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President Bush Announces Clear Skies &
Global Climate Change Initiatives
President
George W. Bush unveils the most aggressive initiative in American history to cut
power plant emissions, as well as a bold new strategy for addressing global
climate change.
Through
the Clear Skies Initiative, the President proposes cutting power plant emissions
of the three worst air pollutants - nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and mercury
- by 70 percent. The initiative will improve air quality using a proven,
market-based approach.
The
President’s Global Climate Change initiative commits America to an aggressive
strategy to cut greenhouse gas intensity by 18% over the next 10 years. The
strategy also supports vital climate change research and ensures that both
America’s workers and the citizens of the developing world are not unfairly
penalized.
The Clear Skies Initiative
What it
will do:
- Dramatically
& Steadily Cuts Power Plant Emissions of Three of the Worst Air
Pollutants:
- Cuts
sulfur dioxide emissions by 73 percent - lowering current emissions of 11
million tons to a cap of 4.5 million tons in 2010, and 3 million tons in
2018.
- Cuts
emissions of nitrogen oxides by 67 percent - lowering current emissions of 5
million tons to a cap of 2.1 million tons in 2008, and to 1.7 million tons
in 2018.
- Cuts
mercury emissions by 69 percent - the first-ever national cap on mercury
emissions. Emissions will be lowered from current emissions of 48 tons to a
cap of 26 tons in 2010, and 15 tons in 2018.
How it
will do it:
- Uses
a Proven Market-Based Approach:
- Protects
Americans from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases by dramatically
reducing smog, acid rain, fine particles, regional haze, nitrogen and
mercury deposition.
- Protects
our wildlife, habitats and ecosystem health.
- Cuts
pollution further, faster, cheaper and with more certainty, using a
"cap-and trade" program, replacing a cycle of endless litigation
with rapid and certain improvements in air quality.
- Saves
as much as $1 billion annually in compliance costs that are passed along to
American consumers, and improves air quality and protects the reliability
and affordability of electricity.
- Uses
the model of our most successful clean air law - the 1990 Clean Air Act’s
acid rain program - and encourages use of new and cleaner pollution control
technologies.
A New Approach on Global Climate Change
President
Bush has committed America to an aggressive new strategy to cut greenhouse gas (GHG)
intensity by 18% over the next 10 years. The initiative also supports vital
climate change research and ensures that both America’s workers and the
citizens of the developing world are not unfairly penalized. The President’s
initiative puts America on a path to slow the growth of greenhouse gas
emissions, and - as the science justifies - to stop, and then reverse that
growth.
Cutting Greenhouse Gas Intensity by 18 Percent Over the Next 10 Years
Greenhouse
gas intensity is the ratio of greenhouse gas emissions to economic output. The
President’s goal seeks to lower our rate of emissions from an estimated 183
metric tons per million dollars of GDP in 2002, to 151 metric tons per million
dollars of GDP in 2012. By
significantly
slowing the growth of greenhouse gases, this policy will put America on a path
toward stabilizing GHG concentration in the atmosphere in the long run, while
sustaining the economic growth needed to finance our investments in a new,
cleaner energy structure. America is already improving its GHG intensity; new
policies and programs will accelerate that progress, avoiding more than 500
million metric tons of GHG emissions over the next ten years - the equivalent of
taking nearly one out of every three cars off the road. This goal is comparable
to the average progress that nations participating in the Kyoto Protocol are
required to achieve.
A New Tool to Measure and Credit Emissions Reductions
The U.S.
will improve its GHG registry to enhance measurement accuracy, reliability and
verifiability, working with and taking into account emerging domestic and
international approaches. These improvements will give businesses incentives to
invest in new, cleaner technology and voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas
emissions.
Protect and Provide Transferable Credit for Emission Reductions
The
President will direct the Secretary of Energy to recommend reforms to: (1)
ensure that businesses that register voluntary reductions are not penalized
under a future climate policy, and (2) give credit to companies that can show
real emissions reductions.
Reviewing
Progress on Climate Change and Taking Additional Action if Necessary in 2012,
which may include a broad, market-based program, as well as additional
initiatives to accelerate technology. If, in 2012, we find that we are not on
track toward meeting our goal, and sound science justifies further policy
action, the United States will respond with additional measures that may include
a broad, market-based program as well as additional incentives and voluntary
measures designed to accelerate technology development and deployment.
Unprecedented Funding for Climate Change-Related Programs
The
President’s budget in FY 2003 provides $4.5 billion for global climate
change-related activities - a $700 million increase. This includes the first
year of funding for a five-year, $4.6 billion commitment to tax credits for
renewable energy sources.
A
Comprehensive Range of New and Expanded Domestic and International Policies
including:
- Expanded
research and development of climate-related science and technology
- Expanded
use of renewable energy
- Business
sector challenges
- Improvements
in the transportation sector
- Incentives
for sequestration
- Enhanced
support for climate observation and mitigation in the developing world.
A Better Alternative to the Kyoto Protocol
Rather
than making drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that would put
millions of Americans out of work and undermine our ability to make long-term
investments in clean energy - as the Kyoto Protocol would have required - the
President’s growth-based approach will accelerate the development of new
technologies and encourage partnerships on climate change issues with the
developing world.
Paid
for by the Republican National Committee.