Leo W. Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers (USW) today praised the commitment of a group of key senators led by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), for issuing a bold call to ensure that climate change legislation continue to include a comprehensive provision to prevent the leakage of carbon emissions and manufacturing jobs to foreign countries with this statement:

“USW believes that the key to addressing the threat of climate change is ensuring that emissions are actually reduced and not just exported along with millions of American jobs.  It is therefore critical that domestic climate change legislation include a strong, effective, and comprehensive series of provisions to prevent this leakage, which has the potential to not only undermine the economic goals of the legislation, but the environmental goals as well.

“This comprehensive anti-leakage package has two parts, both of which are absolutely crucial if leakage is to be prevented.  The first is the allocation of allowances to energy-intensive manufacturers based on their efficiency and output.  This will provide American manufacturers with the near-term transition assistance they need to create new, clean processes and products, but to work effectively there must be a sufficient amount of allowances to fully fund the program.  In addition, it is imperative that long-term leakage concerns be addressed by the inclusion of a border allowance requirement on products from those countries that do not share America's commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Click here for more.