Smart Climate Policy: Daily Climate News

EEI's Kuhn Outlines Views on Climate Bill

2010-08-02T07:51:00.000-07:00

EEI President Tom Kuhn cited the partisanship in Washington and the closeness to the November elections as reasons that there were only modest chances that climate change legislation would clear Congress this year. Kuhn, who appeared on the Platts Energy Week broadcast on Sunday, along with Mark Crisson of the American Public Power Association, emphasized that "if you're going to have a price on carbon, and I think we need to if we're going to move forward, I think cap-and-trade is the best way to go."

Crisson said he was skeptical about cap and trade because there were insufficient emission allowances for utilities: "While it's failed to gain support, I wouldn't necessarily say it's off the table or dead," he said. "But this may provide an opportunity to explore other options."

Wrote Platts: "President Barack Obama last week continued to call on Congress to pass climate-change legislation, and Senator John Kerry, Democrat-Massachusetts, a leading advocate of such a measure, indicated he may try to rekindle the issue in a lame-duck session following the November congressional elections. Kuhn and Crisson also agreed that legislation on climate change, with provisions to mitigate the impact of emissions reductions on consumers, remains preferable to regulation by the Environmental Protection Act under the existing Clean Air Act."

Rep. Waxman Says CO2 Limits Could be Added to Senate Energy Bill

2010-08-02T07:49:00.000-07:00

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., offered the possibility of adding CO2 emissions limits to whatever energy legislation the Senate might pass when the House and Senate bills were reconciled in conference, E&E News PM reported. Waxman was quoted as saying: "The Senate will have to get its act together and, I hope, pass an energy bill. Then we'll talk to them and figure out what the final product would be."

Wrote E&E News PM: "Some cap-and-trade advocates see a House-Senate conference as the last remaining possibility this year for legislating greenhouse gas emission limits. But that approach is still seen as a long shot."

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said climate and energy legislation would probably not be considered during the lame duck session after the November elections. McCain was quoted as saying: "No Republican would support such a thing when we make significant gains in both House and Senate. If I had my way, and I think our leadership agrees to a large degree, we would make sure that the government continues to function and then take up all these issues in the new Congress."

Journal, Post Examine Failure of Kerry-Lieberman GHG Bill

2010-08-02T07:46:00.000-07:00

The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, in editorials published today, focused on climate legislation. The Journal said the failure of the Senate to pass the Kerry-Lieberman legislation marked a "landmark defeat" for the green lobby and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. According to the Journal, the "bill went down for lack of Democratic votes, in particular those from Midwest coal and manufacturing states. Voters in those states have figured out that cap and tax is a redistributionist exercise from the carbon-dependent heartland to the richer coasts."

The Journal said cap and trade, at "enormous economic cost, would do little to reduce global carbon emissions. To the extent that it reduces growth, it would make the world less able to cope with the consequences if temperatures do rise. The richer the world, the more resources the world will have to adapt and ameliorate bad effects."

The Washington Post found irony in the "death of climate change legislation" because of the two government reports released shortly after Reid opted not to submit Kerry-Lieberman to a vote. The studies "underscore the overwhelming scientific case for global warming--and go out of the way to repudiate skeptics." After mentioning details from the reports, the Post said that many "climate-change skeptics will simply dismiss these reports as more evidence of a sprawling conspiracy instead of what they really are: yet more affirmation of the risks humanity runs if it continues to pump carbon into the atmosphere."

Sen. Lieberman Gives Climate Bill Minimal Chance in 2010

2010-07-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., said there was a minimal chance for cap-and-trade climate change legislation to move in the Senate in the rest of 2010, E&E News PM reported. Although Lieberman said "there's certainly long-term life" for the proposal, "for the short term, it's standing in place." He noted the possibility of having it "come back in some form during the lame-duck session," but acknowledged that the legislation would still require a 60-vote majority to clear a filibuster.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., predicted the Republican Party would "make significant gains" in the November election, and he indicated that its members would resist any attempt to pass a climate bill before the new Congress. Looking ahead to that Congress, Lieberman predicted that industry "may well be so upset by EPA regulation [of GHG emissions] that they'll come to Congress regardless of the party allocation in Congress and really plead for a legislative response that is more balanced and longer term so they have predictability in what they do."

Businessweek Columnist Examines Congressional Inaction on Climate

2010-07-30T07:56:00.000-07:00

In a Businessweek column, Eric Pooley, deputy editor of Bloomberg Businessweek and author of "The Climate War: True Believers, Power Brokers, and the Fight to Save the Earth," writes that the Senate inactivity on climate and energy issues "cedes" the U.S. energy race to China. Pooley calls a cap on carbon emissions from the electric power sector and a national renewable electricity standard the two "most powerful clean energy provisions" that have been debated and which should be in legislation this year.

Wrote Pooley: "For years, business leaders from General Electric Chief Executive Officer Jeff Immelt to venture capitalist John Doerr have warned that if America failed to pass a comprehensive climate-and-energy bill, the country risked losing the clean energy race to China -- sacrificing the jobs of the future in a timid, ill-fated effort to preserve the jobs of the past. Now those warnings are coming true."

While the stalemate on the carbon cap was likely a partisan discourse, Pooley states: "The disappearance of the renewable energy standard, however, was a shock. Both the House and Senate have passed RES bills in the past, yet it has never become law. With elections looming, this may be the last chance for years to set the rules of the road for energy investment."

Pooley noted that utility CEOs such as Lew Hay of Next-Era Energy, Ralph Izzo of PSEG, and Jim Rogers of Duke Energy "have all said they are ready to invest in clean energy just as soon as Congress establishes a carbon cap that creates a clear, steady price signal for dirty fuel--in effect, pricing in some of the social costs of carbon pollution that have never been part of America's energy bill."

Lacking a better idea, Pooley wrote that there are a variety of alternative steps that Congress could take, based on trial balloons that have been floated: "One such idea is a Green Bank that would leverage Treasury Department money for low-interest loans to projects that can’t attract conventional financing because their path to profitability is too long." Kenneth Berlin, a Green Bank proponent and cap-and-trade supporter who heads the environmental practice at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, was quoted as saying: "I don’t know if it really amounts to a Plan B; It's more like Plan D, but it would be far, far better than nothing."

The Economist: GHG Emissions Caps Could Fall to EPA, States

2010-07-30T07:53:00.000-07:00

According to The Economist, the energy legislation currently before the Senate shows that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., "having earlier abandoned as hopeless an effort to limit America's emissions of greenhouse gases through a 'cap-and-trade' scheme, is proposing nothing more substantial than subsidies for home insulation and trucks that run on natural gas."

Republicans' opposition to cap and trade, which they have called an energy tax, derives from the correct conclusion that energy bills would go up if a price were put on carbon, The Economist wrote. Their opposition could be even stronger after the November elections. Coal-state Democrats remain unenthusiastic, the American public appears to be losing interest, and President Barack Obama's involvement has been detached, despite his campaign statements and his work at the United Nations climate talks last year in Copenhagen.

Nonetheless, the administration has opened other paths: Should legislation fail, EPA has indicated its intent to regulate GHGs. Federal agencies have discretionary power to set fuel-efficiency and appliance-efficiency standards. And states could continue setting their own standards. Nicholas Bianco and Franz Litz of the World Resources Institute estimated that emissions could be cut 13 percent by 2020 using just existing state and federal laws.

But piecemeal regulations would leave confusion and uncertainty. "That may leave big energy firms regretting their opposition to cap and trade. As one old utility hand puts it, 'There's a sense of ruefulness in the industry.' It is widely shared," wrote The Economist.

Atlantic Examines How Climate Legislation Failed in Senate

2010-07-30T07:50:00.000-07:00

Several critical mistakes helped kill climate change legislation in the Senate, wrote Atlantic blogger Brian Goldsmith. According to Daniel Lashof, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's Climate Center, one element was losing control of the message after climate change legislation passed the House: "Democrats were not prepared, and we [in the environmental community] didn't do enough to explain, why this was good policy."

A second reason was a less than forceful response to Climategate. Senate leaders--and President Obama--had other issues on their mind. Environmental Defense's Tony Kreindler was quoted as saying: "It should be self-evident we haven't seen the level of engagement by the president necessary to seal the deal."

