Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), who has voiced strong support for a mandatory response to climate change, says she will not support a bill that would allow carbon credits to be traded on an open market. Cantwell is the author of an alternative climate change bill (S 2877) that would allow only covered businesses, like oil companies, to buy credits through a direct auction. "I think the auction's just a simpler process," she said. Asked whether her "no-markets" stance was non-negotiable, Cantwell said "for me it is."
Cantwell and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who cosponsored the legislation, met recently with the three senators who have been working for months to forge a compromise on an energy and climate change package: Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Those three have been holding several meetings a week since November, hoping to find a balance that can attract the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate. So far, this goal has been elusive. Graham is the only member of his party who is actively collaborating on the package. Most of his Republican colleagues oppose a mandatory cap on carbon.
Collins says that preventing market manipulation is only one of several concerns she has about cap and trade. Among other things, she says, is the suspicion among her constituents that they will end up paying more than they otherwise would have for energy. "I'm increasingly skeptical about creating this huge cap-and-trade scheme" that could end up creating a market valued at trillions of dollars, Collins said.
Collins and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) are two Republicans who Democrats are counting on to make up for the moderate Democrats likely to oppose any cap-and-trade bill. Snowe said she would meet with Kerry, Lieberman and Graham on cap and trade in the first week of February.
Kerry and Lieberman say they are still aiming to introduce and pass a climate and energy bill this spring, but with generally supportive senators like Cantwell, Collins and Snowe still undecided that hope seems remote.
Any climate bill is likely to include new provisions for nuclear energy, offshore fossil fuels development, and other policies that critics of the legislation have sought. "I think there's more common ground there than they were aware of," Kerry said.
Kerry also reiterated that he does not support the cap-and-dividend approach put forward by Cantwell and Collins. "I personally have articulated that I think there are problems with that, because it doesn't provide you with an ability to help people make a transition," he said.
The approach Kerry favors would distribute free emissions allowances in an effort to help utilities, industry and other covered entities comply with the cap in its early years. Still, he said that no idea is off the table at this point.
