Thursday, October 1, 2009

Environmental groups praise Kerry-Boxer Climate Bill

Environmental groups were unanimous in their praise for the Kerry-Boxer Climate Bill that was introduced in the Senate yesterday, but, as expected, the groups stressed that the bill was just a first step of many towards making the environment safer with climate legislation.

According to The Daily Green, environmental groups praised the bill for many reasons, including:
  • Creating new "green jobs" via the Green Construction Careers Demonstration Project and funding for the Green Jobs Act
  • Setting a short-term target for greenhouse gas reductions of 20% from major sources by 2020
  • Preserving existing Clean Air Act regulations that will allow the Environmental Protection Agency to curb greenhouse gas pollution from power plants and other major sources.
While the praise was unanimous, the criticism of what the groups consider a emissions reduction requirement that is too lenient was also close to unanimous. For more on the bill, check out this story.