WASHINGTON - A landmark bill that will make curbs on greenhouse gases mandatory rather than voluntary was proposed in the US Congress by John Warner (R-Va.) and Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.). The bipartisan bill was introduced in the Senate and calls for reduction of emissions by 60 percent by 2050.
"With all the irrefutable evidence we now have corroborating that climate change is real, dangerous, and proceeding faster than many scientists predicted, this is the year for Congress to move this critical legislation," said Lieberman.
The bill seeks to set greenhouse gas limits of 75 percent on the economy of the country. These caps would be placed on electric power, transportation and manufacturing industries, the bill said. The main aim of the bill is to curb emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Eventually the industries would be required to limit emissions by 62 percent from 2005 levels till 2050.
Virginia Republican John Warner agreed the bill was a starting point, but warned that it was a contentious issue. "This is like a great ship that has been launched today," he added. "Now it is up to our colleagues to come forth with their ideas."
Warner differed from the Bush Administrations stance of voluntary limits and said mandatory limits were necessary if global warming was to be tackled effectively.
Steve Cochran, the national climate campaign director for Environmental Defense welcomed the measure, "Lieberman and Warner have paved the way for a historic committee vote on a bill that promises to make great strides toward climate security and economic growth," he stressed.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was not a co-sponsor of the bill, said through his spokeswoman Melissa Shuffield that he was not supporting the Warner-Lieberman bill "because it doesn't include the nuclear issue by name.
