National Energy/Climate Bills

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How does the legislative process work?

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What bills are currently being considered?

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What are the pros and cons of each? Who stands to win and who stands to lose?

The legislative process: how does a bill become law?

Step 1: Bill is introduced by sponsor (and co-sponsors)

assigned a # (S.#### for Senate bills and H.R.#### for House bills), printed and posted on web  http://www.govtrack.us

Step 2: Committee consideration

referred to one or more House or Senate committees; must receive a majority vote from committee members in order to move to the floor for a full vote

Step 3: Subcommittee consideration

some bills sent to special subcommittee for further study or public hearings; subcommittee may “mark up” bill by adding amendments and making changes; must receive a majority vote to send back to committee or it dies

Step 4: Bill “reported” by committee; published

Step 5: Floor action – legislative calendar

bill scheduled for debate, or “floor action”; majority party decides order

Step 6: Debate

House members typically limited to 1-5 minutes each, if at all Senators have unlimited speaking time  opponents can filibuster until either a) back-door agreement reached b) 60 senators move to end debate and call a vote

Step 7: Voting

either electronic or verbal

Step 8: Bill referred to other chamber

other chamber can approve, reject, amend, or ignore the bill

Step 9: Conference committee

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towards “reconciliation”

members from House and Senate work to compromise on differences in passed bills; changes must be approved by House and Senate, else bill dies

Step 10: Signature by President

if President vetoes bill, 66% of House and Senate members needed to override

Bill Name Status

HOUSE

H.R. 2454: American Clean Energy and Security Act Waxman, D-CA; Markey, D-MA

SENATE

Passed 6/25/09 219 to 212 S. 1462: American Clean Energy Leadership Act Bingaman, D-NM (chairman) Passed Comm.

S. 1733: Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act Kerry, D-MA; Boxer, D-CA; Cardin, D-MD; Kirk, D-MA; 9/30/09 Passed Comm.

S. ????: Kerry, D-MA; Graham, R-SC; Lieberman, I-CT working to introduce comprehensive climate/energy bill that will muster 60 votes needed to block predictable Republican filibuster

H.R. 2454: American Clean Energy and Security Act Key Provisions: 1)Clean Energy -renewable electricity/efficiency standard, CCS, new rules for new coal plants, R&D for electric vehicles, $ for smart grid 2)Energy Efficiency - building, lighting, appliance, and vehicle efficiency programs 3)Cap and Trade Program 4)Transitioning to a Clean Energy Economy -preserve domestic competitiveness, support workers and consumers, support for domestic and international adaptation measures 5) Agriculture and Forestry-related offsets (tied to #3)

Waxman-Markey Cap & Trade

Covers

1) stationary sources emitting >25,000 tons of GHG/yr 2) oil refineries 3) importers of petroleum 4) natural gas distributors 5) “F-gas” producers (CFCs, HCFCs, HFCs etc) [separate cap]

Targets

-3% of 2005 by 2012, -17% by 2020; -83% by 2050

Distribution of Allowances

20% allowances auctioned at first, 70% by 2030; funds to go to 1) protecting consumer (esp. low income) from rising electricity and gas prices 2) fund technological advances

Where does the money from allowances go to?

electricity consumers for price protection consumers as energy divident

Waxman-Markey Cap & Trade (cont.)

Offsets

- allows 2 billion tons of offsets system-wide (1 billion domestic; 1 billion international); President can recommend increase or decrease -creates “Offsets Integrity Advisory Board” to oversee and qualify offsets - involves domestic offset program using agriculture and forestry

Costs to Consumers

- Congressional Budget Office cost of $175/yr/household on average net benefit of $41/yr/household for low-income - EPA estimates cost of $80-111/yr/household

Carbon Market Oversight

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; Commodity Futures Trading Commission; no over-the-counter trading of derivatives

Interaction with State and Regional Cap-and-Trade Programs

State programs put on hold 2012-2017 Existing state CO2 allowances can be traded in for federal allowances

Waxman-Markey on Coal

Focuses on CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage)

-creates Carbon Storage Research Corporation ($1 billion/yr for 10 years funded from small tax on electricity rates); oversee 5 large commercial CCS operations -for 10 years, gives bonus allowances to companies that do CCS (equivalent to $100/ton of CO2); second 10 years bonus allowances are auctioned

ACES gives $250 billion in CCS incentives by 2050!

Waxman-Markey on Nuclear and low-C Energy

Creates sustained federal funding for low-C energy

-creates Clean Energy Deployment Administration (initially funded by $7.5 billion in “green bonds” granted by US Treasury); 20yr charter; oversee distribution of allowances granted to clean energy projects

Removes regulatory and financing hurdles for nuclear

-places sole responsibility for nuclear permitting and financing in the DOE; heavy oversight by Energy Secretary; $19 billion available in financing right now

Electricity generating capacity by 2050 in BAU and with ACES

S. 1462 American Clean Energy Act of 2009 “Half-assed”

• • • • • Clean energy investment fund to develop clean energy DOE Clean Energy Deployment Administration Provides monetary support to deployment of clean energies National Commission on Nuclear Waste To study the issues Working Group on Energy Markets More issue-studying Renewable Energy Standards 3% by 2011-2013 15% by 2021-2039

S. 1733 Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act “Not business friendly enough”

• • • • Cap and trade Reduces emissions by 20% by 2020 Reduces emissions by 83% by 2050 Creates performance standards for new coal-fired power plants National product carbon disclosure program Amends the Clean Air Act to allow the EPA to reduce carbon caps, establish a GHG registry, and establish emissions allowances.