Losing the support of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., was devastating. Kreindler said that a lack of support outside the Senate played a part: "We were close with the utilities, not with the manufacturers ... these agreements are important not because of special interest politics and the influence of big money but because having everyone at the table helps make policies that are durable and effective."

If an energy package fails to pass before the August recess, said Goldsmith, senators could try to pass a utility-specific CO2 cap in September, they could go for a comprehensive bill in the lame-duck session after the November elections, or they could wait until the next Congress and attempt to get a carbon cap through.

For now, said Goldsmith, the legislation put forward by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has the support of most environmental leaders. He said the legislation would not "take off the table incentives to approve cap-and-trade at a later date--given that none of the pollution credits and industry subsidies in Waxman-Markey carried over to the Reid bill."

Inquirer Says GOP Successfully Blocked Passage of Climate Bill

2010-07-30T07:49:00.000-07:00

The Philadelphia Inquirer, in an editorial published today, said the Senate "wilted" on climate change issues as Senate Republicans "successfully blocked passage of any significant climate-change legislation" this year." While the Inquirer noted that the bill had its faults, proponents sought to have it "stuffed with goodies" to mitigate the impact on the fossil-fuel industries. "But," the Inquirer said, "the biggest piece of candy turned rancid" and efforts were made to curtail offshore energy exploration in the aftermath of the oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Wrote the Inquirer: "Senate Democrats are pushing a more modest climate bill defining BP's liability for the spill and tightening energy-efficiency standards. Missing will be the controversial plan to reduce carbon emissions through a cap-and-trade program. The House narrowly passed cap-and-trade in June, with eight Republicans voting for it. But the Senate never voted on its bill, which means House Republicans who voted yes have nothing to show for braving to cross the aisle."

Sen. Reid Introduces Energy Bill Without Climate Provisions

2010-07-28T08:03:00.000-07:00

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has introduced energy legislation that included oil spill liability provisions and $5 billion for the Home Star energy-efficiency program but failed to propose any climate change policies, Reuters reported.

Reid acknowledged that "this bill does not address every issue of importance to our nation's energy challenges, and we have to continue to work to find bipartisan agreement on a comprehensive bill to help reduce pollution and deal with the very real threat that global warming poses."

An informal Time magazine poll of Senate staffers found a majority did not expect the Senate to pass the bill before the August recess. Utilities and environmentalists continued work on principles for utility-only GHG emissions limits, with Duke Energy, Exelon and Dominion Resources taking part in a working group for negotiations, ClimateWire reported. Exelon Senior VP David Brown said the group was "focused on getting something done this year" and will continue working for climate change legislation. Brown predicted that after 2010, "the politics probably don't improve" on the issue, and yet "the urgency to get some clarity for the utility industry only increases."

President Obama was quoted as saying of Reid's bill: "I want to emphasize it's only the first step and I intend to keep pushing for broader reform, including climate legislation."

- Related stories appeared in the Dallas Morning News, Associated Press, and Los Angeles Times.

Western Climate Initiative Issues Cap-and-Trade Design Plan

2010-07-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

The Western Climate Initiative released its plan to institute a GHG emissions cap-and-trade program in January 2012 that would cut 2005 emissions levels 15 percent by 2020, the Associated Press reported. The program would include California, New Mexico, Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia, all of which were preparing their own emissions rules.

Platts reported that the program would auction emissions allowances four times yearly with a single round of bidding and allowances awarded on a lowest winning bid, uniform price basis. Additionally, a reserve price will be set, a reserve of allowances will be made available if prices rise past a specified level, and allowance purchase limits will be applied to prevent market manipulation. The coalition said its design was a "starting point" for members to take part in the cap-and-trade program rather than a "model rule" governing the program.

Blame Game Dominates Editorials About Energy Bills

2010-07-28T07:53:00.000-07:00

Editorials on the Senate's failure to produce a comprehensive energy bill sought to pin the blame on both parties. The Dallas Morning News wrote today in an editorial: "Heaping blame on Republicans in this case is easy and reasonably justified. But Democrats managed to hammer a few of their own nails in the coffin of a comprehensive energy bill."

Senate Majority Harry Reid, D-Nev., "couldn't bring himself to put passing this legislation at the top of his to-do list." The five keys to a good energy bill, the Morning News wrote, included: a meaningful cap on GHGs that divides the costs between consumers and polluters; aggressive mandates for renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar; a clear path for a new generation of nuclear power plants; requirements for automakers to increase fuel efficiency and improve emissions controls; and a road map for utilities to better develop a smart grid that reduces energy consumption.

The Bangor Daily News wrote today in an editorial that Reid was "more concerned about his re-election than legislation to reduce America’s dependence on oil from volatile and hostile parts of the world. Republicans are more interested in defeating Democratic ideas than providing businesses with a predictable energy future. The White House was content to let Democratic leaders craft and shepherd legislation through Congress to deal with energy and climate change and never got involved, even when it was clear that direction and support were needed."

However, the Salt Lake Tribune posed, in an editorial published today, a different point: "When are Republicans in Congress, particularly in the Senate, going to accept responsibility for failing to deal with climate change and its potentially devastating effects, a looming catastrophe caused primarily by the United States' gluttony for fossil fuels?"

The Charleston Post and Courier wrote in an editorial that America's "long-term energy prices are bound to soar even higher if we don't intensify our efforts to develop alternative energy and conserve fuel and electric power."

Op-Eds Examine Benefits, Drawbacks of Cap-and-Trade Proposals

2010-07-27T11:56:00.000-07:00

Op-eds continue to tackle the question of cap and trade. Andrew C. Revkin wrote on the Dot Earth blog posted by the New York Times that the Breakthrough Institute research on cap and trade had "encountered serial failure because it doesn't address the main barrier to the widespread deployment of clean energy technologies: the technology-based price gap between new clean energy and mature fossil fuels." Revkin stressed that "this moment demands a fundamentally new strategy designed to overcome the inherent political obstacles to carbon pricing and simultaneously achieve the primary objective upon which our climate future hinges: making clean energy cheap in real, unsubsidized terms."

Sen. Ben Nelson, R-Neb., wrote in the McCook Daily Gazette that because all electricity in Nebraska was provided by public utilities, which lack investor funding, cap and trade was "essentially a tax on carbon that is emitted from a variety of sources, including coal-fired power plants that provide most of the electricity we use in Nebraska." Nelson wrote that if such legislation "were to pass, it would significantly increase utility rates in Nebraska which would damage our economy. That would mean much higher electricity bills for homeowners, for businesses and for farmers who depend on reasonable electricity rates for irrigation."

In an op-ed published by Roll Call, former EPA Administrator and ex-New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, who co-chairs the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition, and Thomas D. Peterson, president and CEO of the Center for Climate Strategies, wrote of the three keys to the coalition's "Policy Roadmap for Clean Energy." They were: "Enact policies to take control of America’s energy security; Ensure access to financing for clean energy projects;" and "Increase investment in clean energy jobs."

Cap-and-Trade Approach Said to Be Powerful in Energy Legislation

2010-07-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

In an op-ed published by the Boston Globe today, Harvard Kennedy School professor of business and government Robert Stavins and Richard Schmalensee, economics management professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wrote that opponents of cap and trade "should resist demonizing market-based approaches to environmental protection and reverting to pre-1980s thinking that saddled business and consumers with needless costs." Sometimes, they wrote, the approach had been effective, as with phasing out leaded gasoline and reducing emissions linked to acid rain.

Stavins and Schmalensee wrote: "Virtually all economists agree on a market-based approach to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Some favor carbon taxes combined with revenue-neutral cuts in distortionary taxes, whereas others support cap-and-trade mechanisms -- or cap and dividend, with revenues from auctioned allowances refunded directly to citizens. Conventional approaches advanced as painless alternatives -- a plethora of standards, special-interest technology subsidies, and tax breaks -- won't do the job, and will be unnecessarily expensive. While we are struggling to revitalize the economy, we simply cannot afford to turn our backs on markets and impose unnecessary costs on businesses and consumers."

