WisBusiness: Gore predicts cap and trade will pass Senate by end of year

By Andy Szal

WisBusiness.com

MADISON — Former Vice President Al Gore said Friday that he believes the Senate will approve proposed carbon cap-and-trade legislation before the Copenhagen Climate Conference is held in December.

“There’s much more bipartisan dialogue underway behind the scenes than is presently publicly visible” on the bill, Gore told the Society of Environmental Journalists’ annual conference. The bill passed the House in June but has run into trouble in the Senate, where even some Democrats — such as Wisconsin’s Russ Feingold — have raised concerned about its potential impact on manufacturing and energy costs.

Gore said the House bill doesn’t go as far as he would have liked, but he complimented Dem U.S. Reps. Henry Waxman of California and Ed Markey of Massachusetts for putting together a majority on such an “impressive piece of legislation.”

“What is important is that, directly or indirectly, we put a price on carbon,” Gore said, noting that scientists consider it the largest contributor to global climate change.

Even without a Senate cap and trade bill, Gore said a fundamental change in attitudes about global warming is already underway. He said that new federal requirements on carbon emission reporting — set to begin on Jan. 1 — may have a similar effect as previous reporting requirements for pollutants.

“The power of information itself cannot be discounted,” Gore said, noting that companies singled out as top polluters suddenly entered into a “frenzied scramble to get off that list.”

“They will be held accountable to the public through the power of the news media,” Gore added. “One way or another, the reductions in emissions are about to accelerate.”

Gore said that any agreement reached in Copenhagen will also likely not go far enough, but he said the conference could serve as the impetus for greater change in the future. He noted that a 1987 Montreal conference to limit products contributing to the depletion of the ozone layer was roundly criticized as too weak, spurring stronger enforcement in future years.

The former VP said he believes President Obama’s efforts to change how the world approaches climate change is a main reason he won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Gore said few would have expected cap and trade to move through the House so rapidly and noted the federal stimulus legislation’s efforts in renewable energy and creating an American energy “supergrid.”

“It’s an honor for him first and foremost, and it’s an honor for our country,” said Gore, who won the 2007 award along with the UN’s climate change panel. He added that Obama’s emphasis on nuclear disarmament, revising missile defense strategies and working with Russia to counter Iran’s nuclear ambitions were also critical components of Obama’s “thrilling” award.

Gore lamented that the debate on cap and trade has become such so partisan, noting that he and GOP U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner agree on “more than you might think” when it comes to climate change. Sensenbrenner, of Menomonee Falls, attended Gore’s speech and participated in a panel discussion on climate change following his presentation.

“Too many of (Sensenbrenner’s) colleagues, in my opinion, adopted an ideologically driven opposition to any acceptance that the climate crisis is real and simply held the evidence that’s overwhelming now … holding that at arm’s length and refusing to engage in an effort to address the implications of the science,” Gore said.

“Our country does better when we have a robust, fact-based discussion of problems across party lines.”

Sensenbrenner also addressed a gathering of dozens of Gore protestors at the Capitol after the event during a rally sponsored by Collegians For A Constructive Tomorrow and Americans For Prosperity-Wisconsin. The group challenged Gore’s assertions, and some erected a picture of Gore with a red slash over his face.

Sensenbrenner urged the crowd to contact Feingold and U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Milwaukee, and encourage them to vote against cap and trade.

“We are going to be faced in the next three to six months, the United States Congress, whether or not we’re going to engage in unilateral economic disarmament with China, India and the Third World,” Sensenbrenner said.

Gore, however, predicted that changing the way energy is provided in America — particularly from the renewable energy supergrid — would spark a new wave of economic innovation similar to the tech sector that exploded following the proliferation of the Internet.

Listen to Gore’s speech

Hear Gore’s Q&A with SEJ members