Staff Writer

A bill before the U.S. Senate would provide more than $2 trillion in federal funding to help make the transition from fossil fuels to alternative sources of energy and some South Carolina mayors want to see it pass.

The Climate Security Act was the subject of a conference call Friday involving the mayors of Charleston, Columbia, Sumter and Union. The call was hosted by S.C. Wildlife Federation executive director Ben Gregg. Also participating was Katrina Managan, global warming legislative representative for the National Wildlife Federation.

During the conference, the mayors discussed the steps their cities have taken to become more energy efficient and environmentally-friendly. They also called for the passage of the act, which caps U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases from major sources starting in the year 2012 and then steadily reduces those emission limits by approximately 2 percent every year thereafter.

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley said the actions taken at the local level reflect the grassroots demand and desire for global climate change to be addressed. He said the act is an opportunity for the federal government to match the efforts of local and state governments and provide leadership on the issue. He warned that nations like China and India will not make a serious effort to reduce their carbon footprint unless America does.

The act provides $1.7 trillion through 2050 to consumers and small businesses to ensure they are protected from increases in energy costs. Some of this funding is delivered via cost-regulated local electricity and gas utilities ($911 billion) with the balance provided through tax relief for consumers ($800 billion).

While the precise distribution of this funding is not specified in the bill, Ms. Managan said it is sufficient to provide every household and small business with $15 per month. She pointed out that the U.S. Department of Energy projects the act will increase household utility bills by about $2.50 per month by the year 2020.

The act also provides for $136 billion in Energy Efficiency and Conservation block grants to assist municipalities in their efforts to be more energy-efficient. Sumter Mayor Joe McElveen said that while his city has taken a number of steps to be more energy efficient and environmentally-friendly, its efforts have been limited because of a lack of funding. He said that the grants would help Sumter initiate programs to evaluate energy efficiency within the city, measure and monitor the city's carbon footprint; and address sustainability issues.

Union Mayor Bruce Morgan said the grants could help the city transition its vehicle fleet to a plug-in hybrid system.

“Wherever possible, we want to move to a battery assisted vehicle,” he said. “There's pickup trucks and cars that can work on a plug-in hybrid system and we're interested in going to such a system for our police cars and meter reading and light utility vehicle.

“To help curb the impact of the initial cost we could apply for grants under the Climate Security Act,” he said. “It would also pay for other things like engineering studies which could help determine what else could be done to reduce our carbon footprint.”

The act provides $190 billion through 2050 to fund worker training to build a new clean energy work force and assist affected workers in the transition to the clean energy economy. It also provides $213 billion to help energy-intensive manufacturers make the transition to the clean energy economy. The assistance would be available to the iron, steel, pulp, paper, cement, rubber, chemical, glass, ceramics, sulfur hexafluoride, aluminum and other non-ferrous metal industries.

Ms. Managan said the act uses a flexible cap-and-trade program to spur technology innovation, and is modeled after a similar program that was pioneered in the United States to reduce acid rain pollution. The bill requires covered sources to reduce emissions to 4 percent below current emission levels in the year 2012; 18 percent below current levels by 2020; and 71 percent below current levels by 2050. She said the bill covers more than 85 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by targeting large emitters such as power plants and oil companies.