Commentary; Posted: 2/7/07
Now is time to address global warming
Sen. Norm Coleman
Guest Columnist
There's much discussion these days about global climate change and its potentially far-reaching effects on our way of life. At the same time, there's also been a change of climate in Washington, D.C. which promises to have far-reaching effects on our ability to confront and contain this growing threat.
Now that global climate change has been brought to the forefront of Congress' and the President's agenda, we can finally move forward with finding smart solutions that won't cost Americans their jobs. It is time to embrace real climate change solutions capable of breaking through the political logjam.
While finding political consensus has been elusive, the scientific consensus about climate change is only increasing. An overwhelming body of science finds that human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels, have contributed to an increase in the atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide by 36 percent from pre-industrial levels, factoring into an increase in global average temperatures of almost a degree over a similar period.
According to NASA, 2005 was the warmest year since readings began in 1880--and eight of the last 10 years are among the warmest years on record. It is disturbing to think that since 1979, more than 20 percent of the polar ice cap has melted away.
I believe we need legislative solutions that will put the U.S. on a path to stabilize the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide at a level that will prevent a dangerous increase in temperature. And we need to press developing countries like China and India, whose greenhouse gas emissions growth rate is expected to be twice that of the U.S. over the next 20 years, to chart a similar course.
Addressing this issue is not a matter of choosing climate change legislation over the economy--or vice versa. I believe technologies exist today that allow us to meet and master this challenge.
For example, biofuels and more efficient vehicles offer great potential for significant reductions in vehicle emissions. When it comes to utility emissions, a wide array of technologies are available, including nuclear, wind, hydroelectric, biosequestration, fuel cells, and clean coal plants that capture and store carbon emissions.
Our challenge in government is to bring these technologies to bear in a way that minimizes the cost to working Americans.
That is why I have been exploring the idea of a Clean Energy Portfolio Standard. The idea is to apply an inherently Minnesotan solution to a national problem. As we in Minnesota know, renewable fuels work ñ they help the environment and create jobs. We are leaders in this area, and we can use the lessons learned in our state to develop solutions for the nation.
The idea I have put forward would require major utilities to generate ten percent of their electricity from clean, non-carbon emitting sources by 2015 and twenty percent by 2025. Last year, I asked the Energy Information Agency to report back to me on the effectiveness of this approach. The EIA report, which will be officially released in the coming days, will show this approach can deliver serious carbon dioxide reductions at minimal cost to the economy.
The bottom line: EIA calculates that carbon dioxide emissions from the electricity sector will decline by 14.7 percent from projected increases by 2030.
I believe this shows we have a workable mechanism, a policy engine, to lower carbon dioxide emissions without undercutting the economy. However, I am not satisfied with these emissions numbers and believe we can go further so that the proposal not only slows the growth in greenhouse gasses, but will put them on a downward path. I will take this draft to environmental and energy stakeholders to enlist their help in strengthening this proposal.
Global warming is not a problem we can afford to leave to our children to solve. We need to find answers that can garner support from both sides of the aisle, as well as both sides of this debate.
I am working towards that goal and eager to see if a Clean Energy Portfolio Standard can make a significant contribution to finding a legislative solution to a problem that affects all humans. I believe the climate is right for such a breakthrough.
Norm Coleman, a Republican, is Minnesota's senior senator.
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