BIOMASS HUB

On Friday, December 11, Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced bipartisan legislation (S.2977) that directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a program “to regulate the entry of fossil carbon into commerce in the United States to promote clean energy jobs and economic growth and avoid dangerous interference with the climate of the Earth.”  Aimed at reducing global warming pollution, spurring job growth in clean energy technology, and returning money directly to consumers,  the bill would set up a mechanism for selling “carbon shares” to fuel producers and would return most of the resulting revenue in checks to taxpayers.  The legislation targets a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 20 percent by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050.

The Cantwell-Collins Carbon Limits and Energy for America’s Renewal (CLEAR) Act is an alternative approach to cap-and-trade that would likely result in a more predictable carbon price and provide the business incentive needed to develop and deploy clean energy technology.  Cantwell and Collins highlighted the findings of a recent report by the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University School of Law that concluded: “carbon pricing is the only signal that can cut through the noise and direct diverse economic actors towards smart, green investments – investments that will create jobs, encourage technological development, and maximize returns.”

According to Senator Cantwell:

Energy is a six-trillion dollar market opportunity, and green jobs can transform the U.S. economy, but we need a signal on carbon so that this can happen.  This bill provides a simple approach to getting off of carbon and on to clean energy alternatives. The CLEAR Act provides businesses and investors with a simple, predictable mechanism that will open the way to clean energy expansion while achieving America’s goals of reducing carbon emission.

The bill has been referred to the Committee on Finance.  A one page summary of the bill is available here.