MJ Bradley & Associates
7/6/2005

During Senate debate over their version of the Energy Bill, a number of climate-related bills were offered as amendments.

On Tuesday, June 21, the Senate passed an amendment offered by Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Neb).  The Hagel climate change amendment was based on two bills he introduced earlier this year (S. 883 and S. 887), and essentially codifies much of the Bush administration’s voluntary GHG measures.  As a result, it was relatively non-controversial, prevailing by a vote of 66-29.  The bill authorizes direct loans, loan guarantees and other subsidies for technologies that reduce greenhouse gases related to economic growth.  19 Democrats joined 47 Republicans in support of the Hagel amendment.  Seven Senate Republicans -- Jim Bunning (Ky.), Lincoln Chafee (R.I.), Susan Collins (Maine), Judd Gregg (N.H.), McCain, Olympia Snowe (Maine) and John Sununu (N.H.) -- voted with 22 Democrats against the plan.  The bill was co-sponsored by Senators Pryor (D-AR), Alexander (R-TN), Craig (R-ID), Dole (R-NC), Murkowski (R-AK), Voinovich (R-OH), Stevens (R-AK), and Landrieu (D-LA).

On June 22, the McCain/Lieberman climate change bill was rejected by a vote of 38-60, as 11 Democrats joined 49 Republicans in voting against the proposal.  The bill received five fewer votes than a similar bill that was voted on in the Senate last year.  The bill would have required an economy-wide reduction of greenhouse gases to 2000 levels by 2010 through a cap-and-trade program.  The bill also would have provided financing for technological innovation, including advanced nuclear power plants.  McCain and Lieberman have pledged to keep offering their bill until it passes.

After the failure of the McCain-Lieberman amendment, Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) gained voice vote approval of a "sense of the Senate" resolution that puts the Senate on record acknowledging that it agrees that GHG emissions are contributing to global warming and calling on Congress to "enact a comprehensive and effective national program of mandatory, market-based limits on emissions of greenhouse gases that slow, stop and reverse the growth of such emissions."  The resolution also includes the caveat that the GHG emission cuts must not significantly harm the U.S. economy and must seek comparable action by foreign countries that are U.S. trade partners and key sources of greenhouse gases.

In the days leading up to the debate on climate change amendments, Senator Bingaman was considering offering a climate change amendment modeled on the recommendations of the National Commission on Energy Policy, which would set an economy-wide carbon-intensity reduction target (rather than a 'hard' cap) and establish a cap-and-trade system with a $7 safety valve.  This amendment appeared to be picking up steam until Senator Domenici R-NM), Chairman of Energy and Natural Resources Committee, who earlier was considering supporting and even co-sponsoring the amendment with Senator Bingaman, decided not to support the amendment.  In announcing his decision not to support the amendment, Domenici promised to hold hearings on global warming later this summer.

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