Senators John Kerry and Joseph Lieberman introduced a cap-and-trade bill to the Senate on May 12. The American Power Act aims to cut 2005 carbon emission levels 17 percent by 2020, and 80 percent by 2050.
The legislation has gained approval and controversy on campus and across the nation.
Cap-and-trade is a means of decreasing pollution through a market-based system, meaning those with cleaner industrial standards can profit from those who pollute more.
“A specified number of credits are given to all polluters, and heavier polluters must buy credits from cleaner companies or invest in efficiencies to offset their own pollution,” said Isis Krause, a third-year geography/environmental studies student and president of the Education for Sustainable Living Program.
However, cap-and-trade and the American Power Act are not unanimously accepted by both sides of the political aisle.
While Krause said she believes the bill’s main drawback is that it allows companies to continue offshore oil and gas drilling, Republican politicians worry that the bill will do too much to restrict such activities.
Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., initially a co-sponsor of the bill, withdrew his support for the American Power Act on the basis that America cannot afford the energy losses attributed to offshore drilling, according to a statement released by his campaign.
“Abandoning drilling and fossil fuels is not a realistic option,” Graham’s statement said. “I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to improve upon (the bill) and find a pathway forward on energy independence.”
Some UCLA students are also wary about regulations from Washington.
“I don’t think we should pollute, but the government shouldn’t involve itself with the private sector,” said Anthony Portolesi, a first-year physiological science student and a Republican. “The environment is important, but the government getting involved will not help, and it may make the situation worse.”
Yet according to Ann Carlson, professor of environmental law at the UCLA School of Law, the cap-and-trade mechanism reduces pollution, is cost-effective, and has been previously implemented in the United States with positive results.
The Acid Rain Program, an initiative enacted in the 1990s and one of the first examples of cap-and-trade used in the United States, successfully reduced sulfur dioxide emissions, a pollutant that causes acid rain, Carlson said.
Democrats such as Kerry have said that the American Power Act is a necessary step toward a more environmentally conscious United States.
According to a statement released on Kerry’s website, “The American Power Act will finally change our nation’s energy policy from a national weakness into a national strength.”