Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Idaho, for example, with its large component of hydro-
power (
). Regional collections
of states have agreed on standards. What exists now is a
patchwork of attempts to solve what is an international
problem, and a national program is needed that places
such a program in a world context. On the Federal stage,
there has been a partisan divide, with the Democrats for
action and the Republicans against. Among the states
there has been no such divide, and the regional compacts
include states with Democratic and Republican govern-
ors. Emission reductions were never a partisan issue out in
the country, only in Washington.
First a bit of history: although the United States has still
not rati
% of electricity in
ed the Kyoto Protocol, there was reason to do
something about both the imports of oil that were
harming our balance of payments and about greenhouse
gas emissions. It started with the Congressional election
of
, and new CAFE standards
finally did become law
in
, but there was no progress on broader greenhouse
gas regulation. The election of
changed things fur-
ther, and greenhouse gas regulation was now on the front
burner of the national stove. Drafts of model bills circu-
lated in the Congress, and the talk was of a national law
before the end of
. The intent was to develop a
control regime that would move the entire energy system
toward low- or no-emission modes. The attempt failed,
but the two main approaches are still at the center of
thinking about what to do. The state laws that have been
enacted while Washington has been paralyzed are still in
effect. I
find that some are still useful, some were never
useful, and some have been counterproductive. My hope
is that a national law would bring a degree of uniformity
