FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 17 OCTOBER 2007CONTACT: Josh Dorner, 202.675.2384 (w), 202.679.7570 (m)  Sierra Club Statement on Lieberman-Warner BillSenators Showing Leadership, Critical Improvements to Bill Needed Tomorrow Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and John Warner (R-VA) areexpected to introduce their comprehensive global warming legislation. Thebill caps 80 percent of total U.S. emissions. It sets out a goal ofreducing capped emissions 15 percent by 2020 and 70 percent by 2050.Taking additional energy efficiency provisions into account, the bill wouldresult in a 51-63 percent reduction in total emissions. The bill wouldinitially auction only 24 percent of its allowances, rising to a 73 percentauction in 2036. Statement of Carl Pope, Sierra Club Executive Director "We very much appreciate the leadership Senators Lieberman and Warner haveshown by taking on this extremely important issue. We also compliment themfor having made some positive adjustments to their legislation since it wasfirst proposed. We applaud Senator Boxer for taking up this issue in hercommittee at such a critical moment. "The bill is a significant political step forward for the U.S. Congress,but unfortunately the legislation as introduced still falls short what isdemanded by the science and the public to meet the challenge of globalwarming. This comes even as U.S. states, cities, and counties move forwardwith ambitious, science-based proposals to tackle the issue. We lookforward to working with Senators to seek the additional improvementsnecessary for the bill to sufficiently address the challenge before us. "At this crucial moment, we must continue to insist on a global warmingbill that is committed to scientific integrity and economic fairness. Inorder to prevent the most catastrophic effects of global warming, we mustcut emissions 80 percent by 2050--an achievable annual reduction of about 2percent. In order to get the market moving and bring America’s cleanenergy future to life, any bill must start out strong by seeking ashort-term reduction on the order of 20 percent of total emissions by 2020.Disturbances to the climate have come more quickly and forcefully than eventhe most pessimistic among us predicted. The Lieberman-Warner bill, asintroduced, leaves us in serious danger of reaching the tipping points thatscientists tell us could lead to catastrophic changes to the climate. "Polluters should pay for what they do and any bill must allocateallowances for the public benefit, not private windfalls. A 100 percentauction would not only ensure that polluters pay for the damage they aredoing to the climate, but would also provide the funds necessary to ensurea just transition for workers, protect consumers from rising energy costs,and make the investments in new technology needed to make the new cleanenergy economy a reality. While the bill has moved in the right direction,it gives too many free allowances to polluters for far too long--enrichingexecutives and shareholders instead of generating the funds needed to helpus meet our emissions goals and ensure a smooth transition to the cleanenergy economy. "We also urge the Senate to continue to press ahead toward passage of afinal energy bill. Passing an energy bill that includes the Senate-passedfuel economy provision and the House-passed Renewable Electricity Standardwill itself make real progress in the fight against global warming and setthe stage for the kind of meaningful, long-term reductions that anyeconomy-wide global warming bill must achieve." # # #
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