DENIAL of the climate change problem will not change our destiny - but a comprehensive energy and climate bill that caps and then reduces carbon emissions will, the US Senate was told yesterday.
US Energy Secretary Steven Chu gave this warning, as he focussed on the threat of climate change.
He said overwhelming scientific evidence shows that carbon dioxide from human activity has increased the atmospheric level of CO2 by roughly 40pc, a level one-third higher than any time in the last 800,000 years.
As the US Climate Change Bill begins to move through the US Senate, the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee was meeting on Tuesday this week, to conduct a hearing on the bill, which earlier passed the US House of Representatives with such a narrow voting margin.
In prepared testimony, US Secretary of Agriculture,Tom Vilsack, said, to produce meaningful emissions reductions an offsets program will likely require the participation of thousands of landowners.
He pointed at the importance in engaging farmers and ranchers in crafting the solution to this critical issue.
US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told the committee of his department's efforts to accelerate the development of renewable energy on its vast public lands and offshore areas.
Salazar warned, however, that the US cannot fully unleash renewable energy's economic engine unless this committee, and the Senate, put an upper limit on the emissions of heat-trapping gases that are damaging our environment.
Vilsack, Chu, Salazar and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson during their testimony endorsed the Senate's effort to write a climate bill and they backed a USDA lead-role in running a carbon capture program.
Vilsack says agriculture can be a winner - if a carbon capture and credit trading program is done right.
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