Washington - The US Senate on Tuesday began what promises to
be a long and divisive debate over how to tackle global warming and
boost renewable energy sources in the United States.
Four top energy officials from President Barack Obama's
administration kicked off the Senate debate with testimony before the
chamber's environment committee, which will play a key role in
crafting legislation.
The Senate hearing comes ten days after the lower House of
Representatives narrowly approved its own climate and energy bill,
which for the first time would force US companies to pay for
pollutants that are blamed for climate change.
'The administration and Congress need to work together to spur a
revolution in clean energy technologies,' Energy Secretary Steven Chu
said in written testimony to the environment committee.
The climate bill passed by a wafer-thin 219-212 votes in the
House. Passage will likely be even more difficult in the Senate,
where a similar effort failed in the latter years of president George
W Bush's administration.
Most Republicans and many Democrats from rural, agriculture-heavy
and coal-producing states oppose the measure out of fear that it will
harm industries in their states.
Senate committees are expected to hammer out a deal by September,
but climate groups have warned the bill could lose their support if
its measures are watered down much further.
The House bill would for the first time create a so-called cap-
and-trade system in the United States, under which companies will be
allocated pollution credits that dirtier and cleaner firms can trade
with each other on the open market.
USA
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