Swing Senate Dems lay out climate goals for Obama

Senators who signed the letter: Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), and Mark Begich (D- Alaska).

On trade, the letter says that the “preferred and primary” strategy for the U.S. should be negotiating bilateral and multilateral deals on cutting emissions in energy-intensive sectors where there’s global competition.

“Collectively, these new agreements – whether negotiated under the United Nations, World Trade Organization or elsewhere – should not only ensure emission goals are reached but they should also integrate climate objectives into the international trade system, such as through border adjustments on imports from nations that have not yet adopted sufficient emission control measures,” the letter states. Such talks should start now because striking these agreements will take time, they say.

They then warn that until such deals come into force, the U.S. should be ready to take actions alone. The senators support free emissions allowances for these sectors and border adjustments, or carbon tariffs, on imports from countries that don’t require major emissions cuts. The major House bill approved in June includes such measures, but Obama at the time said he was skeptical of the tariffs, warning against sending “protectionist signals.”

Elsewhere, the senators support targets that the U.S. and several other industrialized nations have laid out before, including a global emissions cut of 50 percent by 2050, with industrialized nations agreeing to 80 percent cuts by that time.

Other principles: ensuring all major economies adopt ambitious, binding and verifiable actions; ensuring that intellectual property protections accompany collaboration on low-carbon energy technologies; increased U.S. aid starting now – even absent a global climate deal – to help developing nations adapt to and fight climate change, and several other measures.

The letter also went to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Update — the whole letter is below:

The Honorable Barack Obama
The President of the United States
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

As you prepare for negotiations in Copenhagen to address the daunting
challenges of global climate change, we want to call to your attention
principles we believe would be constructive in advancing an
international agreement to reduce dangerous greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate change is a serious and growing threat to the United States and
the world. The consequences of climate change are already being felt at
home and will intensify in the years ahead in ways that place the U.S.
economy and future generations at risk. Internationally, the adverse
impacts of climate change will threaten vital U.S. national security,
economic, energy security and humanitarian interests. Smart climate
change policies would guard against these risks while also spurring
clean energy investments that promote economic growth and create good
domestic jobs.

Importantly, however, poorly designed climate policies could also
jeopardize U.S. national interests by imposing burdens on U.S.
consumers, companies and workers without solving the climate challenge.
The United States cannot stop climate change alone—success depends on
marshaling an effective global response. Engaging developing nations
will be especially important as they represent half of global emissions
today and are expected to account for nearly all of the growth in
future emissions.

To protect against the twin risks of climate change and costly but
ineffective climate action, the following principles regarding
international cooperation should direct U.S. climate policy. To ensure
the United States fully engages with the international community, these
principles should be embodied in new international agreements and in
domestic legislation. We stand ready to work with you to develop
timely, affordable and effective climate solutions that are consistent
with these principles, including a carefully-designed mandatory program
that would reduce U.S. emissions, spur international action and help
ensure a level playing field for U.S. companies and workers.

1. The United States should seek global agreement on emissions reduction goals.
The consensus scientific view is that global average temperature
increases ought not to exceed 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees
Celsius) above pre-industrial levels in order to avoid unacceptable
climate risks. Achieving this goal will require reducing global
emissions by 50% by 2050, with industrialized nations reducing
emissions 80% or more and developing nations taking increasingly
ambitious actions to limit and then reduce their emissions in the same
time frame.

2. The United States should negotiate international
climate agreements that promote cost effective action and improve U.S.
energy security. These agreements, including under the U.N.
Framework Convention on Climate Change, should spur nations to take
actions that reflect the need for a collective global response,
differing stages of national economic development and varying
capacities for action. To support multilateral approaches the United
States should also continue to promote bilateral and regional
cooperation to advance solutions and common interests.

3. All major economies should adopt ambitious, quantifiable, measurable, reportable and verifiable national actions.
In connection with new international climate agreements, nations should
develop and implement detailed, ambitious, quantifiable, measurable,
reportable, verifiable and nationally appropriate climate programs that
contain concrete actions that are consistent with both medium- and
long-term emission reduction goals. These programs are essential for
the United States and other nations to evaluate the adequacy,
comparability and equity of proposed policies and actions.

4. Reciprocal commitments are essential. The
United States should make binding international commitments to
implement actions that would be embodied in new domestic climate change
laws, as well as in existing laws and policies, provided that in new
international agreements other major economies also make binding
international commitments to undertake ambitious, quantifiable,
measureable, reportable and verifiable actions. While working towards
an international agreement the United States should continue to
implement existing actions and move forward with ambitious and
comprehensive climate legislation.