States, Regions May Take Lead on Energy, Climate Policies

2010-07-27T11:50:00.000-07:00

With climate legislation failing to get traction in the Senate, sources said states and regions could take primary responsibility for changes in the energy industry and in developing climate change policies, ClimateWire reported.

For example, regulated utilities in the Southeast were seen as uniquely likely to build new nuclear plants in the absence of U.S. GHG emissions limits. Exelon Chairman and CEO John Rowe was quoted as saying: "I just don't think nuclear has a chance in a pure marketplace without a carbon price" that could leave nuclear out of unregulated markets in the Northeast, Texas and elsewhere.

So far, 29 states and the District of Columbia have renewable requirements and about the same number are rolling out smart meter programs. The Edison Foundation found that 17 states offered energy-efficiency incentives and another eight were considering incentives. However, regional GHG emissions pacts in the Northeast, Midwest and West were seen as vulnerable to changing political landscapes that could remove the support needed for their continuation.

D.C. Utility Commissioner Richard Morgan was quoted as saying: "It feels like we really do need a national program to limit carbon emissions. That would be far better than a series of state efforts. Until and unless we do, the state and regional efforts are about all we've got."

President to Hold Bipartisan Meeting Today on Climate, Energy

2010-06-29T07:58:00.000-07:00

The Wall Street Journal today reported that Congressional Democrats are looking to use a bipartisan meeting with President Obama on Tuesday to leverage a clear solution to energy and climate efforts on Capitol Hill.

Energy & Environment reported today that even if the Senate passed a watered-down version of climate and energy legislation before the mid-term elections, the House-Senate conference committee could end up revisiting everything, including a cap-and-trade program, during a subsequent lame duck session. Wrote the newsletter: "Even if they do not enact cap and trade, Democratic leaders could use a conference to ratchet up the climate regulations past what the Senate agreed to and beyond what Democratic House centrists want."

Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., have expressed reservations about leaving so much work to the conferees. Sanders was quoted as saying: "Members of the Senate have their views as to what constitutes a strong bill, and they're going to want to be heard on this." The policies that could be radically revised during a conference, the newsletter reported, include oil spill liability, stricter drilling regulations, a renewable energy standard, sharing offshore drilling royalties with states, nuclear plant loan guarantees "and the big one -- a price on carbon."

A question that adds more uncertainty is what bill Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., would bring to the Senate floor. One possibility is that he would add climate provisions to a legislative response to the oil spill on the assumption that the latter would have to pass or he could add the oil spill provisions to an energy-only bill. If Reid went with the latter strategy, it would present a problem for conservative Democrats who would rather vote on an energy bill after the elections, even though they might want to go home in November with a credible bill to stop future oils spills.

- Related story appeared in the Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire.

Sen. Byrd's Death Could Complicate Senate Climate, Energy Battle

2010-06-29T07:46:00.000-07:00

The death yesterday morning of Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., could make Senate passage of climate and energy legislation more complicated, even though he was not necessarily going to vote for it, Greenwire reported. Wrote Greenwire: "Byrd's support for a Senate climate bill was far from certain since he had long questioned action to curb greenhouse gas emissions. But his recent actions had signaled that he may have endorsed a climate bill if it had come to the floor this year."

In 2009, Byrd urged the coal industry to participate in forging climate legislation and earlier this month he voted against a resolution put forward by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, to prevent EPA from issuing GHG regulations. Daniel Weiss, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, was quoted as saying: "He's played a very constructive role in trying to build support for comprehensive clean energy and global warming legislation."

The appointment of Byrd's replacement falls to West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, an avowed opponent of cap-and-trade legislation. Manchin told the Associated Press that the appointment would be a significant because of the effect on climate legislation and the mining debate.

Greenwire quoted Andrew Wheeler, a former Republican staff director for the Environment and Public Works Committee, as saying: "Most West Virginia politicians oppose climate change legislation, so I don't think it's a stretch to assume that Senator Byrd's successor will also oppose climate change legislation." Byrd's death also leaves Democrats a vote short of being able to stop a Republican filibuster of financial reform legislation, Grist reported.

- Related stories also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post.

Roll Call Op-Ed Says Legislation Preferable to EPA Regs to Cut GHGs

2010-06-29T07:44:00.000-07:00

In a commentary published by Roll Call, Peter Fox-Penner and Richard Schmalensee considered two pathways toward reducing GHG emissions: Legislation or EPA regulation. Former DOE official Fox-Penner heads the Brattle Group and is author of "Smart Power: Climate Change, the Smart Grid, and the Future of Electric Utilities." Schmalensee is a professor of economics and management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and directs the MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research.

Should the regulatory way win out, they wrote, "new, efficient plants are disadvantaged relative to old, inefficient plants, and the latter are thus encouraged to stay in operation as long as possible, continuing to emit greenhouse gases for free while new sources must pay to clean them up." Under EPA standards based on the best available control technology, they explained, there would be "no incentive for continued research and development or investments in technologies to beat the standard." And, since existing sources of emissions would remain in operation, GHGs would not be reduced significantly.

Climate legislation, they argued, would "represent an enormous improvement" over the EPA's way, which would omit using "markets to seek out the cheapest solutions, stimulate innovation, and reward efficiency." Though the several climate bills at play in the Senate would not solve all GHG-related problems, "they are steps in the right direction. It would indeed be regrettable if Members of Congress, who universally prefer carbon markets over command-and-control regulation, could not enact a bill that spares us such regulation and begins to solve the climate problem."

Washington Post Finds Merit in Three Ways to Tackle GHG Emissions

2010-06-23T11:06:00.000-07:00

The Washington Post, in an editorial published today on President Obama's planned meeting with senators about climate and energy legislation, said the most helpful thing they could do was "put a gradually rising price on the carbon emissions produced by the burning of fossil fuels. The best way to do this would be with a simple tax."

Second best, said the Post, would be cap and trade: "Some argue that it's more realistic for Democrats to press only for politically attractive things such as clean-energy mandates, efficiency standards, research and development funding and lots of energy subsidies. But that approach is expensive and almost certainly inadequate to meet even the underwhelming medium-term emissions targets Mr. Obama has set."

The Post suggested a third option, to include "those politically attractive measures, as well as GOP priorities such as generous provisions for nuclear power and some of the efficiency programs that Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) proposed in a bill he recently unveiled--but to add a cap on emissions from utilities," because setting a "price on carbon even in one economic sector might make it easier to establish a more effective cap in the future."

Sens. Lieberman, Kerry Inching Toward Utility-Only Climate Bill

2010-06-23T10:58:00.000-07:00

Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn., and John F. Kerry, D-Mass., said they may turn to utility-only GHG emissions limits in the effort to pass their climate change legislation, ClimateWire reported. Lieberman said the option was "not my first choice, but it's important that we get started in what we're trying to do." Kerry said the strategy might achieve the primary goal of "pricing carbon" by providing a solution to the challenge of obtaining a 60-vote filibuster-proof majority. Democrats expressed some support for the strategy.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., was quoted as saying: "I don't expect that we will get much Republican support for legislation beyond the energy bill." Bloomberg reported that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., emphasized the central role of the White House in helping "us get something done." Kerry said "the president is fully committed. He's fully engaged. He intends to try to move votes himself and he understands the seriousness of this effort."

EEI spokesman Jim Owen was quoted as saying of utility-only legislation: "We have been concentrating on economywide, so this is a game-changer with so many moving parts in the middle of a very fluid legislative situation overall."

- Related stories also appeared in CNN.com, Dow Jones Newswire, Financial Times, and Reuters.

Focus Increases on Utilities-Only Bill

2010-06-22T08:10:00.000-07:00

In a lead-in to Wednesday's scheduled meeting between President Obama and a bipartisan group of senators on climate and energy legislation, Bloomberg Businessweek reported that the session was expected to focus on new ways to target GHG emissions from power plants. On legislation aimed far more broadly, Pew Center on Global Climate Change President Eileen Claussen was quoted as saying the "longer we keep batting around proposals that do not have much of a chance, the less likely we are to get something that does have a chance" approved before elections in November.

EEI spokesman Dan Riedinger said investor-owned utilities have yet to take a position on legislation aimed solely at power plants because they were concentrating on economy-wide cap-and-trade proposals. Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein wrote that a "utilities-only cap-and-trade program should be designed such that it can eventually become an economy-wide cap-and-trade program."

