Associated Press
Thursday, December 6, 2007

Democrats turned back repeated efforts by Republican senators to soften the economic impact of a global warming bill before advancing it out of a Senate committee yesterday.

It was the first bill calling for mandatory U.S. limits on greenhouse gases to be taken up in Congress since global warming emerged as an environmental issue more than two decades ago. The bill was approved 11 to 8 by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

GOP critics of the bill argued that limiting greenhouse gas emissions could become a hardship because of higher energy costs.

But Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), whose co-sponsorship gave the bill legitimacy among many moderate GOP senators, called it "a chance to give America our opportunity . . . to be counted on this very, very important issue."

Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) introduced the legislation along with Warner.

The bill calls for the United States to cut carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent by 2050 from electric power plants, manufacturing and transportation.

It would create a "cap and trade" system whereby companies would have pollution allowances that they could sell if they went below the emission limits, or buy if they found they could not meet the requirements.

The trading is aimed at cutting the economic impact of putting limits on carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels, the leading greenhouse gas.

The bill's prospects are anything but certain. It is not expected to come up for action until next year, and many Republicans have vowed to seek significant changes.