LEAGUE ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE
The League believes that global climate change is one of the most serious threats to the environment, health, and economy of this nation. To meet this challenge, the U.S. Congress must enact meaningful, comprehensive climate and energy legislation that includes an enforceable, economy-wide limit on carbon pollution and accelerates this country's transition to a clean energy economy.
For the latest information about opportunities for action on national climate change policy, please visit the League's Global Climate Change webpages.
Key League Statements on Climate Policy
The League has called for prompt and aggressive action to cut U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and has detailed a set of objectives to guide the development of comprehensive climate legislation. The League has also gone on record supporting EPA regulation of GHG emissions.
- EPA Must Act Now to Limit GHG Emissions from Power Plants and Oil Refineries. The League calls on the EPA to issue standards limiting GHG emissions from these two key stationary sources of global warming pollution. (2012)
- Aggressive Emissions Reduction Targets. The League calls for prompt action to cut GHG emissions at least 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80-95 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. (January 2009)
- National Call to Action on Global Warming. The League is one of some 50 organizations endorsing a comprehensive set of basic principles for fair and effective climate legislation. (March 2009)
Federal Climate Policy
Policymakers evaluating strategies for reducing GHG emissions have two general approaches to consider: a cap-and-trade system and a carbon tax. Both are market-based policy instruments that create incentives to reduce carbon emissions. Each approach has advantages and disadvantages, and a well-designed system of either type will be more effective than a poorly designed system of the other type.
- For a discussion of key elements, design considerations, and a comparison of the two approaches, please see the League's background paper on the topic, Cap-and-Trade versus Carbon Tax.
- A League fact sheet outlines the key elements required for an effective cap-and-trade program, including a firm cap on GHG emissions and a stringent emissions reduction timetable.
- Delegates to the June 2014 LWVUS Convention gave overwhelming approval to a resolution that the League "should support a price on carbon emissions that will increase in stages, as part of an overall program to improve energy efficiency and to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy, fast enough to avoid serious damage to the climate system."
Coal-Fired Power Plants
Coal is the single largest source of global warming pollution in the United States. Restricting emissions from coal-fired power plants, therefore, is essential to achieving the emissions reductions required to stabilize atmospheric concentrations of GHGs and avoid dangerous climate change.
- The League has called for a 10-year moratorium on the construction of new coal-fired power plants. A companion FAQ poses and answers 17 questions about the reasons for, and implications of, a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants. (2008)
- The League's background paper, Coal -- The Great Hope, the False Promise, or a Disaster in the Making?, takes an in-depth look at coal, coal technologies and the environmental impact from mining and burning coal.
Last updated: 1/24/2015