EEI's Kuhn Says Consumer Protection Vital for Climate Legislation

2010-06-22T08:05:00.000-07:00

EEI President Tom Kuhn said in a National Journal opinion piece that climate change and energy legislation must include "strong consumer protection measures" in order to win support. Kuhn noted that the House-passed bill included provisions to allocate GHG emissions permits to utilities "to help mitigate electricity price increases," and that design "proved an important concept around which many lawmakers rallied."

Kuhn pointed to the House example as a sign of the need for senators to also focus on consumer protection. Kuhn asked President Obama and senators to put protection "among the issues that top the agenda" at their meeting to discuss the bill. He praised the Kerry-Lieberman bill for allocating additional emissions permits for utilities and adopting "a hard price collar" for permits. Kuhn said that EEI was continuing its effort "to develop workable legislation that will combat climate change while also safeguarding the nation’s continued economic well-being."

L.A. Times Calls for Climate Leadership From President Obama

2010-06-22T08:03:00.000-07:00

The Los Angeles Times, in an editorial published today, said polls on energy policy indicated Americans were concerned about the environment and they are seeking leadership on the issue from President Obama. The newspaper noted that Obama's speech last week on the BP oil rig accident "was expected to mark the start of a major White House push for legislation aimed at clean energy and climate change, but the second part of that package went down like a crude-coated pelican. Obama's failure to mention cap-and-trade, or any other scheme to price greenhouse-gas emissions, suggests he doesn't intend to pursue it."

The Times wrote that Obama was bowing to political reality: "He can count votes as well as anybody, and it's clear that the 60 votes needed to overcome a Senate filibuster on a climate bill just aren't there. Yet the president's habit of leading from the rear is in part responsible for that." The Times said the other message underlying recent polls was that Americans appeared to have few substantial ideas about combating climate change, but they knew it would cost them a great deal.

President Obama to Discuss Utility-Only Climate Bill With Senators

2010-06-21T07:51:00.000-07:00

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said President Obama will discuss the option of utility-only GHG emissions limits in his climate change legislation meeting with senators on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported. Emanuel said "a wide range of ideas will be discussed," and the concept of utility-only limits "will also be welcomed."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., was expected to be invited to take part in the talks, along with Sens. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., Joseph I. Lieberman, ID-Conn., Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and several others. Emanuel said Obama wanted to talk with "a wide range of people who have ideas" about the shape of the legislation. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., said it will "be difficult to do in this climate," but added that "an energy-only bill is a great idea."

Brian Wolff, EEI's senior VP of external affairs, said EEI will discuss the utility-only option with its members, Politico reported. Wolff was quoted as saying: "We have not fully discussed utility-only since we have been working on a more comprehensive climate approach. However, we believe any utility-only energy and climate legislation would have to include major consumer protections to gain 60 votes in the Senate."

- Related story also appeared in the Washington Post via the Associated Press.

New York Times: Kerry-Lieberman Better Than Other Climate Bills

2010-06-21T07:48:00.000-07:00

The New York Times, in an editorial published today, endorsed the Kerry-Lieberman climate bill, saying "there are other honorable bills out there that have much to recommend them but fall short because they do not include mandatory greenhouse gas reductions or a price signal" on carbon.

The editorial expressed disappointment that in his recent address on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, President Obama did not argue for a "broadly based, economy-wide cap-and-trade system," but instead "opened the door far too wide to alternative policies that aren’t real alternatives, and to more stalling."

Detroit Free Press Endorses Kerry-Lieberman Climate Legislation

2010-06-21T07:46:00.000-07:00

The Detroit Free Press, in an editorial, wrote that "Congress, not BP, has the cure for our continuing addiction to fossil fuels." After the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the newspaper said the Senate should approve the Kerry-Lieberman climate bill, which "balances its increasingly stringent [GHG emissions] limits with concessions to virtually every major energy stakeholder--loan guarantees for nuclear plant owners, exemptions for heavy industry, rebates for consumers, and so on--while endeavoring to generate millions of clean-energy jobs."

The Free Press noted that the legislation faces opposition from Republican senators claiming President Obama was "mixing apples and oranges by conflating climate change legislation with his campaign to reduce reliance on oil. But the president is merely connecting the dots. Projections indicate the Kerry-Lieberman bill would accelerate the transition from fossil fuels. A study by the Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Economics suggests the bill's mandates for alternative fuels and more efficient vehicles would reduce oil imports by one-third over the next quarter century."

Sen. Lugar Proposes New Energy Bill With No Cap-and-Trade System

2010-06-11T09:12:00.000-07:00

Sens. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, have introduced energy legislation that would promote energy efficiency, provide loan guarantees worth $54 billion for new nuclear construction, devise a national renewable energy standard wherein nuclear generation and CCS would be considered renewables and require setting motor vehicle fuel-efficiency standards, E&E News PM reported. Lugar was quoted as saying: "It is time to recast the debate in Congress and match priorities with a practical alternative."

According to Lugar, the ranking Republican member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the legislation would cut dependence on foreign oil by 40 percent and reduce emissions by more than 1.6 billion tons, UPI Energy reported, quoting Lugar as saying: "It targets our dangerous oil addiction by maximizing fuel savings in transportation and increasing domestic production of fossil and bio-based fuels."

Energy Secretary Steven Chu praised the Republican bill, called the Practical Energy and Climate Plan Act of 2010, for its emphasis on energy efficiency, but continued to push for a cap-and-trade system, Environment & Energy Daily reported. Chu was quoted as saying: "I continue to believe that to fully capitalize on these opportunities we need comprehensive legislation that puts a price on carbon and makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy."

Graham said Lugar's bill could possibly get 60 votes in the Senate because it did not cap emissions or expand offshore drilling, Bloomberg reported. The Union of Concerned Scientists criticized the proposal because it would "fail to cut global warming emissions to the level scientists say is necessary to avoid the worst of consequences of climate change," while Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, called it "amnesty for big polluters."

Senate Rejects Sen. Murkowski Resolution by 47-53 Margin

2010-06-11T09:10:00.000-07:00

The Senate resolution to block EPA from developing GHG emissions limits failed by a 47-53 Senate vote, the New York Times reported. The resolution, sponsored by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, had support from all 41 Republicans, as well as six Democrats.

Sens. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., and Joseph I. Lieberman, ID-Conn., stated that "the Senate made the right decision today but the big question" was will senators act on climate change. They expressed hopes that senators who said Congress and not the EPA should address climate change "will now engage with us." The six Democrats who crossed over were Evan Bayh of Indiana, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas.

Bloomberg reported that Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said the vote indicated the Senate will take up a bill "much different" from the House cap-and-trade bill with a focus on "energy and clean-energy jobs." Kevin Book, an energy analyst at ClearView Energy Partners, said the vote indicated the potential for Republicans and Democrats from coal states to advance a "pro-drilling, pro-safety compromise" energy bill that included "even greater provisions on behalf of their constituents."

President Obama stated: "Today's vote is yet another reminder of the urgent need to pass legislation that would help America transition to a 21st century clean energy economy that would create jobs, strengthen our national security, and protect our environment for our children."

EPA Analysis of Kerry-Lieberman Bill Expected Monday

2010-06-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

EPA plans to issue its economic modeling analysis of the Kerry-Lieberman climate change bill on Monday, E&E News PM reported. Agency spokesman Brendan Gilfillan said the shift from the originally planned release on Wednesday resulted from a final review of the analysis not being completed until this weekend. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, ID-Conn., said the analysis will be "a very big moment in the Senate's consideration of energy and climate legislation."

Lieberman called the announcement "the most comprehensive, credible analysis of energy-climate legislation that's yet been done." He also expressed hopes that the study will show that the bill "will create millions of good new jobs." The Energy Information Administration was expected to issue its own analysis of the bill within several weeks.

Options Abound as Democrats Struggle to Craft Climate-Energy Bill

2010-06-10T07:37:00.000-07:00

Democrats hoping to pass climate change legislation through the Senate were using elements from a variety of proposals in the hope of gaining a 60-vote majority, Greenwire reported. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said "there's enough in each" of the proposals to put together "a serious and comprehensive energy bill" that will pass in 2010.

