Wankers Of The Day

Climate Change Measure Should Be Set Aside, U.S. Senators Say

By Daniel Whitten and Simon Lomax


Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Senate should abandon efforts to pass legislation curbing greenhouse-gas emissions this year and concentrate on a narrower bill to require use of renewable energy, four Democratic lawmakers say.

“The problem of doing both of them together is that it becomes too big of a lift,” Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas said in an interview last week. “I see the cap-and-trade being a real problem.”

The resistance by Lincoln and her Senate colleagues undercuts President Barack Obama’s effort to win passage of legislation that would cap carbon dioxide emissions and establish a market for trading pollution allowances, said Peter Molinaro, the head of government affairs for Midland, Michigan- based Dow Chemical Co., which supports the measure.

“Doing these energy provisions by themselves might make it more difficult to move the cap-and-trade legislation,” said Molinaro, who is based in Washington. “In this town if you split two measures, usually the second thing never gets done.”

The House passed cap-and-trade legislation in June.

Leaders of the Democratic-controlled Senate say they are sticking with their plan to combine a version of that bill with a separate measure mandating energy efficiency and the use of renewable sources such as solar and wind power. The legislation also provides for an extension of offshore oil and gas drilling in certain areas, broadening its support.

Reid’s Comment

“I don’t think we are going to take to the Senate floor a bill stripped of climate provisions,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, told reporters in Las Vegas on Aug. 11.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed the renewable-energy legislation, 15-8, in June. Reid has set a deadline of Sept 28 for committees to complete work on climate- change provisions.

Ben Nelson of Nebraska and North Dakota Senators Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan joined Lincoln in suggesting that the climate measure be put off.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ah3CTKEw4HQc

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http://washingtonindependent.com/55145/house-dems-are-working-to-persuade-senate-dems-on-climate-bill

House Dems Are Working to Persuade Senate Dems on Climate Bill
By Aaron Wiener 8/14/09 2:52 PM


Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.), a strong progressive voice on climate change, made a surprise appearance at an environmental panel here at Netroots Nation. He urged the liberal bloggers present to apply their energy to get a climate bill passed in the Senate.

I asked him what he and his fellow House members who passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act are doing to try to persuade their Senate counterparts to pass a bill. And it appears they’ve done more than has been widely reported.

Shortly after the passage of the House bill, Inslee said, he and a group of Democratic congressmen met with 14 moderate Democratic senators to discuss the legislation. He was surprised at their reception.

“I’ve never seen this happen before in my entire time in public life: there were members of the United States Senate actually listening to members of the House of Representatives,” he said. “There wasn’t one of them that looked like a closed mind to me.”

“Our job is to help them find a way to get to yes,” he continued. “But the attitude that we have is not threatening or intimidating, it’s, ‘How can we help you get to yes? What issue can we help you with?’”

Inslee’s two home-state senators are solid “yes” votes on climate legislation, but his colleagues, particularly those from Midwestern states, could have a real impact if, as Inslee said, they continue to pressure their Senate colleagues.