The Obama administration is pushing for a "comprehensive" energy and climate bill because it will provide the economic foundation to spur investment in clean-energy technologies, said Carol Browner, the president's assistant on energy and climate.
Browner, the former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, was interviewed on Friday along with other business and political leaders at the Atlantic's First Draft of History conference at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. The interview was streamed live online.
Carol Browner, assistant to the president on energy and climate change, speaking at MIT earlier this year.
(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET)She argued that U.S. businesses will invest more in clean-energy technologies once Congress passes a law with incentives for renewable energy and efficiency as well as a cap-and-trade system that limits heat-trapping greenhouse gases.
"The point is we have to get started, we have to send a signal to the marketplace that we are going to be dealing with these (greenhouse gas) emissions in a different way," she said.
The House narrowly passed an energy and climate bill in May. The Senate earlier this week introduced its own version although passage of any combined bill is not expected before the end of this year. The timing is significant in international negotiations because the Copenhagen round of international climate negotiations will start in December this year.
A number of large companies and green technology start-ups continue to urge lawmakers to set up regulations that put a price on carbon emissions, with many business people preferring a cap-and-trade system. With a cap-and-trade, large polluters such as utilities can buy and sell permits to emit carbon to stay under a government-set cap, a system already used to reduce other air pollutants.
Passage of the bill in the Senate is far from certain with 60 votes needed. Earlier this week, the Environmental Protection Agency went ahead with a program to see how carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from stationary sources, such as power plants and factories, would be regulated under the Clean Air Act. But that is not the route that the Obama administration prefers, Browner said.
"We want to tools so we can work with the business community to reduce these pollutants," Browner said. "Every time we've implemented environmental clean-air regulations, we've gotten solutions more quickly and at dramatically less cost than anticipated."
She said that a "piecemeal" approach to regulations will not create the certainty that businesses need to make investments in clean-energy technologies because the regulations create demand.
The process around the passage of Waxman-Markey worked because lawmakers addressed regional and competitive issues posed by a cap on carbon emissions. For example, special programs to address high-polluting industries and incentives for regions that rely heavily on coal were set up.
Some lawmakers are drawn to clean-energy technology policies out of concern that China will "best" the U.S. economically, she added.
In response to a question, she said that nuclear power has to be part of the U.S. energy future. "You can't rule out clean sources of fuel," she said. Energy storage, particularly for solar and wind, and smart appliances that lower household electricity usage are some of the most active areas of technology development, she said.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--With hearings on an energy and climate bill scheduled to begin next week, "energy czar" Carol Browner on Monday said the Obama administration favors regulating greenhouse gases through "comprehensive legislation" rather than through the Environmental Protection Agency.
Carol Browner, assistant to the president on energy and climate change, speaking at MIT on Monday.
(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET)Browner spoke at a summit at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology hosted by Massachusetts Rep. Edward Markey, who chairs the Energy and Environment subcommittee of the House's Energy and Commerce Committee. The committee two weeks ago released a draft of energy and climate legislation that provides incentives for efficiency and renewable-energy technologies.
Following a Supreme Court decision two years ago, the EPA is moving to determine whether it can regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. But Browner, who is assistant to President Obama on energy and climate change, said a law that combines energy policy with climate policy is a more effective approach.
"It is the strong preference of the administration that we secure legislation. There are things that can be done that won't quite work within the existing law," she said in response to a question after her speech.
"We need to be looking at all of the issues that make up our energy future, that give us the kind of clean-energy jobs and give us energy security and ultimately reduction in greenhouse gases. We think that is best achieved in legislation," she said.
Proposals in the energy and climate bill, called the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (PDF), could have a direct impact on green-technology companies.
The bill, sponsored by Markey and California Rep. Henry Waxman, proposes a national mandate for renewable energy at utilities, efficiency standards, and the creation of a cap-and-trade system through which industries can buy and trade carbon emissions permits. Some of these permits would be auctioned off, creating a fund to invest in clean-energy technologies.
In a press conference on Monday during the summit, Markey said the possibility of the EPA regulating industries over greenhouse gas emissions "becomes a real factor in negotiations."
"I think it becomes a real factor because industries across the country will have to gauge for themselves how lucky they feel if they kill legislation, in terms of how the EPA would treat them," Markey said. "There's greater flexibility in the legislative process to deal with the myriad issues that arise."
The ACES bill calls for emissions permits to be auctioned as a way to establish a price for carbon. However, some of those permits would be given away to heavy-polluting industries, such as steel and paper, in the short term to remain competitive internationally, Markey said.
The bill also proposes a system through which proceeds from the auctions will be used for investments in energy research and to provide discounts to consumers, if there is a rise in electricity prices from the regulations.
Markey said the goal is to have the House vote on the bill before its August recess and to have it signed into law by the end of year, before the next round of climate negotiations in Copenhagen.
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