In Washington
The Foundation supports comprehensive federal energy legislation that leverages America's growing natural gas resource base to meet the country's climate and energy security goals.
So far as cap-and-trade legislation is concerned, our research suggests that this can best be done by including a meaningful Bridge Fuel Credit (BFC) program, sometimes know as a Clean EnergyTransition Allowance (CETA). This program would enable Congress to accelerate CO2 emission reductions from capped emitters by awarding additional emission rights to parties that use natural gas in place of a higher carbon fuel.
We also support incentives to power heavy duty vehicles, buses and fleet vehicles with natural gas including, in particular, vehicles owned and operated by federal and state governments. This alone would save millions of barrels of imported oil and would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The benefits of using natural gas for heavy-duty vehicle fleets was recently highlighted in a report "American Fuel" by the Center for American Progress. Several bills have been introduced to the Congress to promote these goals, including House and Senate versions of the NatGas Act (HR 1835) and (S 1408).
About the Bridge Fuel Credit
Because natural gas can generate electricity with 50% less CO2 than coal, the expanded use of natural gas could be a "game changer" for U.S. climate action. However, the cap-and-trade bills now before the Congress do not give priority to increasing the power sector's use of natural gas. We think that is a mistake and have developed a natgas incentive program that would address this shortcoming.
One ton of emission credits would be awarded for every net ton of CO2 emission reductions attributable to the substitution of natural gas, as compared to business as usual. For more details about this cap-and- trade based incentive program, see this two page summary.
Several examples of how capped entities would earn emission credits for using natural gas can be found here.
The merits of using more natural gas to help the country meet the environmental objectives set by climate change legislation have been endorsed by the Center for American Progress, the WorldWatch Institute and the Executive Director of the Sierra Club, among others. The specific natgas incentive program developed by the Foundation has also won the support of America’s Natural Gas Alliance and the Natural Gas Supply Association.