Schwarzenegger Backs Chairman Boxer's Efforts to Bring First Ever Global Warming Bill to Senate Floor

From YubaNet.com

CA
Schwarzenegger Backs Chairman Boxer's Efforts to Bring First Ever Global Warming Bill to Senate Floor
Author: Boxer Office
Published on Dec 4, 2007, 08:18

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, (D-CA) today received the support of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in her efforts to bring legislation aimed at combating global warming to the Senate floor.

Boxer's committee will hold a business meeting to consider the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2007 on Wednesday. In a letter to Boxer today, the Republican governor cited a number of provisions in the bill that he thought were positive and encouraged other committee members to vote for the measure and send it to the floor.

The Governor noted it is critical that the committee take action and send a strong signal this week to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change.

The text of the letter follows,

Dear Chairman Boxer,

I write to commend you and your Senate colleagues for your commitment to bringing federal climate legislation before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee this week. While California has long been a leader in climate policy and climate-friendly energy legislation, we are well aware that our goals for climate stabilization cannot be achieved without similar efforts by the rest of the country.

I am encouraged that the legislation currently under consideration, the "Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2007," includes many of the key principles that are critical for effective climate legislation, including:

- Effective and enforceable targets necessary to achieve climate stabilization, including a scientific review to determine if further reductions are necessary.
- Market mechanisms to maximize environmental benefits while minimizing the cost of the program to consumers.
- Incentives for technological innovation in low-emission technologies.
- Strategic use of allowances and auction revenue for public benefit.
- Promotion of end-use efficiency standards and practices.
- Preserve states' ability to innovate and implement new policies into the future.

We strongly encourage you and your colleagues to move this bill through committee and bring it to the floor, where we expect to continue working with you to further strengthen provisions dealing with allowance distribution, funding programs and supplementary policies and strategies for the transportation sector. As we approach the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change discussions in Bali, Indonesia, this week, it is critical that the U.S. provide a strong signal that we are serious about climate change and moving toward a policy solution.

Sincerely,

Arnold Schwarzenegger