House Democratic leaders released a first draft of legislation to curb emissions from global warming. Here are the highlights: CAP-AND-TRADE PROGRAM RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY STANDARD COAL MEASURES
CAP-AND-TRADE PROGRAM
- Establishes a cap-and-trade program for electric utilities, oil companies and large industrial sources that release more than 25,000 tons of greenhouse gases a year.
- Sets increasingly tighter limits on greenhouse gas emissions from electric utilities, oil companies and large industrial sources. They would have to reduce global warming gases by 3 percent below 2005 levels in 2012, 20 percent in 2020, 42 percent in 2030 and 83 percent by 2050.
- Allows companies covered by plan to buy and sell allowances and to invest in projects that reduce pollution elsewhere to meet mandates.
RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY STANDARD
- Requires retail electricity suppliers to produce a percentage of their energy from renewable sources like wind, solar, biomass and geothermal.
- Sets targets of 6 percent in 2012, rising to 25 percent by 2025.
COAL MEASURES
- Promotes development of technologies to capture and store carbon dioxide from coal-fired plants.
- Limits the amount of carbon dioxide that new coal-fired power plants can release to 1,100 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour, beginning in 2015.
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OTHER MEASURES
- Prohibits EPA from regulating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases under other provisions of the Clean Air Act.
- Establishes an energy efficiency resource standard requiring electricity distribution companies to encourage customers to use less electricity and natural gas.
- Directs EPA to set emissions standards for locomotives, marine vessels and non-road sources such as leaf blowers, chain saws and tractors.
