At a House Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality hearing yesterday, White House chief environmental adviser James Connaughton briefed Representatives and responded to questions on the “major achievement” from the UN Climate Change Conference: the creation of the Bali Action Plan.

After reiterating the U.S. positions on “an environmentally effective and economically sound” outcome to the global climate negotiations, Mr. Connaughton described how the Bali Action Plan (also know as the “Bali Roadmap”), signed by more than 190 countries, establishes a sound framework to support the development of a global climate treaty by December 2009 so that implementation can begin in 2012. Mr. Connaughton stressed that, in order to understand the United States’ position, members should carefully study the Bali Action Plan.

Mr. Connaughton also discussed the complementary “Major Economies Meetings,” the results of which will feed back into the global climate talks. The Meetings provide a forum to reach agreement on topics of greatest relevance to the 17 major emitter countries, including China, India, the European countries, and Brazil. While these meetings are hosted by the U.S., Mr. Connaughton noted support for the process from the G-8 leaders, the Asia-Pacific economic leaders, and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon.

In his remarks, Mr. Connaughton listed the extensive actions taken by the U.S. to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including domestic requirements on renewable fuels, vehicle fuel standards, appliance and lighting efficiency, and protocol for government operations; the accelerated phase-out of HCFCs under the Montreal Protocol; the $18 billion invested in research and development; and the Tropical Forest Conservation Act and incentives for sustainable forest management. He highlighted the importance of eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade in clean energy technologies, referencing the U.S.-E.U. proposal before the WTO and the new proposed multilateral financing mechanism for clean technology.

Mr. Connaughton acknowledged the benefits of sectoral approach to managing carbon emissions, referencing cooperative efforts among the U.S., China, and Korea on aluminum.

Remarks and questions from Subcommittee members focused on the issues of competitiveness and “leakage” of jobs and emissions to other countries. Mr. Connaughton was pressed on the issues of clean coal technologies, including Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle, the zero emissions FutureGen coal power plant, and on other issues related to carbon capture and storage. Representatives also weighed the question of whether clean energy technologies could meet current and future U.S. energy demands, which are estimated to increase by 50% by 2030, and discussed the role for nuclear power in U.S. energy policy.

Preceding Mr. Connaughton’s remarks, Representative Upton, the new ranking member of the Subcommittee, advocated a “common sense approach” to energy policy, expressing concerns that a mandatory emissions cap would limit U.S. economic growth. Representative Upton criticized the Renewable Portfolio Standard, which was dropped during energy bill negotiations, for excluding new hydro facilities and nuclear options, and advocated for a future “flexible clean standard” that did not “pick winners or losers.”

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