Earth Equity News

Dingell, Boucher Release New Climate Bill. By Jim Snyder, The Hill, October 8, 2008. "The darkening economic outlook may force lawmakers to delay some public policy priorities, but two House Democrats indicated Tuesday that curbing global warming won't be one of them. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Energy and Air Quality subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-Va.) released a 461-page bill that seeks to cut greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 80 percent over the next four decades. Environmental groups welcomed that target, but criticized the bill, which Dingell and Boucher refer to as a 'discussion draft,' for delaying dramatic emissions reductions until after 2020... But perhaps more important than any particulars at this point is the fact that Dingell and Boucher, two members with whom environmental groups have clashed, have set down on paper their broad goals for climate change, a month before an election in which the economy is paramount on voters' minds. That signals a shift in the old debate of environment versus the economy, which was often won by pocketbook issues."