The Senate must do better in passing an effective, just, and sustainable change bill
Earlier this summer, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES). Unfortunately this bill falls far short of what is needed to provide the transformational change and greenhouse emissions reductions required to avert catastrophic climate impacts.
Climate legislation must:
- Set an economy wide cap on greenhouse emissions that is consistent with the best available science and the United States’ fair share of global emissions reductions and that can be ratcheted down as necessary.
- Preserve the ability of the Clean Air Act to reduce greenhouse pollutants.
- Eliminate the many loopholes in ACES and ensure the integrity of the pollution reduction system, especially offsets
- Protect low- and middle- income families, including providing vulnerable communities with resources to adapt to climate impacts, while minimizing the ability of Wall Street to manipulate carbon markets.
- Provide for abundant clean energy from sources such as low-impact solar, wind, and nondam hydropower; and ensure that new energy sources, such as bioenergy, are sustainable
- Eliminate polluter giveaways, including massive subsidies to coal and oil, and direct public money to investments in energy efficiency, renewables and green jobs; and
- Live up to the U.S.’s international obligations by providing adequate international finance for clean technology and adaptation, in addition to deeply reducing emissions
Friends of the Earth has put together recommendations for what climate legislation must look like in order to mitigate the worst effects of climate destabilization. There is growing public support for stronger climate legislation from the Senate.
We also offer a critique of some of the main weaknesses of the House climate bill, entitled The American Clean Energy and Security Act, or ACES:
