This bill departs from previous initiatives by taking a more comprehensive approach to the fundamental problems we face today. By the time this bill reaches the floor, it will include the concerns, advice, and perspective of six Senate Committees: engergy and Natural Resources (which passed the bipartisan American Clean Energy Leadership Act earlier this year),Finance, Ahriculture, Commerce, Foreign Relations, and Environment and Public Works. The President has directed new funds for the task of addressing energy and climate, and this bill’s provisions support the President’s goals. Key provisions include: strengthening the 2020 target for greenhouse pollution reductions from the Waxman-Markey target of 17 percent to 20 percent. Following Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s (D-NY) call to give the EPA authority to regulate coal plants under the Clean Air Act. It includes Sen. Tom Carper’s (D-DE) push to devote a guaranteed share of revenues from carbon regulation to green modes of transportation. It would also include provisions to reward coal fired power plant owners to switch to natural gas.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES Act), H.R. 2454, on June 26 by a vote of 219 to 212. This comprehensive national climate and energy legislation would establish an economy-wide, greenhouse gas (GHG) cap-and-trade system and critical complementary measures to help address climate change and build a clean energy economy. The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted 33-25 to approve the ACES Act on May 21. Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-California) and Rep. Edward Markey (D-Massachusetts), chairman of a key subcommittee, introduced the bill on May 15, after floating a discussion draft in March.
Now that the House has passed the ACES Act, it will be sent to the U.S. Senate for consideration. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, chaired by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico) passed on June 17 an American Clean Energy Leadership Act (S.1462). This bill addresses several energy issues, including many addressed under the ACES Act. Several Senate Committees will be addressing aspects of a clean energy and climate bill in September. These measures will likely be combined to create the Senate counterpart to the ACES Act. If the Senate passes this combined bill, differences between the Senate and House bills would have to be reconciled, with the final bill passed by both houses, before the bill could be sent to President Obama and signed into law.