5. Verification is essential. Accurate,
transparent, and timely information is necessary to verify whether
nations are meeting their climate commitments. A new global climate
agreement, therefore, should give priority to the measurement,
reporting and verification of actions, particularly by major economies.
The agreement should include provisions to enable a clear determination
of whether countries are complying with their international
commitments. Additionally, a new climate agreement should be supported
by appropriate consequences for those countries not meeting their
international commitments, consistent with national sovereignty. As new
climate agreements enter into force, major economies should demonstrate
that they have made substantial progress toward putting in place
domestically enforceable laws and programs to successfully implement
their internationally agreed upon actions.

6. The trade implications of climate policy must be addressed.
Climate and trade policies should be designed to encourage all major
emitting nations to take climate action and to deter the migration of
polluting activities from one nation to another. Internationally, the
United States’ preferred and primary strategy for dealing with trade
concerns relating to U.S. climate policy should be to negotiate
effective bilateral and multilateral agreements on reducing emissions
in specific trade- and energy-intensive economic sectors. Collectively,
these new agreements—whether negotiated under the United Nations, World
Trade Organization or elsewhere—should not only ensure emission goals
are reached but they should also integrate climate objectives into the
international trade system, such as through border adjustments on
imports from nations that have not yet adopted sufficient emission
control measures. Since these agreements will be complex and may take
time to negotiate, the United States should begin publicly engaging
other countries now in substantive discussions on trade and climate
policy. Until such agreements come into force, the United States must
preserve and be willing to exercise its right to take actions that are
consistent with World Trade Organization obligations. Indeed, to
promote equitable and effective global action any new U.S. climate
change laws should establish a national system of border adjustments,
in concert with emission allowances or rebates to trade- and
energy-intensive sectors of the economy. Any border adjustment policies
should take effect by a date certain if appropriate international
agreements have not entered into force.

7. Enhanced technology cooperation will benefit the United
States, but must be coupled with strong protections for intellectual
property rights. Meeting the climate challenge will depend on
the development and dissemination of new clean energy technologies. The
United States is a global leader in technological innovation and has
much to gain from new initiatives to promote U.S. clean energy exports.
The United States would also benefit from international collaboration
to develop the revolutionary clean energy technologies needed to
strengthen U.S. energy security and promote economic growth. Respect
for intellectual property rights, however, is absolutely essential to
spurring innovation and economic growth. New international agreements
that deal with technology, therefore, must be designed to strengthen
rather than weaken international implementation of intellectual
property safeguards.

8. The United States and other nations should help the most vulnerable populations adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change.
Climate change is a threat multiplier that exacerbates the risks and
consequences of instability around the world. America can advance its
national security and humanitarian interests by ensuring that climate
laws and programs help people in the poorest countries adapt and reduce
their climate vulnerability. To ensure U.S. resources are used wisely,
the United States should focus such programs on least developed nations
as they are the most vulnerable and have the least capacity to respond.
These assistance programs should ramp up now and not be conditioned on
a new global climate agreement.

9. The United States and other nations should create targeted incentives to help developing nations take ambitious action.
Developing nations should mitigate their emissions, and the United
States has a role to play in enabling ambitious action. Climate
legislation should include substantial financial incentives to promote
U.S. clean energy exports and reduce tropical deforestation, including
through public funding and innovative mechanisms designed to help
mobilize private sector investments. These programs should be targeted
toward nations that have the greatest emissions mitigation potential,
are parties to ambitious new climate agreements with the United States
and are acting in conformity with their obligations. The United States
should be actively assisting developing nations that are preparing to
take ambitious, quantifiable, measurable, reportable and verifiable
actions, even before new international agreements are finalized.

10. U.S. climate policy should promote cost-effective global action.
The cost of reducing emissions in many developing nations is lower than
in the United States. For this reason creating incentives for U.S.
companies to reduce international emissions will help lower costs for
U.S. consumers and save American jobs. But safeguards are needed to
ensure that international emission reductions financed from the United
States are genuine, additional to business-as-usual and advance U.S.
goals relating to climate change policy. In the case of major
developing nations, one way forward would be to limit access to U.S.
incentive programs, including those intended to mobilize the private
sector, to nations that are making significant emissions reductions or
implementing new internationally agreed upon actions. For other
nations, these incentive programs should still encourage action through
smaller-scale projects and activities to promote innovation and contain
initial costs.

Thank you for considering our views. To confront global climate change
successfully, international action and cooperation is needed. We look
forward to working with you to achieve that outcome.

Sincerely,

Senator Arlen Specter
Senator Carl Levin
Senator Tim Johnson
Senator Debbie Stabenow
Senator Sherrod Brown
Senator Claire McCaskill
Senator Amy Klobuchar
Senator Kay Hagan
Senator Mark Begich

cc: The Honorable Hillary Clinton, Secretary, U.S. Department of State
The Honorable Harry Reid, Majority Leader, United States Senate