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U.S. Official Tells Platts Energy Podium: Emissions Caps Costly

2006-12-13 10:38 1189

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Platts -- A top Bush

administration official warned Tuesday that the incoming Democratic-

controlled Congress would raise energy prices if it makes good on its promise

to pass legislation curbing industrial greenhouse gas emissions that are

blamed for global warming.

Harlan Watson, a State Department official who serves as the

administration’s chief international climate-change negotiator, made the

comments at Platts Energy Podium, a Washington newsmaker event.

A climate bill with mandatory emissions caps would spur "fairly large

increases in electricity costs," Watson said. It would do so by discouraging

the use of coal and "encouraging fuel-switching" to more expensive natural

gas, he added.

Watson rebuffed an argument made frequently by Democrats and

environmental groups that Congress could cap greenhouse gas emissions just as

it took steps in the 1990s to cap sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions that were

blamed for "acid rain."

Watson said there are "very important differences" between the two

scenarios. In the case of the acid rain program, the technology that was

needed to curb utility SO2 emissions was "essentially on the shelf, ready to

go," he said. Moreover, the United States had a large supply of low-sulfur

coal that it could use and transport around the country easily thanks to a

well-developed railroad infrastructure, he added.

"We have no low-carbon source of coal," Watson said, adding that the

availability of cleaner-burning gas is "limited."

Watson also offered a somewhat bleak assessment of the United Nations

global-warming conference that he attended in Nairobi, Kenya, last month.

Watson said he "got into loggerheads" with negotiators from developing

countries on how to proceed on the issue of technology transfer, which is one

of the administration’s chief policies for addressing global climate change.

Watson also emphasized the difficulties he had in trying to convince

China and other developing countries to take steps to curb their greenhouse

gas emissions. "They are not about to put their economic growth in harm’s

way" to address global warming, he said.

"You just can’t talk down to them" about the need to curb emissions,

Watson said. "They’re going to have to be convinced" that they can do it in

a way that does not slow their economic growth, he added.

To that end, Watson touted 98 clean-development projects that the

administration unveiled last month as part of its Asia-Pacific Partnership, a

global-warming initiative that seeks to curb greenhouse gas emissions in

China, India and four other Asian countries.

Thirteen of the projects seek to improve the efficiency of coal-fired

power plants in China, India and other developing countries. More than 100

engineers from those countries came to Columbus, Ohio, last month to learn

from U.S. experts how to improve the efficiency of their plants, Watson

noted.

"Hopefully, they’re going to carry that (information) back and implement

it in their own countries," Watson said.

Hosted by Platts, the world’s leading energy information provider and a

division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Platts Energy Podium provides an

ongoing forum for prominent newsmakers and the press to address important

energy and environmental issues. Credentialed media may receive complementary

registration for Energy Podium events by contacting Nancy Covey at 202-942-

8719, Nancy_Covey@platts.com. A recording of the Watson session is available

via podcast at http://platts.com/energypodium/index.xml/ .

About Platts:

Platts, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), is a leading

global provider of energy information. With nearly a century of business

experience, Platts serves thousands of customers across more than 150

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http://www.platts.com .

About The McGraw-Hill Companies:

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP) is a leading

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Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40

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available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com .

Source: Platts
Keywords: Oil/Energy
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