Senate panel OKs global warming bill

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Source: Associated Press

Democrats turned back repeated efforts by Republican senators to soften the economic impact of a global warming bill before advancing it out of a Senate committee on Wednesday.

It was the first bill calling for mandatory U.S. limits on so-called greenhouse gases to be taken up in Congress since global warming emerged as an environmental issue more than two decades ago. The bill was approved 11-8 by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

GOP critics of the bill argued that limiting greenhouse gas emissions could become a hardship because of higher energy costs.

But Sen. John Warner of Virginia, a Republican co-sponsor who gave the bill legitimacy among many moderate GOP senators, called it "a chance to give America our opportunity ... to be counted on this very very important issue."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071206/ap_on_go_co/global_warming_senate

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1. Hallelujah! It's a start. nt

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2. US under pressure at climate conference

American climate negotiators refused to back down in their opposition to mandatory cuts in greenhouse gas emissions Thursday, even as a U.S. Senate panel endorsed sharp reductions in pollution blamed for global warming.

The United States, the world's largest producer of such gases, has resisted calls for strict limits on emissions at the U.N. climate conference, which is aimed at launching negotiations for an agreement to follow the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012.

That stance suffered a blow when the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed a bill Wednesday to cut U.S. emissions by 70 percent by 2050 from electric power plants, manufacturing and transportation. The bill now goes to the full Senate.

U.S. climate negotiator Harlan Watson, however, said that would not impact Washington's position at the international gathering in Bali.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071206/ap_on_sc/bali_climate_conference