By Leah Valencia, University of New Mexico- Talk Radio News Service

Rapid advancement of technology coupled with reduced trade barriers are the most important factors in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, witnesses told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee during a hearing Tuesday.

“An agreement that focuses on technology offers a path forward that developed and developing countries can embrace, “ said Karen Harbert, President and CEO of the Institute for 21st Century Energy.

Harbert said during her testimony that an effort to reduce global tariffs and non-tariff barriers on clean energy goods and services is essential in ensuring that alternate energy technologies can penetrate the global marketplace.

“Future growth of the U.S. clean energy economy will depend on access to foreign markets,” Jake Colvin, Vice President of the National Foreign Trade Council said in his testimony. “Demand for environmental goods and services is growing rapidly in developing countries, which offer significant opportunities for U.S. companies.”

Colvin explained that U.S. exporters are currently facing disproportionally high tariffs that impede their ability to sell environmental goods and services abroad.

“Reducing these impediments would allow U.S. companies to capture a larger share of the the more than $600 billion environmental goods and services market,” Colvin said.

President Barack Obama expressed reservations earlier this year about tariff provisions included in the House climate legislation, the House bill would levy tariffs beginning in 2020 on environmental goods and services from countries that have not committed to control greenhouse gas emissions.

Senate Democrats who represent states dependent on manufacturing have said they will not vote for a bill that does not include “border adjustments” to safe-keep U.S. presence in the market.

Agreements regarding trade policy will be a critical component as to what the U.S. will commit to during the United Nation’s climate conference in Copenhagen in December, where 190 nations will draft an agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

U.S. Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) says the United States has two options when it comes to climate change: Voluntarily pass climate protection legislation now, or face federal regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency later. (0:27)

 

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At a Senate Finance Committee hearing Tuesday, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) stated that an honest cost-benefit assessment for climate change legislation is necessary.

“An assessment…requires that we first stop trying to sell this policy as if it will have no cost for Americans,” said Grassley. (0:16)

 

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By Marianna Levyash – Talk Radio News Service

During a Senate Finance Committee hearing Tuesday, Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) stated that he supports climate change legislation, but holds some qualms over the Kerry-Boxer bill.

“I want our children and grandchildren to be able to enjoy the outdoors the way that we can today. So I’m going to work to pass climate-change legislation that is both meaningful and can muster enough votes to become law,” he said.

While Baucus did make clear that it is important for Congress to to act now on preserving the environment, he noted that the unemployment rate has reached an incredibly high level and therefore lawmakers must also work to create jobs in today’s economy.

Regardless of his reassuring statements, Baucus was the only Democrat to vote against The Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act – otherwise known as the Kerry-Boxer bill – a vote that signaled his discontent with certain parts of the bill.

“While we must always be mindful of the cost of legislation, that’s particularly true in today’s economy. Our unemployment rate remains far too high. And we must be diligent to create jobs, including in the energy sector,” Baucus said.

Regarding climate change legislation and job creation, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) says on Tuesday that “our unemployment rate remains far too high…and we must be diligent to create jobs, including in the energy sector.” (0:12)

 

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During a press conference with German Chancellor Andrea Markel, President Barack Obama admitted that the U.S. has had some trouble in the past when it comes to environmental issues, but expressed his belief that the Waxman-Markey climate change legislation represents the progress the U.S. is making (0:28).

 

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