US Energy Dept sets greenhouse gas meetings
Date: 10-Oct-02
Country: USA
The Energy Department aims to issue new voluntary reporting guidelines by January 2004, which are expected to include tradable credits for companies that cut emissions and independent verification of claimed emission reductions.
The United States emits about one-third of the developed world's man-made greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. The heat-trapping gases have been blamed for gradually increasing the earth's temperature, which some scientists say could raise sea levels, increase catastrophic wildfires and destroy some animal habitats.
A voluntary U.S. reporting program was created in 1995 for companies to establish a public record of emissions, reductions or sequestration projects as part of a national database. Only about 170 electric utilities and other companies such as BP America, IBM and DuPont have so far submitted data on carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and other greenhouse gases.
House Republicans last week rejected a proposal by Senate Democrats to require mandatory reporting of greenhouse gases by companies as part of a broad U.S. energy bill.
The Energy Department's first meeting will be on Nov. 18 and 19 in suburban Washington, followed by December sessions in Chicago, San Francisco and Houston.
The U.S. Agriculture Department, which has been studying ways to encourage carbon sequestration using crop land and forests, will hold two public meetings in January. The USDA is developing accounting rules and guidelines for greenhouse gas offsets that farmers and forest land owners can use in the voluntary reporting program run by the Energy Department.
