Bush floats new climate proposal among GOP

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The administration views were presented by James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and domestic policy adviser Keith Hennessey.

Among those at the meeting were Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, the No. 2 House Republican; Rep. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, the ranking Republican on the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming; and Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill. All are members of a group of House Republicans who have been critical of cap-and-trade climate legislation.

The meeting was first reported Monday by The Washington Times.

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The White House search for a new climate initiative comes amid growing indication that mandatory action to address global warming is highly likely, if not now, in the next year or so. All three presidential candidates — Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, and the presumptive GOP nominee, John McCain — have said greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels, must be reduced.

A 'regulatory train wreck'
At the same time, the administration is facing growing pressure to regulate carbon dioxide under the existing federal clean air law.

"We are dealing with what we call a regulatory train wreck," said Perino on Monday, using language similar to that used by the White House officials during their meeting with the GOP lawmakers last week.

The Environmental Protection Agency has been told by the Supreme Court that carbon dioxide, the leading greenhouse gas, is a pollutant and must be regulated if the EPA determines it is a danger to health and welfare.

At the same time, the Interior Department is under pressure to give polar bears special protection under the Endangered Species Act because of disappearing Arctic sea ice. A lawsuit also has been filed under the same law for more protection for arctic seals.

Together these cases would pull the enforcement of the Clean Air Act and the Endangered Species Act into the debate over climate change. This is a "regulatory trajectory ... we think is fraught with peril and that will ultimately end up in a train wreck," said Perino.

The White House officials made a similar case in their meeting with the GOP lawmakers, according to two individuals familiar with the discussion. They were told, however, that the cap-and-trade proposal being considered would be rejected by congressional Democrats, while alienating GOP conservatives.

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