U.S. Senator Susan Collins today announced that climate change legislation she has cosponsored will now be considered by the full Senate. Yesterday, the America’s Climate Security Act (ACSA) was approved by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. The legislation was authored by Senators Joseph Lieberman (ID-CT) and John Warner (R-VA).
On its own, the America's Climate Security Act (ACSA) is projected to reduce total U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions by as much as 19% below the 2005 level (4% below the 1990 level) in 2020 and by as much as 63% below the 2005 level in 2050. This bill was presented as the core of a new federal program that Congress should pass to avert catastrophic global climate change while enhancing America's energy security.
“I am pleased that the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security bill, and I am proud to be an original co-sponsor of this bill,” noted Senator Collins. “Its passage out of Committee represents a milestone in the effort to develop a practical, economically sound approach to reducing America’s greenhouse gas emissions. I hope the full Senate will soon consider and pass this important legislation.”
America's Climate Security Act controls compliance costs by allowing companies to trade, save, and borrow emission allowances, and by allowing them to generate credits when they induce non-covered businesses, farms, and others to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions or capture and store greenhouse gases.