Senate Environment Committee Holds Hearings on Climate Legislation

Bill will increase energy and fuel costs, restrict highway capacity improvements   The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee this week conducted three days of legislative hearings with over 50 witnesses providing testimony on S. 1733, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, a bill that would create a "cap and trade" regulatory program to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to address global climate change concerns.  The bill aims to reduce U.S. GHG emissions by 20 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and 83 percent below 2005 levels by 2050.  Late last week, Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) released a 932-page revised "Chairman's Mark" to S. 1733.  Significant in the revisions are the specifications on the distribution of emission allowances under the bill.  Free emission allowances are highly prized by affected industries seeking to keep their costs lower under the cap and trade bill.  The revised bill proposes to distribute up to 75 percent of the total allowances for free, with the biggest chunk set aside to electric utilities to keep consumer electricity costs affordable.  The revised bill would also set-aside about 3 percent of auctioned allowance revenue for "clean" transportation projects.  Additional auction proceeds would be available for states to fund energy-efficient retrofits of existing buildings.  Friday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that the average household cost of S. 1733 would be about $100 per year.  In contrast, the Heritage Foundation has estimated that a family of four's average household expenses would increase by about $4,600 per year.  The U.S. House of Representatives passed its comprehensive energy and climate change legislation, H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, in June. Proponents of climate change legislation in the Senate are coordinating at least five committees with jurisdiction over the issue and have signaled their intent to bring a comprehensive bill to the Senate floor as soon as possible following the debate on health care legislation.  The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved its energy provisions in June. AGC has been working with stakeholders in the real estate, design, and construction industry to communicate the industry's concerns with energy and cap and trade legislation.  AGC is largely concerned that cap and trade would increase the cost of construction and that its impact on the economy would reduce demand for construction services.  AGC has prepared a document Top Ten Things Contractors Need to Know about Climate Change that summarizes AGC's concerns with energy and climate change legislation.  AGC and several transportation stakeholders sent a letter to Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Boxer and Ranking Member Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) Wednesday outlining concerns with the transportation planning provisions in s. 1733 that would make planning for and building highway capacity projects more difficult. AGC encourages members to express their concerns with the Senate climate change bill by contacting their senators using AGC's Legislative Action Center.