By Peter Hardin
Media General News Service
Media General News Service
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WASHINGTON — Sen. John W. Warner, once cautious in weighing action to tackle global warming, now is urging colleagues to move quickly on his bill to combat it.
"I want to see the United States credibly enter the realm of world leadership on this issue by showing decisive legislative action here at home," Warner, R-Va., told a subcommittee hearing yesterday.
Moreover, he hoped the bill would be considered fast enough in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to send a clear signal in time for international global warming talks in Bali in December, he said.
Warner and Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn., last week introduced a bill that likely will become the Senate's leading vehicle to tackle climate change, and its kick-off hearing came before the subcommittee they lead.
The bill would require power plants and vehicles to reduce their greenhouse gases 70 percent by 2050 from 2005 levels. It would set a mandatory cap on greenhouse gases from electric power, manufacturing and transportation sources.
An endorsement for the bill came yesterday from Sen. Max Baucus, D-Montana, an influential lawmaker. Some others criticized the bill or urged a more gradual pace.
"I believe it is a moral imperative to deal with climate change," said Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. "This bill strikes a good balance."
Sen. James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, senior Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, urged a more deliberate pace in weighing of the bill.He said it failed to include a needed nuclear energy effort and that its "cap-and-trade" approach would not work.
That program first sets emissions limits and then allows companies to buy or sell emissions rights.
Sen. Christopher S. Bond, R-Mo., contended the bill would fail to protect millions of vulnerable families and workers from hardship caused by increased energy and fuel costs.
"I want to see the United States credibly enter the realm of world leadership on this issue by showing decisive legislative action here at home," Warner, R-Va., told a subcommittee hearing yesterday.
Moreover, he hoped the bill would be considered fast enough in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to send a clear signal in time for international global warming talks in Bali in December, he said.
Warner and Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn., last week introduced a bill that likely will become the Senate's leading vehicle to tackle climate change, and its kick-off hearing came before the subcommittee they lead.
The bill would require power plants and vehicles to reduce their greenhouse gases 70 percent by 2050 from 2005 levels. It would set a mandatory cap on greenhouse gases from electric power, manufacturing and transportation sources.
An endorsement for the bill came yesterday from Sen. Max Baucus, D-Montana, an influential lawmaker. Some others criticized the bill or urged a more gradual pace.
"I believe it is a moral imperative to deal with climate change," said Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. "This bill strikes a good balance."
Sen. James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, senior Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, urged a more deliberate pace in weighing of the bill.He said it failed to include a needed nuclear energy effort and that its "cap-and-trade" approach would not work.
That program first sets emissions limits and then allows companies to buy or sell emissions rights.
Sen. Christopher S. Bond, R-Mo., contended the bill would fail to protect millions of vulnerable families and workers from hardship caused by increased energy and fuel costs.