Boxer claims climate bill could bring billions to the U.S. economy

The climate legislation introduced in the Senate this past week could bring substantial investments into the United States economy, one of the bill's sponsors said Sunday.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said that if the climate bill she unveiled this past week were to become law, it would draw billions of private investments into the economy.

Moving forward with the climate bill, Boxer said, would "allow this economy to take off, because it would draw, not federal funds, but private funds."

She said that venture capitalists in her home state of California have told her that the bill would signal a good time to invest in green technologies, which Boxer said she hoped would create jobs.

"We need that private capital," she said during an appearance on CNN. "And we need to become energy efficient here and energy independent. We'll create a number of jobs."

The Senate's second-ranking Republican, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), warned against Boxer's bill as well as healthcare legislation before Congress, arguing that it would result in higher taxes on Americans.

"First of all, don't be pushing bills like cap and trade, which are big job killers," Kyl said he would advise the president. "Don't be pushing a huge, expensive health- care bill that will cause jobs to be lost, especially in the small business sector, because of all the taxes that are imposed in that certificate. And third, don't allow taxes to go up."