The Waxman-Markey Bill

With the passage of the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act this past June, the U.S. took a step toward both attaining energy independence and addressing climate change. The Act established a cap-and-trade plan to regulate greenhouse gases through 2050. In addition, it provided the framework for modernizing the electrical grid, expanding the production of fuel-efficient vehicles, and increasing energy efficiency in electricity generation. So the ACES Act is just what we needed to save us from a looming climate and energy crisis, right? Don’t count on it.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states that industrialized countries “must reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25-40% below 1990 levels by 2020 to avoid the worst climate impacts.” Unfortunately, the ACES Act requires only a 5% reduction by 2020. Therefore, it would fail to effectively combat rising sea levels, the decline in agricultural productivity, and biodiversity loss, all of which are globally on the rise due to climate change.

The bill also fails to regulate coal-fired power plants, the single largest source of global warming pollution. Congressman Dennis Kucinich states that the Bill “gives new life to one of the primary sources of the problem that should be on its way out — coal — by giving it record subsidies.” In addition, the Act focuses on carbon capture and sequestration methods that are costly, underdeveloped, and inefficient. An IPCC special report found that capturing and compressing CO2 requires so much energy that it would increase the fuel needs of a coal-fired plant by 25-40%, almost negating the potential benefits of capturing carbon.

With the Copenhagen Climate Conference approaching, it is vital that the U.S. strengthens its climate bill. The European Union has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 20% below 1990 levels by 2020. Japan pledged a 25% reduction, but only if the United States does the same. China, India, and other developing countries have sidestepped demands to limit their own emissions by arguing for years that the U.S. was still on the sidelines. Clearly, the world needs the United States to lead the way toward a brighter future. Unfortunately, the ACES Act does nothing but fall short of global expectations. The American Clean Energy and Security Act must be strengthened!