2007.02.02: February 2, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Somalia: Politics: Congress: Global Warming: WDT Online: Petri working on bill to ease global warming
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2007.02.02: February 2, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Somalia: Politics: Congress: Global Warming: WDT Online: Petri working on bill to ease global warming
Petri working on bill to ease global warming
One of the first things Petri informed the crowd about was legislation he has co-authored with Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., called the Keep America Competitive Global Warming Policy Act, a bill that gradually imposes restrictions on the carbon-based pollution that many scientists believe is causing global warming. A little over a week ago Petri and Udall met with leaders of major businesses and environmental groups in Washington, D.C., to discuss global warming issues and the framework advanced at that meeting calls for a mandatory cap-and-trade program with specific limits on greenhouse emissions. Petri said businesses that succeed in reducing emissions would be allowed to sell unused emission allowances to other businesses that are having greater difficulty complying with limits. Congressman Tom Petri of Wisconsin served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Somalia in the 1960's.
Petri working on bill to ease global warming
Petri working on bill to ease global warming
By Adam Tobias of the Daily Times staff
Friday, February 2, 2007 12:48 PM CST
Global warming, the war in Iraq, stricter recycling legislation, health care and minimum wage rates were among the many topics discussed by U.S. Rep. Tom Petri, R-Wis., and area residents during a town meeting Thursday at the Watertown Municipal Building.
One of the first things Petri informed the crowd about was legislation he has co-authored with Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., called the Keep America Competitive Global Warming Policy Act, a bill that gradually imposes restrictions on the carbon-based pollution that many scientists believe is causing global warming.
A little over a week ago Petri and Udall met with leaders of major businesses and environmental groups in Washington, D.C., to discuss global warming issues and the framework advanced at that meeting calls for a mandatory cap-and-trade program with specific limits on greenhouse emissions. Petri said businesses that succeed in reducing emissions would be allowed to sell unused emission allowances to other businesses that are having greater difficulty complying with limits.
Petri said the legislation that is being proposed is very similar to what European countries are doing to help the environment but admitted that it would be impossible for every industry to reduce all of their emissions.
“The whole idea of making limestone is to heat it, and it emits carbon,” Petri said. “But we need it for cement and a variety of other things. So if you had a one size fits all and you said you can't emit, they would be out of business and it would disrupt our economy.
“This is more of a balance approach that will enable people to emit if it is really necessary, but will kind of discourage them from doing it and encourage people to use technology to reduce emissions as much as possible,” he added. “It's a place to start. It doesn't make everyone real happy but it looks like it is going to get pretty broad support.”
Petri admitted there is a large amount of controversy surrounding global warming and that most people think carbon-based emissions have some sort of an effect on the issue.
“It is true the Earth warmed and cooled a number of times before people got involved, but it's also true that there has been a big increase in carbon-based emissions into the atmosphere,” Petri said. “Mostly everybody thinks that has some contributing factor to global warming.”
Watertown resident Penny Eiler said her only concern about a congressional bill is that it could override some of the good things individual states are doing to address global warming problems, but added the concept of the bill needs to be encouraged and there are many job opportunities in the alternate energy field to help reduce the pollutants.
Eiler also brought up concerns on the war in Iraq and the problems the country is facing with the rising costs of health care.
Local resident Bill Parmenter asked Petri to help the country renounce torture as an instrument of national policy and to close down the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation at Fort Benning in Georgia, which he called “a school of assassins.”
Parmenter said torture may work and get people to talk, but if the victims are sufficiently motivated they will probably refrain from telling the truth. He added torture is not a practice that this country should be teaching.
“What torture does do is scare the heck out of people,” Parmenter said. “If that's the national policy then it really stinks.”
Jean Sage, a Watertown resident and member of Citizens for a Safe Environment, asked Petri to look into enacting stricter legislation and penalties regarding the environment.
Sage, who lives near the tire recycling facility where a fire broke out in the summer of 2005, said her concerns mostly deal with liquid and solid waste recycling and that she opposes an expansion at United Liquid Waste Recyclers Inc. in the town of Clyman.
Although the state Department of Natural Resources has approved permits for the construction of lagoons at the site, it has also referred some of the firm's activities to the Department of Justice for review of alleged permit violations of its land application of wastewater.
“I am all for recycling,” Sage said. “Recycling is a good thing, and to suggest that constructive criticism is anti-recycling is just not accurate. I am not anti-business. I am not anti-recycling. It is just that I believe from my experience that we need stricter legislation to deal with environmental law.”
Petri said sometimes it is hard to impose these regulations because of competition between companies. He added if one company spends more money to reduce pollutants and other businesses in the same field do not, it puts that one firm at a competitive disadvantage.
The case with United Liquid Waste Recyclers is particularly frustrating to Sage because the only other two liquid waste recycling plants in this section of the state are affiliated with the local company.
“It's is very hard to have separate entities competing when it is kind of all in the family,” she said.
The town meeting in Watertown was one of three that Petri took part in on Thursday. He also held meetings in Beaver Dam and Fond du Lac. The purpose of the meetings is to give residents an opportunity to discuss national issues in a group setting.
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Headlines: February, 2007; RPCV Tom Petri (Somalia) ; Figures; Peace Corps Somalia; Directory of Somalia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Somalia RPCVs; Politics; Congress; Global Warming; Wisconsin
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Story Source: WDT Online
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Somalia; Politics; Congress; Global Warming
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