George Voinovich: “Schlesinger points out that ``science remains unable to either attribute past climate changes to changes in…”

“Schlesinger points out that ``science remains unable to either attribute past climate changes to changes in CO<INF>2</INF> or to forecast with any degree of precision how [the] climate will change in the future,'' and warns that: We cannot tell how much of the recent warming trend can be attributed to the greenhouse gas effect and how much to other factors. In climate change, we have only a limited grasp of the overall forces at work. Uncertainties have continued to abound--and must be reduced. Any approach to policy formation under conditions of such uncertainty should be taken only on an exploratory and sequential basis. A premature commitment to a fixed policy can only proceed with fear and trembling. Several Members of this body have introduced pieces of legislation this year and a couple last year to address the issue of climate change by capping carbon--such as the Jeffords-Lieberman 4-P bill, the Carper 4-P bill, and, of course, the subject of our debate today, the McCain- Lieberman climate change bill. Passage of any of these bills will force our utilities which are now using coal to generate over half of our Nation's electricity--by the way, 85 percent of electricity generated in my State--to fuel-switch and to rely solely on natural gas for generation despite the fact we have a 250-year supply of domestic coal and are currently in the grips of a natural gas crisis.”