "energy independence" and cleaner air.
Graham called nuclear, wind, and solar bets on "cleaner air" that relied on the assumption "that cleaning the air will become more profitable than leaving the air dirty." Graham said "the only way it will be so is if the government puts some sticks on the table, not just carrots."
Bipartisan Policy Center President Jason Grumet commented that "a simplified cap on just the power sector is a logical fallback" strategy on climate change and "a good way to reset the debate" in Congress.
Industry attorney Scott Segal said utilities will need cost containment provisions and realistic targets for emissions cuts in the new plan. Segal was quoted as saying: "New drafts are steps in the right direction. They stimulate debate on the topic. However, I do not detect a significant change in appetite among U.S. senators to pick up and pass a large scale climate bill before the mid-term elections."
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