Boxer, Feinstein support nationwide approach on global warming
By: ERICA WERNER - Associated Press | ∞
WASHINGTON -- A strong federal law to combat global warming would be better than states passing their own measures as California did, Democratic Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein agreed Tuesday as Boxer chaired her first hearing on climate change.
But when Feinstein introduced a global warming bill this month, criticism from California officials led her to drop language that would have pre-empted the state's first-in-the nation law capping greenhouse gas emissions, she said.
The language "became very controversial," Feinstein said in testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that Boxer chairs. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office and environmental groups both voiced concerns about whether Feinstein's bill would reach the same strong standards set out in California law, something Feinstein believes it would.
Nevertheless, said Feinstein, "I think we need to grapple with a national standard so everybody plays with the same standards across the board."
"If we have a good system with good goals then one system is clearly the best," Boxer said.
Boxer called the hearing to get senators' views on climate change as Congress prepares to grapple with the issue. A number of senators -- including several 2008 presidential hopefuls -- endorsed imposing mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.
Boxer and Feinstein both support that approach, though Feinstein has limited her bill to just the electricity sector -- which accounts for about 33 percent of greenhouse gas emissions -- while Boxer supports an economy-wide solution.
"The broad consensus of those who spoke is that the time for action is now," said Boxer. "I think that this is the moment where we will take a stand."
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Randy wrote on Jan 31, 2007 2:26 AM:The federal government has no budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 2006. One-third of the year has gone by without a budget! The first priority of Congress should be the federal budget, not global warming!!
Concerned wrote on Jan 31, 2007 4:38 PM:Global warming is not caused soley by the burning of petrochemicals. Hacks such as Gore, Boxer, Feinstien, etc. are jumping on the wagon for one reason: to villinize the political right. If they have their way, the economy will suffer, you will suffer, the people of the world will suffer, and we will still have a hole in the ozone. That's the inconvenient truth...
Not Falling For IT! wrote on Feb 17, 2007 3:51 PM:Kill all termines!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Save GIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Termite and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Facts: Termites produce more Carbon Dioxide (CO2) each year than all living things combined. Scientists have calculated that termites alone produce ten times as much carbon dioxide as all the fossil fuels burned in the whole world in a year. Pound for pound, the weight of all the termites in the world is greater than the total weight of humans. Scientists estimate that, worldwide, termites may release over 150 million tons of methane gas into the atmosphere annually. In our lower atmosphere this methane then reacts to form carbon dioxide and ozone. It is estimated that for every human on Earth there may be 1000 pounds of termites. On the average Termites expel gas composed of about 59% nitrogen, 21% hydrogen, 9% carbon dioxide, 7% methane, and 4% oxygen. It is thought "There are 2,600 different species of termites, and it is estimated that there are at least a million billion individual termites on Earth.that they emit two and four percent of the global carbon dioxide and methane budget, respectively-both mediated directly or indirectly by their microbes. Termites eat cellulose, but they can not digest it without the help of microorganisms in their gut. Single-celled protozoan are the primary organisms that break the bonds that turn cellulose into units of glucose, and from there, the termite can break the glucose bonds, release the energy, and give off carbon dioxide and water. The Science magazine reports that termites annually generate more than twice as much carbon dioxide as mankind does burning fossil fuels. One termite species annually emits 600,000 metric tons of formic acid into the atmosphere, an amount equal to the combined contributions of automobiles, refuse combustion and vegetation.
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