Meanwhile, Energy Secretary Steven Chu welcomed another energy bill backed by Sens. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Reuters reported. In a letter to Lugar, Chu wrote: "In particular, I appreciate your ideas for reducing America's oil dependence--which has taken on greater urgency as a result of the BP oil spill."

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said she expected Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to introduce his own bill as an alternative to the Kerry-Lieberman proposal. Reid was to meet with committee leaders today to begin devising a strategy, with a Democratic caucus to follow next week.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., contended that introducing his proposal as a bill amendment was "wrong as a matter of policy and what's best for the country," and he called for it to instead "be at the center of the arena" as its own bill. Lieberman and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., objected to a cap-and-trade program that would apply only to utilities, with Lieberman arguing that "the moment is right for comprehensive legislation."

Brian Wolff, EEI senior VP of external affairs, was quoted by Greenwire as saying: "What you have is everybody right now is just throwing everything on the table."

Related story also appeared in Bloomberg via BusinessWeek.

Senate to Vote Today on Sen. Murkowski's EPA Resolution

2010-06-10T07:33:00.000-07:00

The Senate was scheduled to vote today on the resolution from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, to block EPA regulation of GHG emissions under the Clean Air Act, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., predicted the resolution will be rejected, but added that "you never know until the vote takes place." Murkowski called the potential EPA regulation "an overreach by the executive branch" as the Obama administration threatened to veto her resolution if it passed the Senate.

Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and John Thune, R-S.D., criticized the administration for what Alexander called a bid by "an unelected group of bureaucrats" to regulate GHG emissions. Sen. John D. "Jay" Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., said he will support the resolution because "the fate of West Virginia's economy, our manufacturing industries, and our workers should not be solely in the hands of EPA." Among those saying they would vote against the resolution, ClimateWire reported, were Sens. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.

Former EPA Associate General Counsel Lee DeHihns was quoted as saying of the resolution's impact: "The mood is getting really nasty. The resolution may polarize the Senate even further such that whatever support the moderates had may get diluted by the harsh feelings that are set up by this vote."

- Related story also appeared in The Hill.

N.Y. Times, Washington Post Argue Against EPA Restrictions

2010-06-10T07:31:00.000-07:00

The New York Times and the Washington Post, in editorials published today, opposed efforts by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, to limit EPA's power to restrict GHG emissions.

The Times defended the Obama administration and EPA, calling Murkowski's Senate resolution "mischievous and potentially destructive." The editorial cautioned that Murkowski's proposal would "repudiate years of work by America's most reputable scientists and public health experts. It would prevent the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases from sources like refineries and power plants in the future. And it would send a discouraging message to a federal agency that appears to take its regulatory duties seriously, unlike the Minerals Management Service, which failed to police the oil industry."

The Post struck a more sanguine note, agreeing with Murkowski's stance that Congress should design a more efficient emissions-reduction policy. The Post wrote that the "next logical step is to insist that Congress pass a bill that establishes a price on carbon and rebates the proceeds to consumers, which would be cheaper and more predictable than EPA regulation alone. Instead, Ms. Murkowski favors eliminating Plan B--EPA regulation--before it's clear that Plan A--passing a serious climate bill--will proceed. Plan B isn't the best solution; that's why it's Plan B. But, if designed carefully, it would at least begin to scale back America's greenhouse-gas emissions, a job that it is critical to start as soon as possible. And it would keep pressure on lawmakers to pass climate legislation."

Democrats Say No Firm Legislative Strategy Yet for Climate Proposal

2010-06-09T11:32:00.000-07:00

Senate Democrats have backed away from comments in which Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said he expected the Kerry-Lieberman climate change legislation to be submitted as an amendment to an energy bill sponsored by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., Environment and Energy Daily reported. Schumer spokesman Brian Fallon said Schumer had only "speculated on one procedural option" for the proposal, and knew of no final plans for the floor strategy for legislation "addressing the nation's urgent energy challenges."

Fallon said Schumer would join "discussions with the rest of the leadership later this week on how to best move forward." Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said he preferred the plan outlined by Schumer. Whitney Smith, spokeswoman for Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., was quoted as saying: "We believe we're right on track as the leadership devises the best process to ensure passage of comprehensive climate and energy legislation and appreciate Senator Schumer's compliment of the work that's been done and the broad support we've secured."

White House: Obama Would Veto Resolution to Stop EPA GHG Regs

2010-06-09T11:29:00.000-07:00

The White House has signaled that President Obama would veto a resolution preventing EPA from regulating GHGs should it reach his desk. The measure was expected to come up for a vote in the Senate on Thursday, the Green Inc. blog reported in the New York Times. A Statement of Administration Policy released by the White House said the resolution put forward by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, would undermine the Clean Air Act and prevent EPA from following through on a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that the agency had to decide whether CO2 and other GHGs were a threat to human health and the environment.

Murkowski and the 40 co-sponsors of the resolution have argued that Congress, not EPA, should determine energy and environment policy for the nation. Wrote John M. Broder in the Green Inc. blog: "As of Tuesday, Ms. Murkowski appeared short of the 51 votes needed to pass the resolution. Even if it were to get through the Senate, it is unlikely to pass in the House."

- Related story also appeared in the Washington Post.

Sen. Graham Now Against Climate Bill That He Helped Create

2010-06-09T11:28:00.000-07:00

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who helped craft what has become known as the Kerry-Lieberman climate bill, said he would not vote for the legislation if it came before the full Senate, the Washington Post's Post Carbon blog reported. Graham told reporters that he opposed the bill's limitations on offshore drilling. Graham was quoted as saying: "What I have withdrawn from is a bill that basically restricts drilling in a way that is never going to happen in the future."

Sen. Lugar Readies New Climate/Energy Bill Without Cap & Trade

2010-06-03T13:27:00.000-07:00

Sen. Richard G. Lugar, R-Ind., plans to introduce new energy and climate legislation next week that is focused on cutting power plant emissions associated with GHGs, Reuters reported. The goal of the Lugar bill would be to "achieve about half of the 17 percent cut from 2005 levels in carbon emissions by 2020 proposed" by President Obama. The newswire said that for "heavy-polluting coal-fired power plants, they would be excused from investing in expensive scrubbers over the next few years and in return would voluntarily retire the plants in 2020."

Wrote Reuters: "Absent from Lugar's bill will be any new cap and trade system for carbon pollution permits, an idea that anchors climate change legislation passed nearly a year ago by the House of Representatives and included in a draft bill presented by senators John Kerry and Joseph Lieberman on May 12."

EPA to Release Climate, Energy Bill Economic Modeling June 10

2010-06-03T13:23:00.000-07:00

EPA is expected on June 10 to publicly release its economic modeling results on comprehensive energy and climate legislation, Greenwire reported. Republicans, said Greenwire, were expected to challenge the assumptions EPA used in the analysis of projected household costs and consumption rates resulting from cutting U.S. GHG emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.

Citing other studies on the proposed legislation, authors Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joseph Lieberman, ID-Conn., were quoted as saying: "Several nonpartisan studies and economic analyses have now concluded that the American Power Act achieves the goals we set: to strengthen energy security and address climate change. Our approach creates jobs, protects consumers and reduces our oil dependence."

Also on June 10, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., plans to hold a climate legislation strategy meeting with key committee chairmen, and the Senate is scheduled to vote on a resolution offered by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, intended to prevent EPA from writing emissions rules for cars and industrial facilities.

Obama Outlines Push for Energy, Climate Bill

2010-06-03T13:14:00.000-07:00

President Obama, as part of a speech at Carnegie Mellon University, said he would get comprehensive energy and climate legislation passed by the Senate and reiterated his support for expanded offshore oil production, E&E News PM reported. Obama was quoted as saying: "I will continue to make the case for a clean-energy future wherever and whenever I can. I will work with anyone to get this done. And we will get it done."

The Pittsburgh Business Times reported that Obama called on Congress to embrace a clean energy future, which, the president said, "means tapping into our natural gas reserves, and moving ahead with our plan to expand our nation's fleet of nuclear power plants. And it means rolling back billions of dollars in tax breaks to oil companies so we can prioritize investments in clean energy research and development."

