Search

The article reports on the approval of four legislative bills by the Senate committees in December 2007 in the U.S. The bills, focusing climate change issues, include the Climate Security Act, Climate Change Adaptation Act of 2007, Global Change Research Improvement Act of 2007 and Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act. The Climate Security Act establishes a cap-and-trade system for emissions reduction of greenhouse gases while the Climate Change Adaptation aims to develop necessary tools to adapt to climate change. Global Change Research Improvement Act restructures the federal Climate Change Science Program and requires a new 10-year strategic plan. Lastly, the fourth bill determines an acidification program within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The article offers information on the efforts of Canada and the U.S. to integrate climate change policy. It mentions that Canada matched the conditional commitment of the U.S. to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) by 17% below 2005 levels by 2020. It was proposed that the American Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES) should include a provision that allows the U.S. government to impose tax by 2020 on imported carbon-intensive products from nations that do not have comparable GHG emissions regulations.