by Kade Agan
With the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP15) being held in under two months the US has taken it upon itself to review its current climate change goals before arriving in Denmark for the conference’s Dec. 7 start date.
United States Senators Barbara Boxer, D-CA and John Kerry, D-MA will be introducing a new climate change bill, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act into legislative hearings starting Oct. 27, having already been reviewed by the EPA. The first page of the 821-page document states that the goal of the proposed legislation is “To create clean energy jobs, promote energy independence, reduce global warming pollution and transition to a clean energy economy.”
The tenets of the bill are ambitious, no doubt meant to show other COP15 attendee nations that the US means business when it comes to decreasing harmful emissions and a dedication to cleaner energy sources – along with a workforce capable of upholding those ideals.
Perhaps the greatest ambition of all those set out in the bill is the one that aims for a carbon pollution reduction of 20 percent by the year 2020 and 80 percent by 2050 of 2005 levels. These levels are, according to the document, “[T]he minimum scientists judge necessary to avert climate disaster."
The need to invest in new and renewable resources is not lost on the bill’s authors. In addition to provisions for more funding for nuclear power research and incentives for natural gas expansion, it is recognized that solar and wind energy are critical to growing the nation’s economy, as are new, greener standards for the building of vehicles and structures alike. These guidelines also take into consideration the breadth of jobs that will be created in the US, stating, “From researchers to roofers, the economic benefits will be broad and widespread,” and that when running the numbers alone stakeholders are asked to consider “every dollar spent on clean energy creates nearly four times as many jobs as an equal investment in oil and gas."
The proposed legislation demonstrates the economic as well as environmental benefits of cutting carbon emissions in favor of clean energy. One can only hope that if this bill passes the US will be ahead of the game in Denmark this December.
For more information, see an overview of the bill online.
