Congress is finally getting serious about global warming. But ironically, the approach it is considering would hasten, rather than slow, environmental calamity.
The Senate opened debate this week on legislation known as the Warner-Lieberman bill. It would limit U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2012 to 2005 levels, and reduce those by 70 percent in 2050.
Unfortunately, by encouraging energy-intensive American industries to flee to developing countries, this bill would penalize U.S. businesses that could contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and thus accelerate global warming. Working toward a global set of standards for such industries would be a better approach.
The Kyoto Protocol, implemented in 2005 without the United States, commits almost all other industrialized countries to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 6 percent to 8 percent below 1990 levels. Developing countries are generally absolved, and industrialized countries may avoid some emission reductions by sponsoring cleanup and reforestation projects in the developing world.
Carbon dioxide emissions account for more than four-fifths of America's greenhouse gas emissions and a larger share of those subject to government regulation. CO2 is created by processing and burning fossil fuels, and cutting emissions requires slashing their use.
To reduce emissions, European Union governments require industries that produce and use fossil fuels to obtain emission allowances, which businesses buy and sell in a private market. Purchasing allowances raises costs for fossil-fuel-intensive activities such as electrical generation, manufacturing and driving.
Warner-Lieberman would impose a similar cap-and-trade regime in the United States. But large developing countries such as China and India show little inclination to adopt comparable effective strategies, and the EU regime encourages carbon-intensive industries, such as steel, aluminum and automobiles, to move to those locations. Warner-Lieberman would encourage a similar exodus of U.S. manufacturers.
Reducing emissions in industrialized countries by moving carbon-intensive manufacturing to developing countries only raises emission levels worldwide, because China and others use fossil fuels so inefficiently. China's gross domestic product is less than one-fourth of America's or Europe's, yet it emits more greenhouse gases than they do.
