A new bi-partisan Senate bill to reduce US output of greenhouse gases by 70% by the year 2050 has just been introduced and is expected to pass the Senate as early as next year, according to this AP story excerpted below:A Senate blueprint for tackling global warming would require power plants and vehicles to reduce their greenhouse gases by 70 percent. A chief sponsor said President Bush's approach of voluntary action will not meet the goal.
The proposal Thursday by Sens. John Warner, R-Va., and Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, was seen as a compromise that could get the 60 votes needed to pass, perhaps next year.
"It is the tipping point ... a breakthrough," said Lieberman, who heads the Senate Environmental and Public Works subcommittee that will write the legislation. Warner is the panel's top Republican.
Lawmakers already have introduced a half-dozen bills that recommend limits on greenhouse gases; some are more aggressive than the one from Lieberman and Warner. But not one has the strong bipartisan support.
In addition to Warner, Republican Sens. Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, Norm Coleman of Minnesota and Susan Collins of Maine are co-sponsors, as is Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.
The proposal Thursday by Sens. John Warner, R-Va., and Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, was seen as a compromise that could get the 60 votes needed to pass, perhaps next year.
"It is the tipping point ... a breakthrough," said Lieberman, who heads the Senate Environmental and Public Works subcommittee that will write the legislation. Warner is the panel's top Republican.
Lawmakers already have introduced a half-dozen bills that recommend limits on greenhouse gases; some are more aggressive than the one from Lieberman and Warner. But not one has the strong bipartisan support.
In addition to Warner, Republican Sens. Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, Norm Coleman of Minnesota and Susan Collins of Maine are co-sponsors, as is Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.
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