Brown wants climate bill to regulate imports
The Columbus Dispatch – WASHINGTON – Sen. Sherrod Brown warned yesterday that a global-warming measure would collapse unless it shielded U.S. manufacturers from imports from countries that do not curb their emissions of greenhouse gases.
In a letter to backers of a Senate climate-change bill, Brown and eight other Democrats called for tariffs against goods produced abroad, federal loan guarantees to help U.S. companies develop cleaner energy, and federal dollars to protect manufacturers "from spikes in energy prices."
In addition, they urged that any new federal global-warming law trump state laws, an apparent concession to Michigan Democratic Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow. The auto industry has objected to past efforts by California and other western states to adopt tougher clean-air standards for cars and trucks than the rest of the country.
They made clear that the final bill must "include a plan to address the challenges that face manufacturing. Without such a plan, we are concerned that the legislation will ultimately be unsuccessful."
The letter was signed by Brown, Levin, Stabenow, Evan Bayh of Indiana, Arlen Specter and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Mark Warner of Virginia, and Claire McCaskill of Missouri.