Some, such as Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., a co-author of the climate bill before the Senate, saw Obama's speech as indicating a new level of commitment. He was quoted as saying: "President Obama is clearly putting his shoulder to the wheel to pass comprehensive climate and energy legislation this year. Nothing could be more definitive than his explicit commitment today to find the remaining votes needed to pass this vital legislation."

Others, such as Scott Segal, an industry attorney at Bracewell & Giuliani, said more would be needed. "In order to find the votes to pass climate change legislation, he'll need to spend the equal political capital that was needed to pass health care. That's true given the time and the circumstances."

- Related stories also appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal.

U.S. Says GHG Emissions to Rise 4 Percent Through 2020

2010-06-02T08:31:00.000-07:00

The U.S., in its first climate report in four years to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said its GHG emissions were expected to grow by 4 percent through 2020, in part due to growth in the use of hydrofluorocarbons, the Associated Press reported. The State Department wrote in the report: "A large portion of emissions growth is driven by HFCs, which are projected to more than double between 2005 and 2020, as they are more extensively used as a substitute for ozone-depleting substances."

Samuel LaBudde, atmospheric campaign director for the Environmental Investigation Agency, was quoted as saying: "Unless they are eliminated, HFCs and fluorinated gases will sabotage efforts to combat global warming. We could and should use the Montreal Protocol to phase them out."

The report said the U.S. would contribute "its share to developed country financing approaching $30 billion for 2010-2012," in keeping with the deal President Obama negotiated with China and other developing countries at the December climate summit in Copenhagen. The Obama administration's budget would provide more than $2 billion for climate research, said the report.

Lindsey Graham 'Floating' Utility-Only Bill in Senate

2010-06-02T06:15:00.000-07:00

Greenwire reported that Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who abruptly dropped out of the tripartite Senate effort to revive a comprehensive climate change bill in late April, was "floating yet another alternative to price carbon emissions by focusing on just power plants." The utility sector is "most in need of a market signal for pricing greenhouse gases," the newsletter reported, adding that leaving other sectors out of a bill could also help win additional Senate votes.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass, who along with Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-CT, co-authored the latest draft unveiled in mid-May, was insisting that legislative efforts remain focused around a comprehensive bill. But other senators beyond Graham "also have expressed an interest in a less sweeping plan for controlling greenhouse gases," Greenwire reported.

EEI's Brian Wolff, senior vice president for external affairs, said the Kerry-Lieberman draft has encountered headwinds in overcoming "the gas tax" label, adding that the transportation component of the bill "was really going to be hard for people politically." Wolff told Greenwire that there have not been any discussions with member companies yet about the power plant-only option, adding "it's not been baked at all."

EEI also plans calls to key senators in the coming weeks on the Kerry-Lieberman bill, which was welcomed by the association "because it included valuable allocations that help the industry compensate customers for otherwise higher energy prices," Wolff was quoted as saying. "We've been focused on each legislative effort, whether it's the House effort or the Senate effort, on what we can do to improve it and what we can do to support it," Wolff said.

Vote on Sen. Murkowski's EPA Resolution Scheduled for June 10

2010-05-26T11:05:00.000-07:00

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said the Senate will hold a vote on June 10 on her disapproval resolution to block EPA's endangerment finding for GHG emissions, Environment and Energy Daily reported. The schedule was included in her unanimous consent agreement with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Murkowski cautioned that "until it's typed down in language, nothing is locked in solid," but she added that Democrats "agreed that let's just agree to a unanimous consent" for the resolution.

The Senate was expected to debate the measure for 10 hours, with no filibusters or amendments permitted. It will require 51 votes for approval and had 41 co-sponsors thus far. Murkowski said her tally of supporters was "top secret." She added: "My job is just to work hard, make sure people understand the implications of this measure and what it will mean for our nation's economy, and we'll go forward with the vote after the recess."

AWEA President Bode Optimistic About Climate Change Legislation

2010-05-25T07:28:00.000-07:00

Denise Bode, serving her second year as head of the American Wind Energy Association, expressed confidence during an interview with Greenwire that climate legislation would pass this year even with mid-term elections upcoming. She was quoted as saying: "It's our mission to win. Because if we don't, we lose an opportunity that likely won't come back again here in the U.S."

Even if the federal government does not act on capping carbon emissions, Bode said she believed states would. She said: "Many of those plants are going to be spending billions of dollars to try to put very expensive scrubbers on. It is much less expensive to move to natural gas and to wind and renewables because it will save consumers money."

Federal Climate Legislation, Energy Monitors Promoted at Solar Meeting

2010-05-25T07:27:00.000-07:00

Experts at the American Solar Energy Society meeting in Phoenix said federal climate legislation could have a big impact on energy development, according to the Arizona Republic. Brad Albert, general manager for resource planning at Arizona Public Service, said that a federal climate change policy would encourage the company to invest in renewable power. Albert was quoted as saying: "Having a climate-change policy would do a great deal for anchoring our renewable-energy policy."

Cathy Zoi, assistant Energy secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy, said the Obama administration still hoped Congress would pass legislation that would regulate CO2 emissions from power plants. She was quoted as saying: "We still are very interested in getting a comprehensive cap on carbon. Energy prices don't now include the pollution."

Speakers at the meeting said devices that showed consumers how much energy they were using and what it cost would help conservation efforts. Zoi was quoted as saying: "We need some type of speedometer on energy. Imagine going to the grocer and buying food, but not knowing what it costs. Now you only know at the end of the month what you have used" in energy.

N.Y. Times Editorial Praises Work of National Academy of Sciences

2010-05-24T10:30:00.000-07:00

The New York Times, in an editorial published today, said it hoped the U.S. Senate was paying attention to new National Academy of Sciences studies that focused on the folly of putting off governmental action on climate change any longer.

Wrote the Times: "We hope the reports will jolt the United States Senate into moving forward on an energy and climate bill. They provide an authoritative rebuttal to skeptics in the Senate and industry who have pounced upon small errors in the 2007 report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to suggest that the whole thing is a hoax."

The editorial quoted the research as saying: "Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for a broad range of human and natural systems." Added the Times: "The reports acknowledge that while the magnitude of these risks -- sea level rise, drought, disease, the destruction of marine- and land-based ecosystems -- are difficult to predict, society would be wise to move swiftly and aggressively to minimize them."

The scientific study noted that from 2012 to 2050, the U.S. should produce no more than a total of 200 billion tons of GHG, and "ideally considerably less. The longer we wait to begin reducing emissions, the academy adds, the harder and more costly it will be to reach the target. It recommends putting a price on emissions as well as investments in energy efficiency, alternative fuels and developing cleaner technologies."

Sen. Graham Expects Senate to Block Endangerment Finding

2010-05-24T10:27:00.000-07:00

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., predicted the Senate will approve the resolution sponsored by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, to block EPA's endangerment finding for GHG emissions, Environment and Energy Daily reported. Graham, who was one of 41 cosponsors of the resolution, said "the majority of the body will say that Congress should set the carbon regulations, not the EPA."

Graham added that he believed emissions limits needed "a more business-friendly framework than Waxman-Markey," including measures to promote "energy independence" for the U.S. He stated that one of his conditions for voting for the Kerry-Lieberman bill was for it to include provisions allowing offshore energy production along the Florida Gulf coast.

In response, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., was quoted as saying: "I can't keep up with his various conditions." Graham predicted the climate bill will "either going to get 40 votes or probably 70 votes" from senators. Graham was quoted as saying of the bill's fate: "Every week that goes by, if people don't sign up, that's a bad thing. If people show an interest, that's a good thing. The political market will tell us after the modeling is done."

Study: Climate Change Bill Would Create Thousands of Jobs

2010-05-21T07:30:00.000-07:00

A study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics found that the climate change legislation introduced in the Senate last week by Sens. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., and Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn., would create hundreds of thousands of jobs over the next decade, Reuters reported. The study concluded that from 2011 to 2020, the average annual employment in the U.S. would increase, including 165,000 jobs in nuclear power, 19,000 in renewable energy, 28,000 in biofuels, and 96,000 jobs related to the development of clean-coal technology. The study said 72,000 jobs would be lost because of less demand for fossil fuels and the cancellation of new fossil-fuel generation facilities.

