Climate Stewardship Act

The second session of the 108th Congress, which convened in January 2004, produced little new action on legislation relevant to the voluntary reporting of greenhouse gases. The major exception was the introduction of the Climate Stewardship Act of 2004 (H.R. 4067) in the House of Representatives by Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) and 19 cosponsors. This bill is a slightly revised version of the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewards hip Act of 2003 (S. 139) rejected 53-45 by the Senate in October 2003. H.R. 4067 would require entities with annual greenhouse gas emissions more than 10,000 metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent to submit an inventory of their emissions beginning in 2008. The bill would establish emissions caps and a system of tradable emissions allowances, similar to the cap-and-trade system used to limit sulfur dioxide emissions from electric power plants. Beginning in 2010, covered entities would be required to submit to EPA allowances for emissions of greenhouse gases from stationary sources. Producers and importers of HFCs, PFCs, and SF6, and fossil fuels used for transportation would be required to submit to EPA allowances for sale of these products. The objective of the legislation would be to reduce emissions by covered entities to 2000 levels by 2010. The bill also includes provisions for voluntary reporting of greenhouse gas emission reductions achieved between 1990 and 2010. Allowance allocation credits would be awarded to the reporters of emission reductions.

Energy Bill

It is anticipated that the omnibus energy bill, the Energy Policy Act, will be revived when the new Congress convenes in January 2005. The July 2003 Senate markup of the House version of this bill (H.R. 6) in the 108th Congress included provisions for establishing a national database consisting of an inventory of entity-level greenhouse gas emissions and a registry of emission reductions. These provisions were not included in the House version of the bill..

ENERGY STAR Honors 1605(b) Reporters

Congratulations to 1605(b) reporter General Motors Corporation for its receipt of a 2004 Energy Star Award for Sustained Excellence in Energy Management, and to GE Consumer and Industrial (a business unit within General Electric Company) for a 2004 Energy Star Manufacturing Partner of the Year Award! Excellence in Energy Efficiency and Environmental Education Awards went to 1605(b) reporters Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Southern California Edison, Minnesota Power, and Sacramento Municipal Utility District.

Energy Star is a joint EPA/DOE program that certifies and promotes products surpassing federal energy efficiency requirements. Selected by the EPA and DOE, these reporters, in conjunction with others, have been honored for their dedication to energy efficiency products and incentives. Learn more about Energy Star at http://www.energystar.gov/.

Methane to Markets Partnership

Representatives from 14 countries met in Washington, DC in November 2004, to establish the Methane to Markets Partnership, which is intended to “advance international cooperation on the recovery and use of methane as a valuable clean energy source.” According to an EPA press release, this partnership has the potential to reduce net methane emissions by up to 50 million metric tons of carbon equivalent annually by 2015. This international cooperative effort will initially focus on landfills, underground coal mines, and natural gas and oil systems to achieve its methane reduction goals.

The 14 participating countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Columbia, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, Ukraine, UK, and the US. For more information, see http://www.epa.gov/methanetomarkets/.

EIA Releases Annual GHG Emissions Report

EIA is pleased to announce the release of Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 2003, which is available on the Internet at http://www.eia.gov/oiaf/1605/ggrpt/index.html.

U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases were 6,936 million metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent in 2003, a 0.7 percent increase from 2002 emissions levels (6,891 million metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent).