Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee have finally released their highly-anticipated draft legislation to cap greenhouse gas emissions. The proposal (pdf) is modeled after the Senate bill that was introduced, debated, but not voted on earlier this year. However, the draft legislation also contains some some substantial differences between the Senate version.

The draft would require 6 percent emission reductions by 2020, compared to 19 percent in the Senate bill. But the caps would accelerate in later years to require 80 percent reductions by 2050, which is actually faster than the total proposed reductions in the Senate version. The eighty percent reduction by 2050 would also matched the proposed targets released by Democratic candidate for President, Barack Obama.

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Representatives John Dingell (D-MI) and Rick Boucher (D-VA) said the slow start-up time would allow for the deployment of clean energy technology, particularly carbon capture and sequestration from coal-fired power plants. But the slow start-up of the proposed legislation has some environmental groups hoping to make some changes in the bill.

Director of Climate Policy, David H. Moulton of the Wilderness Society said:

“Unfortunately, it includes only a six percent reduction from 2005 levels by the year 2020. That goal is far short of the 20-25 percent reduction most scientists suggest we need in order to head off dangerous global warming later in the century. “By proposing weaker 2020 targets, the bill makes it even more difficult to bridge the gap, exposing our communities, ecosystems, public lands, national parks and wildlife refuges to unacceptable adverse impacts for even longer periods of time. We look forward to working with Chairmen Dingell and Boucher to ensure the 2020 targets are strengthened to lessen the impacts global warming will cause on our natural resources this century.”

The bill also proposes controversial limits on the ability of states to implement their own emissions caps. Some states, including California, have begun to create their own emissions-reduction programs.

According to reports, lawmakers have been under increasing pressure to release legislative text. Dingell and Boucher said that they did not want to rush the draft legislation because of the technical complexity of the issue.

CQ Politics