The Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee passed a bill Wednesday that would require Wisconsin to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the same levels observed in 1990 by the year 2020.

The Wisconsin Safe Climate Act was supported by the three Democrats on the committee and opposed by the two Republicans. Sen. Mark Miller, D-Monona, is the chair of the committee and author of the bill.

“Today, this committee had the opportunity to put Wisconsin on the path to accepting responsibility for our contribution to global warming,” Miller said in a release last week. “We owe it to ourselves, and to future generations, to be good stewards of the Earth we are blessed to inhabit.”

Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, was one of the Republicans who voted against the bill.

“[Schultz] actually is supportive of some type of solution to climate change,” said Jonathan Klein, legislative assistant to Schultz. “I think he just prefers the collaborative process that the governor has set up and his task force on global climate change.”

Last April, Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle signed an executive order to create the Task Force on Global Warming. The committee is composed of members from businesses, the government and environmental groups, including University of Wisconsin sustainability and global environment professor Jonathan Foley.

Klein said Schultz would like to wait until the Task Force has completed their research before passing any bills, but would eventually like to see legislation in conjunction with action by the Task Force.

“I think [Schultz] feels like this bill is maybe getting a little bit out in front of that process, and may benefit from whatever findings they come up with,” Klein said.

Klein added impact on the Wisconsin economy was another reason Schultz opposed the bill.

“I think Dale always has a concern with the economic impact of any bill that he’s voting on, but this one in particular I think the overriding concern, in addition to that, is the fact that we’re operating before anyone on the committee has the benefit of the study that the Task Force is putting together,” Klein said.

The bill is scheduled to be debated on the Senate floor sometime this week. However, it may first be referred to the Joint Committee on Finance because it would have fiscal effects.

Miller was unavailable for comment as of press time.