On the eve of Earth Day, I find it fitting to discuss the new bill put forth by the House Energy Committee. The Waxman-Markey Bill, also known as the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, was recently put forward for discussion in hopes to have legislation ready for debate by Memorial Day. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its analysis of the bill today, giving it high marks. According to the EPA, the bill will "drive the clean energy transformations of the U.S. economy." The bill proposes a cap-and-trade policy much like that currently being utilized by the European Union. Though many Republicans call this a "hidden energy tax," the EPA feels it will have a "relatively modest impact on U.S. consumers." This policy could also increase the percentage of our energy that comes from low and zero-emission energy sources to 46% by 2050. Currently these sources represent 14% of energy production. I find it refreshing, especially in the midst of such financial turmoil, that Congress and our President are still looking at the broad picture and trying to reverse U.S. policy towards climate change. I honestly feel that citizens follow the lead of their government, and this bill could help Americans to see the benefits of going green!!
also used in this post:
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/21/epa-releases-analysis-of-climate-bill/
by Jad Mouawad
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happy earth day! yea ur right...its kinda uplifting to see the government in our corner and trying to find real solutions to real problems. we often think of our government as inefficient and in many ways useless but it would be great if they actually thought about some possiblities for a greener, cleaner earth
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