subject: Climate Bills Have Limitations Ahead [print this page] Score one in the corner of the environmentalists, but just add additional complications for those trying to push through climate bills to finally bring the United States into the 21st century. The massive oil spill created by the collapse of BP's oil rig created immediate ecological and environmental concerns, but the repercussions were sure to reverberate throughout industry and government for some time.
If and when the weather does not cooperate, leading the massive oils spill to reach the coastal states, its environmental impacts will last for a very long time or could even be irreversible. Prior to the failure of the oil rig, passage of climate bills in 2010 was by no means a certainty. Many issues that are political and economically related are weighed heavily on the legislators' minds and are even considered by the Senate. Progress was slow indeed.
Although this adds more complications for those who are pushing the climate bills to move the United States forward to the 21st century, it gives one additional point score for the environmentalists. The massive oil spill created by the collapse of BP's oil rig created immediate ecological and environmental concerns, but the repercussions were sure to reverberate throughout industry and government for some time.
Republicans tend to favor an increase in offshore oil drilling. They look at it as a way of achieving energy independence, even when every barrel of oil created in such a way is automatically floated on the open market pool anyway. Purchasers do not really have that much option to buy from a particular source. As such, the notion of oil independence is something of a misnomer.
Advocates of alternative energy are seizing on the issues created by the BP oil spill and calling for climate bills to be tough and, to include additional capital for wind farms and solar projects. As a means of trying to push climate bills through, some suggest that funding should be diverted toward nuclear power projects and "clean coal" to try and entice enough politicians from both sides of the debate to sign up.
The Senate committees' consideration of the climate bills in 2010 are behind the shadows of the extensive legislation proposals by the lower House. Already passed in 2009,the ACES Act proposes a comprehensive option for 'cap and trade' scheme in order to curtail carbon emissions in the US.
The BP disaster could not have come at a worse time for proponents of climate change legislation. Pres. Obama has said that climate bills are the cornerstone of his administration's policy. Countries from all over the world are calling some action from the U.S. as it is one of the biggest producer of emissions that cause global warming that lead to climate change.
Ratified by almost all countries from all over the globe, the Kyoto protocol implies that climate change cannot be addressed unless there would be a contiguous effort from every country to wage war against emissions. While the European Union is far ahead of the majority of other countries, the United States of course fails to ratify Kyoto.
Most likely, climate bills are going to emerge from the US Congress by 2011, as soon as the midterm elections will be done. The BP's massive oil rig disaster is one example of the fragile energy infrastructure of the United States and of how every organization needs to ensure that it will not be highly dependent on expensive forms of energy for sustainability.
by: Daniel Stouffer
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