The prediction for the second decade had lower job growth because "additional power sector investment becomes more inflationary" and energy prices would rise. From 2011 to 2030, "average annual employment is 6,300 jobs higher than business as usual."

T. Boone Pickens Joins Sen. Kerry in Promoting Climate Change Bill

2010-05-21T07:29:00.000-07:00

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and T. Boone Pickens were partnering to help advance Kerry's climate change bill, the Dallas Morning News reported. Pickens said he saw the bill as a way to reach his goals for natural gas to power vehicles rather than as a way to combat climate change.

Pickens was quoted as saying: "I would rather go [with a] stand-alone [bill], but stand-alone was not an option. So I'm with climate. And I'm a good soldier. So I'm for the climate bill." He claimed that he was bringing "more votes to passing that bill than anything they bring to it," and that the portion of the bill providing incentives for using gas in vehicles was "the only piece" addressing oil imports. Kerry said the shift to gas would cut GHG emissions and represented "the single biggest energy independence move we can make."

Sens. Kerry, Lieberman Disagree With Critical Journal Editorial

2010-05-20T07:47:00.000-07:00

In a letter published today by the Wall Street Journal, Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., responded to a May 17 Journal editorial headlined "Just Don't Call It a Climate Bill." The co-authors of climate legislation said the editorial "fails to accurately portray what is fundamentally pro-growth and pro-business legislation." They said that industry leaders and environmentalists stand behind their legislation.

They wrote: "Our bill will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs each year and reduce our dependence on foreign oil by up to 40 percent in 2030. We reinvest in our energy infrastructure to ensure that America remains the global leader in this $6-trillion industry; all this while protecting consumers and keeping speculators out of the market."

Sen. Reid to Push for GOP Help on Climate Legislation

2010-05-20T07:40:00.000-07:00

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said support from at least one Republican was necessary to move the Kerry-Lieberman climate change bill forward, Environment and Energy Daily reported. Reid said he planned to meet with Democrats in June to consider plans for the legislation, including to revive the possibility of pursuing an energy-only bill.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said he and other Democrats from coal states might not vote for the bill. Brown speculated that Reid was pressing Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., to "deliver something with more consensus than they're getting, including more Republicans."

A former aide to the Clinton administration said "the silence from the White House is deafening" and added that without more support from the Obama administration "there does not seem to be adequate political momentum" to pass Kerry-Lieberman. Lieberman was quoted as saying of Midwest Democrats: "The support from Midwestern utilities would be helpful in reassuring them their consumers won't be experiencing a big price hike. My hope is a smaller group of oil-producing states will come together and after that it's going to be one by one. It's house-to-house combat."

- Related story also appeared in The Hill.

Post Backs 'Less Than Perfect' Climate Bill; Seeks Quick Vote

2010-05-19T07:57:00.000-07:00

The Washington Post, in an editorial published today, admitted "there's a lot we would change" about the Kerry-Lieberman climate and energy bill, but urged the Senate to pass the legislation because "acting on global warming is not going to get easier after this year's election. The longer Congress waits to pass a comprehensive climate bill, the less time America will have to cut its emissions, and the more expensive the process will be."

The Post wrote that the "most rational action, would be to put a gradually rising tax on carbon emissions and let the market find the cheapest alternatives. The Kerry-Lieberman bill doesn't go that route. But it does, through a system of tradable emission permits, create a gradually rising price on carbon emissions that, if properly administered, could have a similar effect. This is crucial, because left to their own devices, legislators will merely subsidize some of the most expensive alternatives to carbon-burning: new nuclear plants (Republicans), solar plants (Democrats), carbon sequestration (coal-state legislators of both parties). If the market is allowed to work, on the other hand, cheaper and more efficient methods--conservation, converting the dirtiest coal plants to natural gas--will probably be used while the rising price of carbon spurs research into currently more expensive solutions, with time bringing down the price of at least some of them."

EEI's Kuhn Signals Hard Work Remains to Fine-Tune Climate Bill

2010-05-14T08:19:00.000-07:00

EEI President Tom Kuhn said the trade association membership would be taking a long, hard look at the specifics of the climate-energy bill introduced by Sens. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., and Joseph I. Lieberman, ID-Conn., according to the National Journal's Energy and Environmental blog.

Said Kuhn: "We're supporting the bill moving forward, and basically there's still a 1,000-page bill you've got to look at." Kuhn said that a key focus would be to examine "measures that would reduce emissions of coal-fired plants in a cost-effective way," the blog reported. "There's a lot to do," he said.

Duke Energy President and CEO Jim Rogers was quoted by the blog as also saying the measure "needs some work." Rogers said there are "pieces of it" he wants to see tweaked but wouldn't elaborate on what those pieces were, the blog stated, adding: "What he liked about the bill, he said, was that it would give his company--the nation's third-largest consumer of coal--a sense of certainty." Rogers was quoted as saying: "With a price on carbon, it will inform my choices going forward."

League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski called the initiative "the single most important piece, far and away, because that's what is needed to get the job done." Natural Resources Defense Council Climate Change Director Dan Lashof added: "The core limits on carbon pollution in the bill are a solid foundation for legislation. The mechanism they have to limit price volatility works. It maintains the environmental integrity of the emissions limits. It looks good. It's actually a good design."

Climate Bill Would Launch Task Force to Study Overlapping Programs

2010-05-14T08:18:00.000-07:00

The climate legislation launched this week in the Senate would set up a task force that would explore "how federal and state environmental programs would affect the ability of coal-fired power plants to lower their greenhouse gas emissions," ClimateWire reported, calling it a "little-noticed provision." The task force component was said to have "caused alarm among some environmental and public health advocates, who warned that the language could lead to exemptions from federal air pollution programs."

Industry representatives, as well as bill sponsor Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., responded by saying the measure was only designed to "bring attention" to overlapping power-plant regulations. According to ClimateWire, the task force would be composed of representatives from EPA, Energy, Treasury, state public utility commissions and other relevant agencies, as well as the electricity-generating sector and nongovernmental organizations.

AARP Seeks Hearings on Cantwell-Collins Bill

2010-05-14T08:15:00.000-07:00

The AARP asked Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., to hold hearings on the climate change bill proposed by Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, E&E News PM reported.

David Sloane, Senior VP of government relations and advocacy at the AARP, said his group believed the cap and dividend proposal was "the best policy construct for reducing carbon emissions from the standpoint of consumers."

Sloane added that because the bill "was referred exclusively to the Finance Committee, it would be both appropriate and helpful to consumers for the committee to examine the key features of this important proposal."

Several environmental and public health groups had already asked Baucus to hold hearing on the bill. However, Baucus said the Senate had "a big, heavy schedule" for other legislation that may keep it from fully considering climate legislation.

Editorials Say Senate Climate Bill Good Move in Right Direction

2010-05-14T08:11:00.000-07:00

The New York Times, in an editorial published today, said the Senate was "paralyzed by partisanship" and "hobbled by indifferent leadership" in its efforts to sort through a new energy and climate bill. Wrote the Times: "You don't have to look far for proof that this country must cut its dependence on fossil fuels and develop cleaner sources of energy. It can be found in the oil-slicked Gulf of Mexico. It can be found in China's aggressive efforts to win the global competition for green technologies and green jobs. And, most urgently, it can be found in the inexorable math of accumulating greenhouse gas emissions."

The Times said the latest offering from Sens. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., and Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn., represented "a good but far from perfect bill…that would at least point the country in the right direction. For the first time, it would set a price on carbon emissions that are now dumped without penalty into the atmosphere. A price signal is an essential prerequisite for reducing emissions and for shifting American industry to cleaner, less polluting sources of energy."

The Christian Science Monitor, in its editorial on energy published today, wrote: "Carbon-spewing industries that want market certainty for energy prices but also seek loopholes in energy bills cannot have it both ways. In case global warming is all too real, the stakes are too high to play the kind of risky political games normally played in Washington. If anything, the Kerry-Lieberman bill needs stiffer, more certain measures."

