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MAINE COMPASS: Collins takes up fight against carbon emissions

Maine’s Susan Collins is showing strong leadership in the US Senate. Leading — not following political lines, bucking the tide of special interests, doing what’s right for her constituents as a matter of conscience — takes courage, understanding and patience.

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Collins’ stance on climate issues in Congress shows exactly that.

In true bipartisan spirit, Collins and Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington state, are co-sponsoring legislation that would lead to significant reductions in carbon emissions while protecting businesses and consumers.

Lobbyists, of course, are predicting calamity — just as they did when Congress limited exposure to pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and lead. But Collins has chosen to put forward a bill, the Carbon Limits and Energy for America’s Renewal (CLEAR) Act, that will benefit the people and the businesses of Maine, despite the political risks such leadership always faces.

Nowhere is the lobbying more focused or effective than in efforts to persuade businesses that climate legislation would deal a death blow to the economy. The focus is well understood: Corporate support for effective legislation is essential.

Turn corporate America against legislation, and it stands little chance of success.

Clean Air-Cool Planet, a nonprofit organization dedicated to finding and promoting solutions to global warming, understands the need for getting corporations on board with any energy proposals. The organization has worked for a decade with corporations such as L.L. Bean, Oakhurst Dairy, Lamey Wellehan Shoes, Hannaford Supermarkets and Poland Spring, and has found that business leaders understand well the advantages of reducing energy use, which is the backbone of efforts to control carbon emissions.

It makes bottom-line sense: Energy is a major cost center of any business. Use less, pay less, increase your margin, become more profitable. But the fear shared by business people and consumers alike is that regulating emissions will unhinge prices.

Collins’ bill addresses this fear in two important ways. First, it establishes a “price collar” (a floor and a ceiling) that limits the price volatility that would be bad for the economy and for individual businesses. At the same time, it offers businesses the certainty and predictability they need for investments in efficiency and alternative energy sources.

Second, the CLEAR Act rebates 75 percent of carbon revenues directly to consumers, a provision that the latest polling shows most Americans — strong majorities of Democrats, Independents and Republicans — want Congress to endorse. In climate legislation, as elsewhere, fairness and transparency are appreciated by the public.

Finally, the Cantwell-Collins bill also jumpstarts a transition to a clean-energy economy through support for technology innovation that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and restore our technology leadership in the world. The genius of Collins’ proposal is that it serves U.S. energy, economic and national security interests, while protecting the environment and providing millions of new jobs in a new clean-energy sector.

She deserves the congratulations and the support of the people of Maine.

Adam Markham is president and CEO of Clean Air-Cool Planet, based in Portsmouth, N.H.