Senate approves weaker, voluntary climate plan

[maddezmom]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An ambitious bipartisan plan to slow U.S. greenhouse gases with an emissions trading program collapsed in the Senate on Tuesday after a key Republican threw his support behind a weaker, voluntary plan.

The Senate approved, 66-to-29, a plan by Nebraska Republican Chuck Hagel to offer generous tax breaks to U.S. utilities, refiners and manufacturing plants that develop technology to limit emissions of carbon dioxide. It would not cap U.S. emissions of carbon, which are linked to the global warming blamed for melting polar ice caps and rising oceans.

The Bush administration opposes mandatory cuts in emissions as too costly for U.S. industry.

Climate change issues arose as part of the Senate's debate of a broad energy bill to boost production of domestic oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear and alternative energy sources.

~snip~
more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050621/pl_nm/energy_congress_dc

[pie]

1. Generous tax breaks for... nothing!

[phantom power]

2. "Hey, y'all can cut emissions. If you want to. Or not. It's all good."

[maddezmom]

4. and we'll give you some tax breaks just for trying

:shrug:

[mom cat]

3. Fiddling while the world burns!

[POAS]

5. John McCain said it.......

"What we did here today is NOTHING."

[phantom power]

8. It gives me a little hope that some are starting to get it.

[OneBlueSky]

6. our government is a disgrace . . . a bunch of fools pretending . . .

to look after the people's interests, but too busy lining their own pockets to really give a damn . . . if it weren't so tragic, they'd be the laughing stock of the entire world . . .

[hatrack]

7. Our grandchildren will be lining up to piss on our graves

After they get done with the graves of members of this Congress, that is.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

9. "Voluntary!!" LOL!!

[malachi]

10. Too costly for U.S. industry. What fuckin' industry?