Senate Climate Bill Gets Out Of Committee: Expect No Further Action In 2008 - SF Chronicle

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For the first time, national climate-change legislation - S2191, the Climate Security Act - has passed out of committee and will be up for a vote before the full Senate. The bill would cap emissions at 2005 levels in 2012, then reduce them by 20 percent by 2020 and 70 percent by 2050.

"Thank goodness for California's environmental leadership in every way," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. As chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Boxer guided the bill to success through one of its crucial first votes. "I was able to point to California the whole time, to say that it's been a unifying issue there, that jobs are being created to help implement it, and that people are willing to rise to the challenge," she said.

Odds for the bill's passage are not great. It got out of committee, but only one Republican voted for it - the bill's co-sponsor, Sen. John Warner of Virginia. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., wants to bring it up for a vote before the Senate takes a summer break, and Senate Republicans have promised a major floor fight. Then, of course, there's the possibility of getting President Bush's signature on such a bill, which seems to be a distant one indeed. Boxer promises to pull the bill rather than allow it to be gutted with amendments.

"We will go as far as we can," she said. "If four senators cast their votes to weaken it, then we will pick it up from there next time. But next time, we will know who those four senators are, and what the roadblocks will be." What's also uncertain is how much leadership there is in the House of Representatives on this issue. Rep. John Dingell, chairman of the House's Energy & Commerce Committee, wants 60-80 percent reductions in greenhouse gases by 2050, but the ever-shifting political dynamics in the House might make for an uphill battle there as well.

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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/18/EDQ4V1MUV.DTL