Craig Thomas Rural Hospital And Provider Equity Act

Floor Speech

CRAIG THOMAS RURAL HOSPITAL AND PROVIDER EQUITY ACT

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Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I am disappointed the Senator from New Mexico has objected to the consideration of my amendment No. 1557. It provides for a national greenhouse gas registry and has the support of many people on the other side of the aisle as well as this side of the aisle. I ask that we try to work this out in the future, but I ask that I may discuss this amendment.

My amendment, which I have submitted with Senators Snowe, Bingaman, Collins, Carper, Coleman, and Kerry, establishes a national greenhouse gas registry--a comprehensive and uniform method of tracking greenhouse gas emissions by major industries. This registry creates a national framework for credible and consistent greenhouse gas emissions reporting.

Currently, reporting of greenhouse gas emissions data falls under a number of different Federal and State programs. Reporting is largely voluntary, and the criteria and reporting formats are inconsistent. The resulting data is meager and unsatisfactory.

The Klobuchar-Snowe-Bingaman amendment requires the Administrator of the EPA to gather complete, consistent, transparent, and reliable data on greenhouse gas emissions at the facility level. It builds upon existing reporting requirements to minimize the impact on businesses as well as the EPA.

This amendment is very similar to legislation that has passed this Senate twice in the past 5 years as part of comprehensive energy legislation.

A little over 5 years ago, Senator Brownback, along with then-Senator Corzine, passed an amendment creating a greenhouse gas registry. This registry would have been voluntary, but after 5 years--if the registry contained less than 60 percent of the total national greenhouse gases in the United States--mandatory reporting of greenhouse gases would have been triggered.

Now it has been over 5 years since the passage of that amendment in this body of Congress, and we still lack credible greenhouse gas emissions data from nearly all major sectors of our economy.

This amendment is simpler than the Brownback-Corzine amendment, requiring reporting from a little over 10,000 establishments in the U.S. economy, representing over 80 percent of our human-induced greenhouse gas emissions, without requiring costly monitoring equipment for smaller entities.

Collection of greenhouse gas emissions data is necessary to better understand how much greenhouse gas various sectors of our economy emit and design effective strategies to address greenhouse gas emissions.

Last week, on National Public Radio's ``Morning Edition,'' a reporter asked a seemingly simple question that helps illustrate the need for such a registry: Who is the largest producer of greenhouse gases in the country?

It turns out, finding the answer is not that simple. The reporter could not find an answer because we do not have an accurate and complete inventory of greenhouse gas emissions in this country.

This is a problem. As Peter Drucker, the famous business management scholar, has said:

If you can't measure it, you can't manage it.

Without accurate measurement, it is hard to implement effective solutions. At the moment, there is a void of accurate measurements on greenhouse gases, and what data is available is not certified by either the EPA or a third party.

There is strong support in the business community for the establishment of a national registry. In January 2007, a group of businesses unified to form the U.S. Climate Action Partnership. This diverse group of businesses urged Congress to act within the year to create a greenhouse gas registry, along with a number of other steps. The group includes General Electric, DuPont, Duke Energy, General Motors, PG&E Corporation, and many others.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a list of the companies be printed in the Record.

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the RECORD

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Ms. KLOBUCHAR. The strength and breadth of this coalition demonstrates the fact that the U.S. business community anticipates a mandatory greenhouse gas reduction program coming into force. Having accurate greenhouse gas emissions data is necessary to assess risks of capital investment decisions.

It also provides an opportunity for major industries to gather information on greenhouse gas emissions from previous years and make good decisions on the design of any future greenhouse gas regulatory program.

In response to the absence of action by the Federal Government, 31 States--representing over 70 percent of the population of this country--have banded together to create a greenhouse gas reporting system called the Climate Registry.

While it is a good start, and a sign of bipartisan impatience with the Federal Government's inaction, this registry is no substitute for a comprehensive national registry. You now have a situation where 31 States are having to start their own registry because we have not acted.

The other issue with the 31-State registry is that it does not require mandatory reporting or third-party verification. Its participants range from States that are moving to impose mandatory greenhouse gas reduction programs to those that are beginning to evaluate whether to take any steps.

According to Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano:

The State Climate Registries are another example of how States are taking the lead in the absence of Federal action to address greenhouse gas emissions in this country.

These States will benefit from a national registry, which will reduce administrative costs, centralize technical expertise and support, and greatly reduce the risk of under- or overreporting.

As the Climate Registry--the nonprofit entity coordinating the 31 States' efforts--claims:

The creation of a Federal greenhouse gas emissions reporting system would be a significant step forward in U.S. climate policy that will build on the progress made through existing reporting systems and make it easier and less costly for corporations to track and report their greenhouse gas emissions.

We need a greenhouse gas registry because there simply isn't a consistent set of data. We have a patchwork system that is simply unworkable for accurate data measurement. We can't make good policy choices unless we collect good data.

At the Federal level, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy collect a lot of data on energy production and consumption. However, the quantity and quality of the data vary greatly across different fuels and different sectors. For example, data on crude oil and petroleum product stocks is collected weekly from selected oil companies, while data on energy use in the industrial sector is collected only once every 3 years through surveys. In some cases, the EPA collects the data itself, while in other cases, the data is collected through State or Federal agencies.

