Last year the US House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security (Waxman-Markey). The bill aimed to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions 17% by 2020 and over 80% by 2050 compared to 2005 levels. The major features of the bill were a national renewable portfolio standard requiring electric utilities to meet 20% of their electricity demand through renewable energy sources by 2020. It also set a national objective of reducing carbon emissions from major U.S. sources by 17% by 2020 and over 80% by 2050 compared to 2005 levels. The bill was not passed by the Senate.
Apparently a new bill, which is being introduced in the Senate and appears to derive from bills previously debated in the Senate as well as the Waxman-Markey bill, also proposes cutting US carbon emissions by 17% by 2020. The bill proposes setting a price on carbon emissions for large polluters such as coal-fired power generation plants, but exempting farms and small and medium-sized businesses from emissions charges. It will offer incentives of up to $2 billion a year for companies to develop clean coal technologies, including CCS (carbon capture and store) and it includes provisions, such as $54-billion in loan guarantees, to encourage the development of nuclear power.
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