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• The Intractable Flaws of Cap-and-Trade Scheme
• Virginian Leads Sensible Climate Change Efforts
Rep. Rick Boucher has proven time and again that Virginia and the nation's consumers come first. This was again made clear with his recent work on climate change legislation now being considered by the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee.
As a senior member of the committee, Boucher has worked tirelessly to listen to those most interested and affected by the legislation and has been a leader in finding common ground.
He has played a pivotal role, working with committee Chairman Henry Waxman and other leaders to craft climate change proposals that will enable our nation to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 80 percent by 2050 without causing unnecessary economic harm.
The bill being considered by the Waxman committee lays the framework for what could be our nation's most far-reaching environmental legislation.
It leverages a proven cap-and-trade approach, supported by many in business and the environmental community, with a framework designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the lowest possible cost.
It calls for the federal government to set a tough national limit on greenhouse gas pollution that will gradually ratchet down over time.
Most important to Virginians and U.S. consumers, it is designed to avoid dramatic price spikes in coal, oil, natural gas, gasoline, and other carbon-based fuels that have been the foundation of our economy for more than a century.
It also provides strong incentives needed to develop an array of new, cleaner energy and renewable technologies that, over time, will stabilize and help grow our economy.
Boucher balanced the challenges of an effective climate change program with concerns for our customers and priorities to restart our economy. Further work will be needed to strengthen these safeguards.
In particular, the proposed emission targets for 2020 are too aggressive and outpace expected technologies, and the time of transition to a full auction of allowances should be extended.
Boucher agrees that these two elements will greatly control costs without sacrificing environmental gains. Boucher and his talented staff have been at the nexus of this debate.
Passing far-reaching climate change legislation can be done wisely if we stay focused on avoiding unnecessary costs and remain committed to developing clean energy technologies.
We employ thousands of workers and have plans to invest billions over the next five to 10 years on infrastructure to meet the energy demands of our more than 11 million customers. Knowing how climate change will be addressed is essential to ensuring that we are making the best decisions on behalf of our consumers and the environment.
Tom Farrell is chairman, president, and CEO of Dominion Resources. Mike Morris is chairman, president, and CEO of American Electric Power, parent company of Appalachian Power. Jim Rogers is chairman, president, and CEO of Duke Energy.
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