Earth Equity News

Barbara Boxer Promises Cap-and-Trade Bill. By Ryan Byrnes, Cybercast News, February 4, 2009. "Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Senate Environment and Public Works Committee chair, told reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference Tuesday that Democrats on the committee are writing a global warming bill that she says will not only preserve the environment, but also help remedy the nation's economic problems. 'Don't allow talk of an economic recession to stop our work,' Boxer said. 'The surest way to create good jobs in this country is to mobilize for clean energy.' Boxer said she does not agree with economists who say taxes are the most effective way to reduce carbon emissions. She reaffirmed support for a cap-and-trade emissions system... 'We're working, let's be clear, on cap-and-trade programs,' Boxer said. 'The whole world is doing cap-and-trade, so we need to be consistent.' Under cap-and trade, government sets a cap on the amount of a pollutant that can be emitted, and companies that exceed the cap are allowed to trade or purchase credits from companies that pollute less. Boxer outlined the principles that will guide the committee in drafting a global-warming bill: setting short- and long-term emission targets that are certain and enforceable, establishing a transparent and accountable market-based system to reduce carbon emissions, and not setting specific numerical goals for carbon reduction but letting science dictate policy. 'Science will guide us, period,' she said."