InterviewUS unlikely to pass climate change bill in 2009

08 May 2009 22:03  [Source: ICIS news]

By Joseph Chang

NEW YORK (ICIS news)--The US Congress is unlikely to pass broad climate change legislation in 2009 due to lack of consensus, the CEO of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), said on Friday.

“There is not a clear consensus on climate change in Congress, and it will be difficult for them to secure passage this year and have a piece of legislation signed into law,” Cal Dooley said.

The Waxman-Markey climate bill, sponsored by Representative Henry Waxman (Democrat, California) and Representative Ed Markey (Democrat, Massachusetts) calls for cutting US greenhouse gas emissions by 20% from 2005 levels by 2020 and 80% by 2050.

“With Congress also focusing a great deal of attention on health reform, it is debatable whether or not TSCA reform will be considered this year as well,” he added.

TSCA is the Toxic Substances Control Act, the nation’s principal chemicals control law, enacted in 1976. Congress is poised to begin a comprehensive review and revision of TSCA.

“However, it is incumbent upon the industry to develop our solutions and reach out to other stakeholders in the consumer and environmental communities to see if we can drive alignment – whether it’s on climate change or a solution for how we modernise chemical management,” Dooley said.

“This way, we can hopefully accelerate Congress’ consideration of the modernisation of TSCA,” he added.

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By: Joseph Chang
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