Climate Change Technology Deployment and Infrastructure Credit Act of 2005
Key claim: This 2005 Senate bill would have created federal climate-technology programs and a credit board to help privately financed projects that cut greenhouse-gas intensity, but it was only introduced and sent to committee.
Abstract
(S887 · 109th Congress) Climate Change Technology Deployment and Infrastructure Credit Act of 2005 - Amends the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to direct the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to develop a national strategy to promote greenhouse gas intensity reducing technologies and practices developed through research and development programs conducted by National Laboratories, other Federal research facilities, universities, and the private sector. Directs the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) to establish: (1) an Interagency Coordinating Committee on Climate Change Technology (Committee) to coordinate Federal climate change activities and programs; (2) the Climate Change Technology Program; and (3) Climate Change Technology Working Group. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish within the Department of Commerce the Climate Change Science Program. Directs the Committee to develop and propose standards and best practices for calculating, monitoring, and analyzing greenhouse gas intensity. Directs the Secretary to make financial assistance available to eligible project developers and project owners to supplement private sector financing for eligible projects. Instructs the Secretary to establish a Energy Climate Credit Board to implement the greenhouse gas intensity reducing technology deployment program. Sets forth parameters regarding Board assistance, determination of eligibility and project selection. Latest action (2005-04-21): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Why this matters
The bill illustrates an early-2000s congressional model for federal climate policy that emphasized technology deployment and credit support for private projects rather than emissions caps or direct grants. Even though it was never enacted, it is a reference point for how Congress has proposed to structure federal financing mechanisms alongside agency R&D programs.