Energy official says U.S. will regulate carbon emissions

Discussion

October 5, 2007

ARTHUR MAX The Daily Independent Fri Oct 05, 2007, 07:02 AM EDT

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — The United States is moving toward the regulation of carbon emissions, a U.S. energy official said Thursday, despite the Bush administration's adherence to a voluntary approach to controlling the primary gas blamed for climate change.

"There will be carbon regulation of some sort," said Dan Arvizu, director of the National Renewable Energy Lab of the Department of Energy, told an international conference on biofuels.

He spoke a week after briefing President Bush's global warming conference of major carbon-emitting nations.

"I am neutral as to which kind of carbon management regulation there will be. It is very clear to me that there will be carbon management, whether it will be a direct tax, carbon cap-and-trade or some other instrument," Arvizu said.

Arvizu did not say he was speaking for the Bush administration. But some of his listeners thought it was significant that he spoke after the Washington meeting, which brought together the United States, leading industrial nations that have embraced stringent mandatory controls, and developing countries that are totally unregulated, including China.

"He's picking up the vibe" in Washington, said Patrick Mazza, chairman of the biofuel conference and research director of Climate Solutions based in Seattle.

Arvizu later told The Associated Press the United States "is headed in a different direction than we were a few years ago." He said executives of utility companies and U.S. oil giants ‚Äî two lobbies that had resisted regulation ‚Äî now want predictable and transparent carbon policies.

"Certainly my reference point has changed dramatically," he said. "The position of this administration is beginning to evolve."

In his speech to the Washington conference, Bush reiterated his view that each nation should set targets for itself and decide how it will combat global warming without hindering economic growth.

But Arvizu said that, while Bush remained in favor of voluntary targets, his position is not as rigid as it once was, and he made a point of telling the Washington meeting that he has accepted a mandatory renewable fuel standard for vehicles.

He said the U.S. government would invest $2 billion over the next four to five years to develop alternative transportation fuels and reduce dependency on oil imports. The focus on ethanol will shift to a "more robust biofuel," he told industrial leaders and environmentalists who are working on new biofuel solutions.

Transportation accounts for 30 percent of U.S. carbon emissions, he said, compared with a global average of 20 percent.

Text Only

National News

With broad styles of music on center stage, Summer Motion crowds continue to stir
With only his voice and acoustic guitar to begin with, Kenny Loggins immediately raised thousands of voices on the banks of the Ohio River as he opened Tuesday’s headline performance for Summer Motion with a rousing rendition of “Danny’s Song.”

July 5, 2011
Longtime journalist Daniel Schorr dead at age 93
Veteran reporter and commentator Daniel Schorr, whose hard-hitting reporting for CBS got him on President Richard Nixon's notorious "enemies list" in the 1970s, has died. He was 93.

July 23, 2010 1 Photo
Pulitzers handed out When the Pulitzer board handed out the most important prizes in journalism, The New York Times and The Washington Post topped the list of winners— and finalists — as usual.
April 13, 2010
'Smart grid' - buzz of the electric power industry Thomas Alva Edison, meet the Internet.
June 8, 2009 1 Photo
Analysis: Obama couldn't let automaker fail President Barack Obama couldn't let General Motors fail, but he won't concede he's taking over the company.
June 1, 2009 1 Photo
General Motors files for bankruptcy and a new start General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday as part of the Obama administration's plan to shrink the automaker to a sustainable size and give a majority ownership stake to the federal government.
June 1, 2009 1 Photo
Missing Air France jet hit turbulence over Atlantic An Air France jet carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris hit strong turbulence and lost contact with air traffic controllers over the Atlantic Ocean, officials said Monday. Brazil began a search mission off its northeastern coast.

June 1, 2009 2 Photos
Obama picks Sotomayor for US high court President Barack Obama on Tuesday nominated a Hispanic judge, Sonia Sotomayor, to the U.S. Supreme Court, a choice unlikely to shift the ideological balance on the country's highest judicial panel.
May 26, 2009 1 Photo
Obama takes presidential oath _ again After the flub heard around the world, President Barack Obama has taken the oath of office. Again.
January 21, 2009 1 Photo
Hillary Clinton confirmed and sworn in at State The Senate confirmed Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state Wednesday as President Barack Obama moved to make his imprint on U.S. foreign policy, mobilizing a fresh team of veteran advisers and reaching out to world leaders.
January 21, 2009 1 Photo
More National News Headlines

National News

Search Results

Discussion

Energy official says U.S. will regulate carbon emissions

Site Map

Contact Us