In a letter to Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) outlined his policy priorities for the comprehensive climate legislation Sen. Kerry is authoring. Levin’s letter highlights “some of the points I made at the March 2 meeting on climate legislation” :
- Eliminate California waiver for automotive emissions
- Pre-empt EPA from Clean Air Act regulation of stationary sources
- A “realistic and firm” price collar
- A “delay of at least 10 years in regulation of industrial sources”
- “Sufficient” allowances for industrial sources
- Trade provisions “to assure a level playing field”
- A “100% emissions-based distribution formula” for permits to electricity generation
Although Levin’s language is unclear, the “delay of at least 10 years in regulation of industrial sources” appears to refer to individual site performance standards, not a decade-long delay in including industrial polluters under a market-based cap.
Giving allowances away to polluters for free based on their historic emissions, or “grandfathering,” says Environment America, “rewards owners of highly polluting facilities and discourages innovation.” Europe’s grandfathered cap-and-trade system generated $100 billion in windfall profits before they moved to an auctioned-credit system.
The liberal organization MoveOn is strongly opposed to pre-emption of the Clean Air Act in climate legislation.
Full text of the letter below: