SMA President Philip K. Bell represented the domestic steel industry in support of the bipartisan Providing Reliable, Objective, Verifiable Emissions Intensity and Transparency (PROVE IT) Act. The legislation holds the key to understanding, and ultimately leveraging, America’s carbon advantage through official carbon efficiency data.
The invitation-only event, “Understanding the PROVE IT Act,” was hosted by the Climate Leadership Council and its CEO, Greg Bertelsen, in Washington, D.C. It is part of CLC’s Climate Conversations series.
The event featured U.S. Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), the leading cosponsors of the PROVE IT Act.
Marty Durbin, president of the Global Energy Institute and senior vice president in charge of policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Michael Parr, executive director at the Ultra Low Carbon Solar Alliance, joined Bell for a discussion of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead to reward innovative American companies and encourage lower emissions manufacturing globally.
“The Steel Manufacturers Association supports the PROVE IT Act and we look forward to working with Senators Coons and Cramer to pass this important bipartisan bill during this Congress,” Bell said. “This bill will collect the critical product level emission data necessary to prove to the world what we already know to be true – that the American steel industry produces the highest quality, lowest emission steel found anywhere in the world. The collection of this data will result in a powerful tool that will encourage our trading partners across the globe to transform their steel industries away from traditional high emission steelmaking and towards modern, efficient low emissions steelmaking that has put the American steel industry on a path towards net zero emission steel production in the coming years. What we applaud most is the focus on actual CO2 emissions attainment versus aspiration. Good data yields good policy, good policy garners bipartisan support and bipartisan support leads to better legislation.”
U.S. Senators Angus King (I-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), and John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) are also cosponsors of the bill.
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About the SMA
SMA is the largest steel industry trade association in the United States and is the primary trade association representing North American EAF steel producers. EAF steelmakers account for almost 70 percent of domestic steelmaking capacity using an innovative, 21st-century production process that is less energy-intensive and has lower carbon emissions than traditional steelmaking. For more information, check out our website at www.steelnet.org or our LinkedIn page.
