Washington Post: Legisladores americanos intentan contrarrestar cambio climático

Lawmakers Will Proceed on Climate Plan
Leaders Focus on System of Tradable Allowances for Greenhouse Gas Emissions

By Juliet Eilperin Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, October 4, 2007; Page A04
Legislative leaders in the House and Senate said yesterday that they plan to press ahead with proposals to limit U.S. emissions linked to global warming, focusing on mandatory, economy-wide caps of the kind that President Bush explicitly rejected last week in a climate conference he hosted.

While the bills are less ambitious than many climate scientists and environmental activists have wanted, they indicate that Congress plans to press ahead with a sweeping climate change proposal despite the president's opposition.

Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), left, and Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) envision a cap-and-trade system in which the federal government would distribute greenhouse gas allowances that could be bought and sold. (Dennis Cook - AP)

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Yesterday, Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee issued a white paper outlining a cap-and-trade system that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent to 80 percent below current levels. Under the system envisioned by Chairman John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) and a key subcommittee chairman, Rick Boucher (D-Va.), the federal government would distribute greenhouse gas allowances that could be bought and sold, though the lawmakers left open the possibility of using taxes as well.

It remains unclear how much Republican support Dingell and Boucher's proposal will enjoy in the House, and when legislation might advance. Asked whether GOP members backed the plan, Dingell spokeswoman Jodi Seth responded in an e-mail, "You'll have to check with the Republicans."

Boucher has vowed to work with his GOP counterpart on the subcommittee on energy and air quality, former speaker J. Dennis Hastert (Ill.), but Hastert spokeswoman Lulu Blacksmith said her boss had not taken a position and "is in the process of reviewing the document."

The Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works plans to move a bipartisan bill through committee in December, at a time when international climate negotiators will be meeting in Bali. Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) will lead a Senate delegation to the talks along with John F. Kerry (D-Mass.).

"Moving global warming legislation is a top priority," Boxer said in a statement. "I am optimistic that we can get a strong global warming bill through the subcommittee very soon and through the full committee by the end of the year."

The panel plans to take up a cap-and-trade bill authored by Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John W. Warner (R-Va.) that includes a Federal Reserve-style board to help contain the costs imposed on carbon emitters and aims for a 70 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions from current levels by 2050. It also will take up several other climate bills with both deeper and more modest emissions cuts.

Environmental advocacy groups welcomed these overtures. Steve Cochran, national climate campaign director for Environmental Defense, said yesterday's white paper "appears to be a serious attempt by Chairmen Dingell and Boucher to take the initial steps toward developing comprehensive climate legislation in the House."

David D. Doniger, policy director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's Climate Center, said that while he and other environmentalists back an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gases, Dingell and Boucher's blueprint amounts to "a very constructive opening move."
However, Lee Fuller, vice president of government relations at the Independent Petroleum Association of America, said lawmakers have underestimated the challenge of reaching their reduction targets by assuming that as many as 145 new nuclear power plants will come online by 2030.

"Is that realistic? Our sense is no," Fuller said.

The Wall Street Journal: Consumidores ciegos plantean acción colectiva para poder comprar On-line

Advocates for WebAccess for Blind Pass Legal Hurdle
Suit Against Target Gets Class-Action Status,Already Spurs Change

By JAMES COVERT
Blind Internet users scored a victory in their battle to gain better access to what is on the Web.
A federal judge in California has granted class-action status to a lawsuit against Target Corp. charging that the discount retailer's site is inaccessible to blind shoppers. The lawsuit already appears to have prodded Target into making improvements to its site, and industry experts say legal challenges have proved to be an effective way for blind advocates to alert Web builders about problems with Internet access.

At issue is whether Target's site is compatible with special software that can vocalize invisible code embedded beneath computer graphics, describing aloud the content of a Web page. Plaintiffs, led by the National Federation for the Blind, are making their case under the Americans with Disabilities Act as well as two California state laws, claiming they "are being denied equal access to Target stores" because of poor access to Target.com.

Minneapolis-based Target says it believes its site is "fully accessible and complies with all applicable laws," and that it plans to appeal.

Some outsiders say continuing the fight isn't worth it. Settling the suit and upgrading its Web site would likely be a "win-win situation" for Target and its customers, says Greg Mersol, a partner at the law firm Baker Hostetler who specializes in class-action litigation.

Efforts to write accessibility requirements into federal Internet guidelines have hit roadblocks. The majority of corporate initiatives to improve Internet access to blind and other disabled Web users has been driven by fear of lawsuits, says David Grant, vice president of marketing for Watchfire, an Internet-access consultant owned by International Business Machines Corp.

A 1999 lawsuit against America Online over blind access was quickly settled, followed by enhancements at AOL and other Internet-service providers. A 2002 case against Southwest Airlines was thrown out, but the company moved to eliminate obstacles to ticket purchases by blind travelers on its site.

One common stumbling block for transactions is the use of "visual verification" tools for security purposes, which ask users to retype a password displayed in wavy distorted letters, to prove that a person and not another computer is seeking access. It can get in the way of more than just shopping, says Kevin Barry, a Long Island-based attorney who is blind. Visual verification on Yahoo Inc.'s site kept him from signing up for an email account, or joining any of Yahoo.com's chat rooms, Mr. Barry says.

A Yahoo spokeswoman responds that the company "is committed to making its site accessible to the broadest possible audience," and that it is testing audio-based verification tools.
But the most common problem is a lack of labeling for links and images, which in addition to pictures can function as charts, product descriptions and instructions, coupons and order forms.
Such labeling isn't costly -- a "very minor" part of an electronic-commerce budget for any major firm, Mr. Grant says. But he also concedes that it can take some time to perform the upgrades, especially as Web pages become increasingly complex. Some blind advocates and industry experts estimate that more than a third of the Internet remains inaccessible for blind users, partly for that reason.

"Nine times out of 10 it's because [Web designers] don't think of it," Mr. Grant says. "They're hired to do something as flashy, on-time and on-budget as possible."

Chris Danielsen, a spokesman for the National Federation for the Blind, says the group has a "cooperation agreement" with Amazon.com Inc. to improve the Internet retailer's blind accessibility, which he says is already superior. Grocers including Safeway Inc., whose Web sites are particularly handy for blind shoppers hoping to avoid the hassles of a trip to the supermarket also tend to do a good job, he says.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. also operates