President's Remarks Recognize Political Reality of Coming Action on Climate Change

President's Remarks Recognize Political Reality of Coming Action on Climate
Change

WASHINGTON, April 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Environmental Defense Fund
today welcomed President Bush's new recognition of the need for federal action
to address climate change. By acknowledging that limits on global warming
pollution in the U.S. are inevitable, today's White House announcement marks a
significant political shift in the debate over national climate legislation.
"The White House sees the handwriting on the wall and knows that
regulations are coming one way or another. The administration is now inching
closer to the table, and that can help move a bill in 2008. What remains to be
seen is whether the President is willing to support legislation that gets the
job done," said Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense Fund. "On the
details, he falls far short of the mark today."
The test for the administration will be whether it ultimately supports a
bill that puts a mandatory cap on greenhouse gas emissions, like the
Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act (S. 2191), which is expected to come to
a vote in the Senate in early June. The bill would cap and reduce emissions
roughly 19 percent below today's levels by 2020 and 70 percent by 2050,
putting the U.S. on a path to reduce emissions far enough and fast enough to
help avoid the worst consequences of unchecked global warming.
The President's plan by contrast would only slow and stop the growth of
utility-sector emissions, aiming to have emissions peak in 2025.
"Waiting until 2025 to stop the growth of greenhouse gas pollution means,
for all practical purposes, admitting defeat," Krupp said. "The president
needs to set a much bolder goal if we're going to succeed. His own EPA has
said that we can do that and grow our economy at the same time."
Although the President's remarks today could contribute to the bipartisan
effort in Congress to pass climate legislation this year, EDF strongly
disagrees with elements of the President's legislative principles, his
assertions that the U.S. lacks the technology to make deep near-term cuts in
emissions, and his concerns that effective climate action would cause economic
harm. S. 2191 would achieve necessary emissions reductions through a market-
based cap and trade system that manages costs to the economy and American
families, gives businesses flexibility, and fosters technological innovation.
According to a new analysis from the Environmental Protection Agency, S.
2191 can be implemented without significant harm to the economy. EPA says U.S.
gross domestic product will grow roughly 80 percent from 2010 to 2030 under
the bill, just one percentage point less than GDP absent a climate policy.
In a separate analysis, business consulting firm McKinsey & Company found
more than 250 existing and readily available options for reducing emissions
across the U.S. economy roughly along the lines of S. 2191, many of which pay
for themselves over their lifetime.
"The only thing we're lacking now is political will. The American public
wants action, the business community wants action. It's time for Congress to
act," Krupp said.
About Environmental Defense Fund
A leading national nonprofit organization, Environmental Defense Fund
represents more than 500,000 members. Since 1967, Environmental Defense Fund
has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships
to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems.
For more information, visit www.edf.org .
SOURCE Environmental Defense Fund

Pete Shelly for Environmental Defense Fund, +1-717-645-3934 (cell),
pshelly@shellycommunications.com