Over 10 U.S. senators, governors, business leaders and international experts met Tuesday in the Capitol to discuss the prospects for U.S. domestic action on climate change, calling for "responsibly-designed" national climate policy to create more jobs and recover the stumbling economy.

Many of the participants stressed that action to reduce green house gas emissions should not be delayed by the global economic downturn because it provides an opportunity to lay the foundation for sustainable recovery based on low-carbon growth.

"A responsibly-designed national climate policy will create economic opportunities and jobs and spur investment in low-carbon technologies that will make U.S. businesses more competitive," Senator Jeff Bingaman said at the symposium, "U.S. Climate Action: A Global Economic Perspective," convened by Senator Bingaman, John McCain, Olympia Snowe and Debbie Stabenow.

"The cost of climate policy can be mitigated with the right policy measures, and we need to move ahead with both energy policies and a national cap and trade program to sustain these investments."

Senator Stabenow said "for me, the bottom-line of any future climate change bill must be jobs. Climate policy can help rebuild the middle class and create jobs in states like Michigan where we have the manufacturing base and engineering know-how to produce the new technology that will be needed."

Former British prime minister Tony Blair argued that the leading economic powers around the world now understand the significant risks of climate change and appreciate that the best way to minimize the dangers is by investing in a low-carbon economy.

Blair said the U.S. can send an important signal to the world about the importance they place on tackling global climate change through the progress it makes on its domestic climate policy over the next few months.

Governor Jim Doyle of Wisconsin, Jennifer Granholm of Michigan and Timothy Kaine of Virginia provided their perspectives on the impact of climate policy on regional competitiveness, particularly with respect to impact on U.S. jobs.

"In Michigan our top priority is growing the economy and creating jobs and that is why comprehensive climate change legislation is important to our state," said Granholm. "Not only will this legislation advance clean energy technologies that reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, it will create millions of new green jobs, and protect our natural resources and that is critical for a state like Michigan that has lost hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs."

There was strong agreement about the importance of boosting economic growth and combating climate change at the same time, and participants recognized that low-carbon investments will not only be good for jobs and economic recovery but will also improve the country's energy security and begin to cut its greenhouse gas emissions.

(Xinhua News Agency March 4, 2009)