File Photo WASHINGTON: The US Capitol houses the legislative branch of the American government. The Senate occupies the building's north wing and the House of representatives is housed in the south wing. image:22902:4::0

In an effort to help combat global warming, the US House of Representatives is planning to implement new policies to decrease carbon emissions and become “carbon neutral” by the end of the year. This appears to be a responsible effort in light of the fact that the House side alone puts out about as much carbon dioxide as roughly 17,000 automobiles.

Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, has stated that she wants Congress to lead by example. The measures to be implemented include seeking renewable sources of power instead of coal burning sources, changing to alternative automobiles, and replacing current lighting with energy saving options.

The remaining overproduction will simply be expunged through the purchase of carbon credits or “offsets.” Do offsets really make an impact? It sounds like a convenient option for an inconvenient issue.

Overall, the Senate seems to approve of most of these ideas, although some Senators whose states produce coal appear to be less than pleased, since the capitol power plant is the only one in DC that burns coal. They’d like to see tests done to see if coal can be burned more cleanly but the House is poised to move on to other options.