This news story originally provided by americanprogressaction.org

June 21, 2006

Major Climate Bill Introduced as Study Shows Spike in Global Warming Pollution

The U.S. Public Interest Research Group released an analysis of government data yesterday showing that 28 states more than doubled their carbon dioxide emissions between 1960 and 2001. One major culprit of the spike in emissions: Increased combustion of oil to fuel our cars and trucks, which accounted for 40% of the total rise. “Oil emissions from the transportation sector soared over the period due to a dramatic rise in vehicle travel and the stagnating fuel efficiency of vehicles, while oil emissions from every other sector peaked in the 1970s." Also yesterday, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) released the Safe Climate Act, the first bill to seriously address global warming and deal specifically with how to slow, stop and reverse the release of greenhouse gases. Under the Act, the level of U.S. emissions would be "frozen in 2010, gradually reduced by 2% each year through 2020, and then reduced by 5% each year through 2050."