Boxer Gives High Priority To Climate Change

Incoming chair of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) has announced a reorganization of the committee, a change that puts greater emphasis on global climate change. Boxer, a staunch supporter of controls on greenhouse gas emissions, appointed herself chair of the new Subcommittee on Public Sector Solutions to Global Warming, Oversight, Children's Health Protection & Nuclear Safety. She also appointed Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) to chair the new Subcommittee on Private Sector & Consumer Solutions to Global Warming & Wildlife Protection, and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) to head the newly named Subcommittee on Superfund & Environmental Health. Boxer supports national legislation similar to that passed in California, which sets a target of reducing greenhouse emissions by 25% to reach 1990 emissions levels by 2020-a tough sell. Outgoing environment committee Chairman James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) has said he will try to block any bill requiring mandatory emissions cuts, ensuring that such legislation will need at least 60 votes on the Senate floor to avoid a filibuster.