NCPA: Opponents Lose on Clear Skies Amendment; Committee Votes for Version That Does Not I

"The bill's sponsors did the right thing," said NCPA Senior Fellow H. Sterling Burnett. "The Clear Skies Act would reduce emissions of several pollutants including, for the first time, mercury."

The bill, which would amend the Clean Air Act, still lacks provisions that would impose the first-ever mandatory caps on carbon dioxide (CO2). The amended bill reportedly contains provisions that offer regulatory relief to power plant operators. Industry groups favor the bill because it will reduce emissions and still protect local jobs and investments in new power plants.

Opponents of the bill say emissions, and especially CO2, need to be capped, citing a claim by the Intergovernmental Project on Climate Change (IPCC) that 2004 was the fourth-warmest year since temperature measurement began in the 19th century.

But Dr. Burnett disagrees: "The IPCC's historic temperature records have come under sustained assault due to serious shortcomings of the earth-based monitoring system and because significantly less warming has been recorded by the global satellite system when compared to the ground based system. It is not likely that we can say with confidence that 2004 was the fourth-warmest year since records have been kept, or even that this century is warmer than average for the past 2,000 years."

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The NCPA is an internationally known nonprofit, nonpartisan research institute with offices in Dallas and Washington, D.C. that advocates private solutions to public policy problems. NCPA depends on the contributions of individuals, corporations and foundations that share their mission. The NCPA accepts no government grants.

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