Yesterday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed a non-binding resolution encouraging U.S. engagement on climate change.

The passage of the resolution shows growing momentum in the Senate to address climate change and pass legislation that would encourage reductions in greenhouse gas emissions -- leaving the issue of whether to pursue voluntary or mandatory programs open.

The resolution was broad enough that both Kyoto Protocol opponents and supporters felt comfortable with the language.  Please see article below.

On other climate change related Hill activity, the Senate Government Affairs Committee is scheduled to mark-up climate change legislation today (S. 1008) sponsored by Senator Robert Byrd (D-W. Virginia) and Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska).

S. 1008 would require development of a U.S. climate change response strategy with a long-term goal of stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.  The strategy would seek ways to mitigate emissions and promote technology innovation, climate adaptation research and efforts to resolve scientific and economic uncertainties.  It would authorize spending of $4.9 billion over 10 years.

Of interest to Enron, the legislation includes incentives and research and development funding for a broad range of clean energy technologies, including clean coal, renewable energy, energy efficiency and fuel cells.  

I will keep you posted on new developments. 

Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to receive copies of the legislation.

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AUG 02, 2001
Senate Committee United in Seeking Bush Action on Emissions
By DAVID E. ROSENBAUM
WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 - A Senate committee unanimously approved a nonbinding resolution today that called on the Bush administration to develop a plan to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and to take part in international negotiations on global warming.
A chief sponsor of the resolution, Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, said its purpose was to make clear "that the Bush administration's current posture of sitting on the sidelines is unacceptable."
The measure was approved, 19 to 0, as an amendment to a bill authorizing the programs of the State Department. The companion State Department bill passed by the House in May contains similar language.
The resolution was carefully written so that administration supporters could feel comfortable voting for it. Senator Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, one of President Bush's chief allies on global warming, said he voted for the measure because it endorsed the president's position that any global-warming pact should protect the economic interests of the United States and have participation by developing countries.
In Bonn last week, 178 countries reached agreement on rules of the Kyoto Protocol, a 1997 treaty requiring industrial powers to limit emission of gases like carbon dioxide linked to global warming. 
The United States, the largest producer of greenhouse gases, was alone in rejecting the treaty. President Bush called it "fatally flawed" because it would place no emission restrictions on developing countries and because, in his view, compliance would be so expensive it would damage the American economy.
Administration officials have said they are working on a position on global warming but have refused to make a commitment to have a proposal ready for presentation at the next international meeting on the Kyoto accord in October.
In Congressional testimony last week, Christie Whitman, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said, "We're still a long way from knowing how to solve the problem."
But especially since Democrats took control of the Senate two months ago, Congress has been aggressively challenging the president on environmental issues.
While the resolution has no binding effect, lawmakers seem likely to pass one or more measures this year intended to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide. The main question is whether the restrictions will be mandatory or voluntary.
The crucial paragraph of the resolution adopted today by the Foreign Relations Committee expresses the "sense of Congress" that the United States should take part in international negotiations on global warming and should offer a proposal at the meeting in October that protects the economic interests of the United States and requires developing countries to limit emissions.
Another paragraph specifies that a Senate resolution approved, 95 to 0, in 1997 before the Kyoto accord was made final "should not cause the United States to abandon its shared responsibility to help find a solution to the global climate change dilemma."
The 1997 resolution, sponsored by Senator Hagel and Senator Robert C. Byrd, Democrat of West Virginia, expressed the view of the Senate that emission restrictions should be placed on developing countries. Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, the Republican leader, and other administration supporters have said the Byrd-Hagel resolution showed that senators from both parties were opposed to the Kyoto treaty.