Hagel prepares new initiative on climate change

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by Don Walton / Lincoln Journal Star

U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel, who led Senate opposition to the Kyoto global warming accord seven years ago, said Wednesday he's fashioning an alternative initiative to address climate change.

His plan, he said, is compatible  with the strategy being formulated by British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Hagel met this week with Blair in London, at the prime minister's request, to discuss how the United States can participate in the international effort to deal with climate change despite its decision to opt out of the Kyoto agreement.

Blair plans to make climate change a cornerstone of Britain's chairmanship of the G8 group of industrialized nations during the coming year.

"He wants to try to engage us in some common ground so the United States can be seen in the world as helping lead this effort rather than obstructing it," Hagel said in a telephone interview from Washington.

"Too much of the world sees us as the problem, not the solution," the Nebraska Republican said. "At a time when America is often seen as a bully, and its standing is as low as it's been since World War II, we should find ways to be seen as a solution to problems."

Hagel said he plans to introduce legislation early next year focusing on the development and sharing of clean energy technology, while providing tax incentives to U.S. businesses that operate in an environmentally-friendly way.

"I've always believed that if we can get at developing countries early while they are developing their energy infrastructure, they can use new technology to leapfrog the dirty energy sources" that fueled the development of industrial nations, Hagel said.

While the United States is the largest emitter of so-called greenhouse gases today, China will assume that position within the next few years, Hagel said.  China and India are among the developing nations not covered by mandatory emission standards in the Kyoto protocol.

"Blair was very clear that Kyoto is dead," Hagel said, "but he believes there are some things we could do together if we find the right mechanism and framing of priorities."

Hagel said he feels an obligation to offer an alternative since he helped lead U.S. opposition to Kyoto.

"I feel part of my job is not just critiquing or criticizing or stopping, but finding alternatives and solutions.  If Kyoto was the wrong solution, what is the right solution?"

While the issue of climate change needs to be addressed with an emphasis on sound science, Hagel said, "obviously something's going on out there."

The London Times last week revealed Blair's effort to engage the United States in a new climate change strategy.

The fastest and cheapest way to "wean the world off carbon-based energy sources" is to invest in renewable energy technologies rather than complex carbon-trading and regulatory schemes, the newspaper suggested in an editorial.

Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.