Letter to My Senators

Today I sent the following e-mail letter to each of my U.S. Senators from Maryland, Barbara Mikulski and Benjamin L. Cardin:

I think the Waxman-Markey climate bill that the House recently passed needs to be beefed up in the Senate version, not watered down.

In a recent article in The Washington Post, "Q and A on the Climate Bill," David A. Fahrenthold and Steven Mufson write that "Even if the United States meets the legislation's goals for 2020, the world's total [greenhouse gas] emissions would be reduced by [only] about 3 percent, according to Energy Department projections."

The U.S. emits 25% of the world’s greenhouse gases (GHGs). If we cut our 2005-level GHG emissions by 17 percent as of 2020, as Waxman-Markey envisions, the world as a whole ought to see (one would think) a 4.25 percent reduction. If the the world's total GHG emissions are in fact reduced by only 3 percent, very likely the reason is that other countries' emissions can be expected to rise between now and 2020, thus offsetting some of our reduction.

"[So] scientists say," continue the Post reporters, "that far deeper cuts are needed to head off disaster from warming temperatures, rising sea levels and other climate changes."

I think the "far deeper cuts" ought to be included right now, today, in the Senate's version of Waxman-Markey. The goal ought to be for the U.S. to provide at least a 4.25 percent reduction in the world's GHG emissions by 2020, based on 2005 levels of emissions.

Better still, how about having this country assert its world leadership by undertaking fully a 5 percent reduction in world greenhouse gas emissions by 2020?

If we wanted to provide a 4.25 percent cut to the world, we'd need a 24 percent cut in U.S. emissions by 2020, by my calculations. For 5 percent worldwide, a bit more than 28 percent here at home.

I am hoping that, as a U.S. Senator from Maryland, you will help lead the Senate in the direction of passing a stronger climate bill, not a weaker one.

If you are from Maryland and feel strongly about the upcoming debate in the U.S. Senate about climate-change legislation, I urge you to click on the two hotlinks above and tell Senators Mikulski and Cardin about your concerns.