Bowing to political reality, Senator Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat and majority leader, said the Senate would not take up legislation intended to reduce carbon emissions blamed as a cause of climate change, but would instead pursue a more limited measure focused on responding to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and tightening energy efficiency standards.
The plan includes measures previously speculated to be a part of the overall climate change reduction strategy, including boosting renewable energy on federal land and tightening energy efficiency standards.
It is even possible that Obama, the Democrats and some Republicans will endorse a carbon tax -- a regressive market approach to reducing emissions, though one which could make a difference with tightened energy efficiency regulations.
It has tightened energy-efficiency standards for buildings.
Gaps reduce energy efficiency in a home.
Tighten up on energy efficiency standards.
He mixes energy efficiency (tightening valves, better light bulbs) -- a crucial cost-reduction strategy that can only be achieved at large scale with smarter regulations and technology deployment strategies that McCain does not support -- with classic offsets (no till farming), a non-strategy.].
He proposed to introduce as an alternative more-limited legislation designed to increase energy efficiency in vehicles and tighten regulations on offshore oil exploration.
That led to a flurry of last-minute rule making that included declaring nearly 60 million acres of national forests off limits to logging and road building, significantly tightening the standards for arsenic in drinking water, increasing energy efficiency of appliances, reducing tolerance for lead in paint and soil and setting new rules for privacy of medical records.
Tightening of emission rules and a desire to improve energy efficiency pushes even further the need for hybridization of non-road mobile machinery (NRMM).
Although the report states the window for action is "narrowing", the 2C target could still be achieved by implementing ambitious emissions reduction promises, tightening the rules of existing pledges and international co-operation on areas such as energy efficiency, renewables and fossil fuel subsidies.
