The piece of legislation which I have chosen is HR 2454 The American Clean Energy and Security Act. The bill has been passed in the US House of Representatives 219-212 last summer, however has not been sent to the Senate for consideration. The legislation seeks to tackle several issues regarding energy use, energy efficiency, and global climate change. Also there are many different standards to which it mandates of private industry to adopt.
Clean energy provisions include renewable electricity standards, investments in clean energy, support of private investment in clean energy, and modernization of our electrical grid. Furthermore, there are energy efficiency provisions such as building, appliance, and vehicle standards. Lastly, there are things within the bill which combat climate change such as capping carbon emissions from major polluters, prevention of tropical deforestation, emission and agricultural offsets, cost-containment measures, and carbon capture programs.
The policy in my estimation is very intriguing and ambitious in what it attempts to accomplish. I thought it would be something worthwhile to investigate and compare among previous energy and environmental legislation. There has not been drastically altering legislation regarding both energy use and the environment in quite some time. Moreover, if enacted by the United States, this could be a game changer like the recent passage of healthcare legislation. Not only would this help deter and prevent further problems regarding our environment, it would outline a platform or foundation to work from. This has the potential to force private firms to innovate outside the convenience of being polluters.
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Blake, you made a comparison to the healthcare bill as far as controversy surrounding this bill. Why exactly is it that controversial? Is it because it is so vastly different from what we currently do?
ReplyDeleteAre you referring to healthcare or the energy bill? The energy bill, like healthcare, would be monumental, not contraversial. I don't necessarily think either one really strikes contraversy, but are merely establishing something that has yet to be done in this country. Once these policies are institutionalized it changes the culture of nation.
ReplyDeleteI am anxious to see what happens this summer. Along with the financial restructing and reform that will take place this spring, I see HR 2454 or something similar taking the political spotlight.