Greenhouse gas plan being worked out by Republicans, Democrats

Amid a raging debate about how the U.S. should approach climate change, Republicans and Democrats on a key Senate panel Wednesday sought common ground on the best ways to continue reducing the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions through research, innovation and private-sector leadership.

Lawmakers on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, who often disagree sharply with one another over the proper federal role in regulating energy development and dealing with global warming, were able to find something of a consensus at Wednesday’s hearing on the need to pursue technological advancement. Despite deep policy differences, leaders of both parties agree that it is by no means impossible to continue cutting emissions while at the same time growing the nation’s economy.

“This is not an either-or situation. In order for the United States to continue to be the world’s leader in this clean energy revolution we need both federal investment in technology and common-sense regulations,” said Sen. Thomas R. Carper, Delaware Democat and his party’s ranking member on the committee.

The hearing, which included witnesses from the manufacturing sector, energy research hubs and other panelists, came just days after new data found that the U.S. is on track to cut its greenhouse gas emissions further this year. Studies from the Global Carbon Project found that American pollution is expected to drop at least 0.4 percent this year despite President Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. from the global Paris climate treaty and a broader effort by the administration to roll back Obama-era environmental regulations.

The report found that countries that have signed on to the Paris deal, such as China and India, are projected to have significant increases in their emissions this year. Those countries’ increases are projected to fuel a global spike in emissions by at least 2 percent this year.

Critics of the deal, including committee Chairman Sen. John Barrasso, said innovation in energy production, in the auto sector, the manufacturing industry and elsewhere across the economy is key to continuing those reductions.

“Since 2005 the United States has reduced its combustion-related carbon dioxide emissions more than any nation in the world,” the Wyoming Republican said at Wednesday’s hearing. “New technologies have improved how we use energy to reduce emissions.”

Indeed, U.S. emissions across the board have decreased dramatically over the past several decades. More recently, much of the drop can be attributed to market shifts away from coal and toward natural gas, which emits less pollution.

In the manufacturing sector, pollution has dropped substantially.

Ross Eisenberg, vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers, told the committee Wednesday his industry has cut greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent over the past decade while increasing its value to the economy by 19 percent during the same time period — advancements that he said largely have come from innovation, not government rules.

“All the trend lines on every kind of major pollution have gone straight down,” he said, assuring the committee that his industry, despite its opposition to many specific Obama-era regulations, wants to address climate change.

“We believe we should be acting on climate, period,” he said. “Manufacturers are taking matters in their own hands.”

At the outset of the Trump administration, officials said a top priority was to provide the manufacturing sector and other industries regulatory certainty, and to eliminate the confusion and legal mess that resulted from many actions over the past eight years. Specialists say that type of regulatory certainty is necessary if the nation is to continue greenhouse gas reductions.

“A sound regulatory framework is critical to providing companies the certainty necessary to make the large long-term investments in innovation at scale,” said Zoe Lipman, director of the BlueGreen Alliance, a coalition of environmental groups and labor unions.