Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) last Wednesday unveiled legislation that offers a cap-and-invest system to reduce heat-trapping greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States.

The measure, called “Investing in Climate Action and Protection Act,” or iCAP for short, would seek to cap pollution at 85% below 2005 levels by 2050. It would then use an auction system to set a price on carbon, and allows companies to compete for reductions, or buy or trade credits within the system, said Markey, chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

The bill calls for the $8 trillion in revenues expected from polluters to be reinvested in American families and workers and into promoting a clean energy economy, he said. More than half of the funds would go directly to low- and middle-income families to offset any increases in energy costs from the transition of the economy to low- and zero-carbon energy.

The measure also proposes investments in green collar job training for workers in a clean energy economy, mass transit and energy efficiency programs, according to Markey.

“We all benefited from the Industrial Age, and we have watched the dawn of the Information Age, Today let’s start the Clean Energy Age,” said Markey, who also is a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee.

The legislation is expected to be introduced in the House this week when Congress returns from its Memorial Day recess. The Senate is expected to take up legislation (S. 3036) that is based on the carbon cap-and-trade bill sponsored by Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and John Warner (R-VA).

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