There are two existing programs that provide some, but not nearly enough, data on greenhouse gas emissions. The first is the Department of Energy's 1605(b) Program, and the second is EPA's Climate Leaders Program. However, neither of these programs gathers facility-by-facility emissions data. Additionally, both of these programs are voluntary with no means of verifying greenhouse gas emission reports. The PEW Center on Global Climate Change, as well as the National Commission on Energy Policy, have criticized both of these programs for lacking rigorous reporting standards and verification requirements, allowing for the double-counting of reductions and failing to account for overall greenhouse gas emission increases. This inconsistency in approaches has resulted in a lack of comparability of reported emissions from company to company, as well as a lack of comparability of results from reporting program to reporting program. We need to have consistent, high-quality data across all sectors, which is what I call a national carbon counter system.

Our amendment--again, a bipartisan amendment--seeks to create common standards for measuring, tracking, verifying, and reporting greenhouse gas emissions by major industries. These standards do not currently exist at either the State or the Federal level.

This amendment does not place limits on greenhouse gas emissions; it simply requires that the EPA establish and maintain a database of greenhouse gas emissions. A national greenhouse gas registry will create reliable and accurate data that can be used by public and private entities to inform their financial decisions and allows investors to identify and manage future risks and opportunities.

The amendment has a number of checks to ensure it does not harm small businesses, as defined by the Small Business Administration, which emit less than 10,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases. It will promote full and public disclosure by requiring the EPA to post greenhouse gas emissions on its Web site. You really can't see greenhouse gas emissions, but at least you will be able to check the Web site. It will build on existing reporting requirements to minimize the impact on businesses and the EPA.

This amendment is not designed to support any specific legislation or policy position; it simply ensures that greenhouse gas emission data will be generated and collected in a consistent manner, regardless of its intended use. We will be able to make good decisions in the future on policy only if we have good and accurate information.

I would note that Senator Boxer is also a cosponsor, in addition to Senators Snowe, Collins, and Coleman, and Senator Kerry and Senator Bingaman, who is managing this Energy bill, as well as Senator Carper.

I would like to add that I am very disappointed that the Senator from New Mexico has objected to me putting this amendment in at this time. There is support on the Republican side of the aisle for this bill. I am hoping I can work with him and others to finally get this amendment admitted and considered by the Senate. I believe it is very important. I think it is the least we can do to begin information-reporting and to begin doing something about climate change. So I will work with the Senator from New Mexico and others to be able to get this amendment considered.

I thank the Chair.

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Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I am here to make some brief comments about amendment No. 1557, which was introduced today. I spoke about this earlier, but it had not yet been accepted and introduced.

I appreciate that Senator Snowe, one of the coauthors on this amendment, also spoke. I wish to thank the other authors of this amendment. That would be Senator Bingaman, who is managing this Energy bill, as well as Senators CARPER, COLEMAN, KERRY, and BOXER.

This amendment is a very important one. It establishes a national greenhouse gas registry that will gather and consolidate consistent, transparent, and reliable data on greenhouse gas emissions.

Now, it may not be the most exiting amendment that is being introduced today or this week, but it is a very important one. The reason we need this amendment is we actually do not have mandatory reporting right now for greenhouse gas emissions. I think that is surprising for people. If you were to ask what are some of the largest emitters of greenhouse gasses, you would not be able to easily find that information. Recently, a reporter for National Public Radio tried to find out that answer. She was unable to do it.

Although most electric powerplants already report their carbon dioxide emissions to the EPA, this only represents 37 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions that are reported. As for the remaining greenhouse gas emissions data, the Department of Energy and the EPA collect data on energy production and consumption; however, the quantity and the quality of this data collected vary significantly across different fuels and different sectors. For example, data on crude oil and petroleum products is collected weekly from selected oil companies, while data on the industrial sector is collected only once every 3 years through surveys. In some cases, Federal agencies collect the data themselves, while in other cases data is collected through voluntary reports. This inconsistency in approaches has resulted in a lack of comparability of reported emissions from company to company within specific economic sectors, as well as the lack of comparability of results from reporting program to reporting program.

Many people have called for a national registry. Currently, as you know, 31 States have asked for some type of registry. They have actually joined together and tried to create their own national registry because of inaction by the Federal Government. I cannot think of a better example when you have 31 States banding together when, in fact, they would prefer a national registry with the EPA. That is why these States are interested in a national registry.

We also have some significant businesses which would like to see a registry such as this. They have come together as part of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership. They have urged Congress to fast-track a greenhouse gas inventory and registry. They actually did this back in January of this year. We still see no action. These are companies such as Boston Scientific, BP America, Caterpillar, Deere and Company, Dow Chemical, Duke Energy, DuPont. It is time to act.

Justice Brandeis once talked about how the States were the laboratories of democracy and how one courageous State can go ahead and do things and experiment and set an example for the Nation. Well, that is happening right now across this country. He never meant, however, for the Federal Government to be complacent.

This is a simple piece of legislation with bipartisan support. It is time to act. This is the bill to do it. We can get the accurate data. It does not dictate the policy with greenhouse gas emissions. We will have as many policy choices as we do now; the difference is we will get this national greenhouse gas registry in place, not for small business, as there is an exemption, but for our largest emitters of greenhouse gases so that we can have accurate information with which to proceed.

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