President Obama on Sunday called a House-passed energy bill "an extraordinary first step" toward halting global warming and reducing the use of fossil fuels, but he expressed reservations about a controversial provision that would slap tariffs on imports from countries that do not similarly crack down on greenhouse gas emissions.
He predicted that the measure would spark innovation and jobs, and that its costs to consumers would fall well short of critics' warnings.
"What seems contentious now is going to seem like common sense in hindsight," he told reporters in the Oval Office.
The House bill, narrowly approved Friday, sets a declining cap on greenhouse gas emissions that scientists blame for global warming. Power plants, factories and other major emitters would need to obtain permits for their emissions or invest in "offsets," such as newly planted trees, that reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
The bill also includes strict energy efficiency standards and requirements for wind, solar and other renewable sources.
Obama sounded optimistic about its prospects in the Senate, where the House version will be the "blueprint," he said. The proposal must navigate concerns from more than a dozen Democratic senators who hail from oil, coal or manufacturing-heavy states.
Asked if he supported a provision, inserted late in the House debate, that seeks to penalize imports from nations that fail to cut their emissions in step with the United States, Obama said:
"At a time when the economy worldwide is still deep in recession and we've seen a significant drop in global trade, I think we have to be very careful about sending any protectionist signals." He noted that the bill contains other provisions to defend U.S. manufacturers and their employees from lower-cost foreign competition -- including free emissions permits for energy intensive industries vulnerable to foreign trade, such as steel and aluminum.
"I am very mindful of wanting to make sure there is a level playing field internationally," he said. "I think there may be other ways to do it than with a tariff approach." The relaxed, 40-minute interview was a relative rarity for Obama, in length and in tone. The president reaffirmed his faith in the bill, which Republicans call a job-killer and some environmentalists call ineffective. And he reiterated his belief that the "clean-energy economy," incentivized by the bill, will drive U.S. job growth for years.
Obama noted that his administration also has announced strict vehicle fuel standards and included hundreds of billions of dollars in energy-related spending in the economic stimulus program.
Within the first six months of his presidency, Obama said, "we've seen more action on shifting ourselves away from our dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuels than at any other time in several decades."
