After months of playing hide and go seek, the world's biggest polluter finally got working to shape up their act with the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act.
The bill, calls for 20 % cuts by 2020 and a 80 % reduction by 2050. A definite improvement, over the previous 17 % emissions target for 2020. It seeks to "mandate heavy investments in new job-producing, clean-energy technologies". Laying claims to “create clean energy jobs” and “achieve energy independence” while targeting “global warming pollution”, Senator Boxer also emphasises the "great economic opportunity”.
If the Senators thought that the enormous green job opportunity would placate the U.S. taxpayers struggling in an already existing recession, they have a re-think here. Already fears are being voiced about jobs and cheaper energy options being outsourced. A serious implication, for a flagging U.S. economy and amazing possibilities for countries like India.
It is glaringly evident that in a last-ditch effort to show itself in a good light in the wake of the Copenhagen climate meet, the U.S. legislation has gone overboard with its costly, unrealistic targets of a 20 % cut target in a 11 year time-frame. Meaningful issues as nuclear research or how the additional costs will be mitigated and passed on to manufacturers and consumers are not mentioned. The bill does not address how it intends to constrain carbon emissions either. The bottom line is that without the 'cap and trade' details, the Bill leaves itself open to attack from the Oil and Coal sectors and right wing radicals, thus meaningless till de facto..
On a lighter side
Such has been the nail-biting climate conundrum over the past few weeks that it has inspired even the most die-hard cynics. We have homilies being evoked at random, with quotes from John Dunne being compared to the current climate change effect, "a bell that tolls for all of us".
There is the CEO Mr Kevin Tuerff, who has likened global climate negotiations to a poker game and a Grist blogger who has seen U.S.-China playing poker in his dreams.
All in all, this entire climate quagmire leading up to Copenhagen shall probably remain in the minds for a long time to come, whether as the fiasco of the decade or the turning point for world climate graphs, we are here to see.
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To be followed by a mid-week update on "The Indian Approach"