SOLAR TODAY Blog

The New York Times reported yesterday that Barbara Boxer and John Kerry plan to introduce a climate bill to the Senate on Wednesday.

The new bill reportedly calls for 20% reduction in carbon emissions by 2020 (from a 2005 base), compared to the Waxman-Markey bill passed in June by the House, which specifies a 17% reduction.

The Senate bill will be the subject of weeks or months of wrangling and horse trading. The Time article said, in part:

At least five other Senate committees are also expected to contribute to the climate debate. The Foreign Relations and Agriculture committees are preparing language without convening a markup.

Commerce Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said he will hold votes on his pieces of the global warming bill. And the same goes for Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who last week told reporters that provisions on international trade and the allocation of emission allowances would be marked up provided Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) says the bill is "clearly moving."

Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) has already approved legislation (S. 1462 (pdf)) out of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee that includes a nationwide renewable electricity standard and a raft of other energy incentives, including a provision that could bring oil and gas rigs closer to Florida's Gulf Coast. Bingaman is also planning a hearing Thursday on several competing cost estimates associated with the House-passed climate bill. The session, which was postponed once earlier this month, now gives senators an early public forum to sound off on the Boxer-Kerry bill.