WASHINGTON
A plan to battle global warming by imposing increasingly tighter limits on carbon dioxide emissions is close to securing the votes needed to pass the Senate, its supporters said Wednesday.
A bipartisan group including Sen. John Warner, R-Va., unveiled a new version of the proposal, with key changes designed to win over wavering lawmakers, most of them Republicans.
The Lieberman-Warner proposal is expected to hit the Senate floor early next month. The legislation would create a federally controlled market for carbon emissions, with industries buying and selling discharge allowances.
Warner, the architect of some of the largest changes, said they would permit future presidents to relax emission standards in times of economic emergency. The president also could intervene if he determined that anti-pollution technologies had not advanced sufficiently to permit industries to meet the law's emissions standards, Warner said.
The changes also include tax-relief provisions designed to help low- and middle-income families offset the increased energy costs that would result from emissions controls.
Warner said he expects to propose other changes to the bill that would encourage additional development of nuclear power plants. In decline for decades because of concerns about reactor safety, the U.S. nuclear industry is looking to make a comeback amid growing public pressure for government action to curb carbon emissions.
Proponents argue that nuclear plants are safe and far cleaner than coal- or oil-fired power stations. Opponents argue that they generate another environmental hazard: radioactive waste.
Warner, 81, whose 30-year Senate career has been focused mostly on national defense issues, has suggested that he views strong action to combat climate change as a capstone for his tenure. He plans to retire in January.
Dale Eisman, (703) 913-9872, dale.eisman@pilotonline.com
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