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Climate Change Legislative Tracking: “Do or Die” Time for Climate Legislation in the Senate
NALGEP
nalgep@spiegelmcd.com
03/04/10
In February, Senate legislators appeared to be on the verge of abandoning an economy-wide cap and trade bill. New proposals included a sector-by-sector approach that might involve a carbon tax for transportation fuels, or "cap and dividend," which would provide direct dividends to consumers. Senator Bingaman's (D-NM) American Clean Energy Leadership Act, in circulation since mid-2009 but largely ignored until now, also gained attention as a possible means to put in place a handful of less controversial climate protections including a nationwide Renewable Portfolio Standard for the electricity industry. Environmental and labor advocates, however, submitted a joint letter to the Senate deriding the Bingaman bill as watered down legislation that would neither protect against the adverse effects of climate change nor adequately stimulate job growth in the domestic energy sector, renewing their call for comprehensive climate action. With consensus indicating it is do or die time for climate legislation in the current Congressional session, Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called on climate advocates to move quickly. The Senate trio leading efforts to forge a greenhouse gas emissions reduction bill, John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), was expected to release a new proposal in the first half of March. Despite a statement by the EPA clarifying that it intended to slow down its timeframe for GHG regulation, Senator Murkowski (R-AK) meanwhile maintained momentum for a legislative veto of EPA's authority to regulate climate impacts under the Clean Air Act, although some legislators were mollified by the EPA's new stance.
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