Sen. Bob Corker, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said today that the latest version of the Lieberman-Warner cap-and-trade bill (Climate Security Act, S.2191) introduced this week "is not ready for prime time."

“If a cap-and-trade bill becomes law, every single American will pay more for gasoline, more for electricity, more for food, more for everything they buy as a result,” said Corker. “We believe that any money generated from a cap-and-trade system should be returned to the American citizens burdened with these additional costs, and while we appreciate the step the bill sponsors have taken in this latest version–the bill is far from ready for prime time.

“This is a massive spending bill that uses non-discretionary spending—funded in essence by a tax on the American people—to spend trillions of dollars on new and existing government programs. Rather than using the revenue generated from this cap-and-trade system to fund new and existing government programs, would it not make more sense to return the revenue generated directly to the citizens who will be bearing the brunt of the costs associated with implementing this program?

Under the bill, credits would be freely allocated to entities, such as states, that don’t have to reduce emissions but are able to sell those credits and use that money to assist consumers through rebates or public programs, he said.

“I believe we need to increase the amount of allowances that are auctioned, rather than giving them away for free to other entities who are supposed to use the value of those allowances to benefit the public. In my view, American citizens would be better served receiving relief directly rather than relying on middlemen to provide that relief through government programs.

“I also believe we should eliminate all international offsets as a way for emitters to comply with the U.S. carbon cap. There are serious questions about the integrity of many of these projects, and it is difficult to determine whether these projects would have occurred anyway. In addition, these offsets would have a distorting affect on the U.S. cap-and-trade market and would lead to even more American dollars being spent overseas in countries like China, instead of in America.

“If cap-and-trade legislation is done properly, we see an opportunity to marry the tremendous passion for the environment with the need to have energy security in our country, and we look forward to the debate on the floor and continuing to work constructively with the bill sponsors.”

Noting that climate change and cap-and-trade would be significant issues facing Congress, Sen. Corker said he has spent his first 16 months in office delving into the complexity of the policy. Last May 2007, he traveled to Europe with Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) to meet with European Union officials, carbon traders, representatives from the utility industry, and cement manufacturers. In July, Corker went to Greenland with Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) to view the effects of climate change. He has also spent countless hours with Tennessee-based industry, conservation groups, and experts discussing the impacts of climate change legislation.

In April, Sen. Corker said he began making presentations to his colleagues outlining his concerns with the bill.