On July 24, 2007, four U.S. Senators proposed bipartisan global warming legislation that is intended to be less burdensome on business than competing plans that have been offered to date. John Warner (R-VA) joined Senators Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), in trying to limit the cost of mandating reductions of greenhouse gas emissions through an emissions cap-and-trade program. Their bill would allow companies to borrow emission permits and pay them back in future years with interest and to buy more offsets to meet their emission requirements.
Senator Warner commented that, "In my 28 years in the Senate, I have focused above all on issues of national security, and I see the problem of global climate change as fitting within that focus." He added that, "As we proceed to legislate on climate change, we need to be careful to protect our economy in the process. I intend to include this legislation in the climate change bill that I am drafting with