The Economist, in its editorial published today, noted that while the legislation carries the name "The American Power Act," its title alone obscures an important fact: "It is still a cap-and-trade bill that seeks to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 17 percent on 2005 levels by 2020, and 83 percent by 2050. Many Republican senators still consider this a job-killing energy tax. Messrs Kerry and Lieberman have tried to be generous, and aides called the bill an invitation to further negotiation. But any change that can win one vote may lose another."

Commentators Abound With Views on What Climate Bill Would Do

2010-05-14T08:04:00.000-07:00

Commentators abound on the new Senate climate bill. For example, Derek Thompson, a staff editor at Atlantic Business, wrote: "The Senate bill is a lot weaker on renewable energy mandates and efficiency standards. In fact, it's worth reiterating that the Senate bill's renewable targets would do less (yes, less) than what we could expect to happen if no bill passed at all. If environmental groups want to strengthen the bill, this is, far and away, the most promising place to do so, especially since these items will make a big difference in the short term."

James M. Taylor, a senior fellow for environment policy at the Heartland Institute, wrote on NewsBlaze.com: "The Kerry-Lieberman American Power Act recycles the job-killing, energy-restricting provisions of prior global warming bills, with the only significant difference being the accompaniment of comical talking points designed to con the American public into believing that replacing efficient energy sources with inefficient ones will somehow create jobs and benefit the economy."

Noting that only 25 percent of carbon allowances would be sold under the new legislative outline, E. Thomas McClanahan, a Kansas City Star editorial columnist, wrote: "The rest? Given away, of course: to power distribution companies, refiners, developers of carbon-capture schemes and something called the National Industrial Innovation Institute."

Writing in the Baltimore Sun, Brad Heavner, state director of Environment Maryland, stated: "The bill as a whole needs improvement to remove the subsidies for fossil fuels and nuclear power."

EEI's Kuhn Joins Senators for Climate Bill Rollout

2010-05-13T07:55:00.000-07:00

Appearing Wednesday with Senators John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., as they unveiled their new climate change bill, EEI President Tom Kuhn called the package an "historic achievement" and said EEI supports "continued Senate debate" on the legislation, Greenwire and other news organizations reported. Kuhn cited the bill's inclusion of a "hard" price collar and its provision of emission allowances as signs of progress.

Duke Energy Chairman, President and CEO Jim Rogers was quoted as saying the legislation "helps get the transition right to a low-carbon world." FPL Chairman and CEO Lew Hay added that "it protects all the customers." Kerry said his proposal had support from "people from across the ideological spectrum," including the Pentagon as well as environmentalists, the Associated Press reported.

Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., was quoted as saying: "It's important to try to get it done. Whether we can succeed or not, I don't know. It is a long shot."

According to the Los Angeles Times: "The proposed legislation mandates reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels via a so-called cap-and-trade system for power plants and, eventually, factories -- with strict curbs on the types of trading that could be done. It would require oil companies to obtain emission permits at a set price not determined by the trading market. The legislation would immediately send two-thirds of the revenue from emissions permit sales directly back to consumers as refunds on their utility bills, Kerry said, and eventually refund nearly all of the proceeds to consumers, in an effort to blunt energy cost increases."

- Related stories also appeared in the New York Times and Christian Science Monitor.

Exelon's Rowe Says Under 25% Chance for Passage of Climate Bill

2010-05-13T07:54:00.000-07:00

In a speech to the Resources for the Future Policy Leadership Forum in Washington, Exelon Chairman and CEO John Rowe said that despite growing support, the climate change bill had a less than 25-percent chance of passing Congress this year, in his estimation, E&E News PM reported.

Rowe praised Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., for getting the bill "just about right," but said Graham's departure will hurt its chances for approval. Rowe said Graham "still has his heart in" the bill, and approval "could happen" if Graham returned to work on it. He added that Exelon would not alter its "wait and see" stance on adding new nuclear plants regardless of the fate of the bill, because Exelon needed "to see gas prices and carbon prices actually get a bit higher before we would move."

Rowe supported a position of seeking gradual progress on climate change and energy prices. He also said the government should not make "massive investments" in an array of technologies rather than let the market determine changes in energy. Rowe was quoted as saying: "Your choices of technology change from year to year, and it is very important to know it. This is an argument to say, 'Proceed prudently. What you think is true will not always stay true.'"

Outline of New Energy Bill Circulated; Kuhn to Attend Unveiling Today

2010-05-12T07:32:00.000-07:00

E&E News PM has obtained a copy of the outline of the climate bill that Sens. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., and Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn., plan to release today. The summary notes that the bill would provide $54 billion in nuclear loan guarantees and other incentives for nuclear plant construction, as well as $2 billion in annual funding for carbon capture and sequestration. The summary said the bill offered to remove "disincentives for natural gas generation at merchant plants," promote the development of small, modular reactors, enhanced proliferation controls and provide GHG emissions allowances to "energy-intensive and trade-exposed" industries starting in 2016.

The legislation would impose GHG emissions limits on plants starting in 2013, Reuters reported. It sought to cut 2005 emissions levels 17 percent by 2020 and set the initial price of permits between $12 a ton and $25 a ton. The bill may propose a new formula for distributing permits to utilities, with historic emissions levels accounting for 75 percent of the formula, and sales accounting for the remaining 25 percent.

Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., was quoted as saying of the 50-50 formula supported by EEI: "We asked the industry. We said, 'OK, this is above our pay grade. Why don't you guys figure it out?' They did. God bless them. And we should just declare victory and take what they negotiated." EEI President Tom Kuhn was among those expected to take part in the announcement of the climate change bill today, the Associated Press reported.

Kerry, who said the bill will be called the American Power Act, was quoted as saying: "People from across the ideological spectrum are standing by us, ready to line up in support of this plan. Any time you see me and T. Boone Pickens urging the Senate to pass something, you know it's a genuine effort to bridge the old divides." He was quoted as saying: "For climate, it's the bottom of the ninth inning and the bases are loaded if we can just push these runs across the plate."

- Related story also appeared in the Los Angeles Times.

Sens. Boxer, Graham Still See Prospects for Energy Legislation

2010-05-07T11:11:00.000-07:00

Congressional efforts to enact energy legislation "might survive" the Gulf of Mexico oil-rig disaster that killed 11 workers and has caused environmental damage along the southeastern coastline, the Associated Press reported. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and has been an opponent of offshore exploration, was quoted as saying that the spill "has definitely changed the equation but not necessarily in a negative way." Backers of more offshore drilling, she said, "understand they're going to need to work with us in making it safer. In some ways, it opens up that door."

The AP reported that there was significant political fallout, particularly for former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and ex-House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The conservatives, who were eyeing a possible 2012 presidential bid against President Obama, have promoted the "drill, baby, drill" mantra or the "drill here, drill now" refrain. The AP wrote that these phrases "suddenly don't seem so clever or wise."

Erich Pica, president of Friends of the Earth, was quoted as saying: "All the political winds are blowing in the direction of no additional oil drilling." The Gulf disaster, he said, "has given us a political-policy timeout."

The AP asked Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., the key Republican voice on the bipartisan team shaping energy legislation, how the political winds will blow. He said the Gulf spill does not necessarily rule out passage of a comprehensive energy bill this year, although he noted it's always difficult to round up 60 votes to overcome filibusters in the 100-member Senate.

Wrote the AP: "Praising Obama's approach to the oil spill, Graham said, 'We should be cautious, we should let this settle out, get this spill under control, find out what happened, but realize that America's energy dependency is a national security threat. Our choices all involve risk,' Graham said. The risk of having Middle East countries set oil prices for America, 'and this money getting into the wrong hands that we send overseas, to me, is much greater than the risks of domestic exploration for oil and gas'."

Kerry Says Industry Likely to Back His Climate, Energy Bill

2010-05-06T07:50:00.000-07:00

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., speaking at the Good Jobs Green Jobs conference in Washington, said he expected electric utilities, chemical companies, and Big Oil to offer support for the climate and energy legislation he has been working on with Sens. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Greenwire reported.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Environment & Public Works Committee, said Kerry and Lieberman planned to release their climate and energy legislation as soon as next week, whether or not Graham would return to the fold, E&E News PM reported. Kerry said the three senators continued to talk behind the scenes: "He's standing by the work product, and he's standing by the bill, no matter what."

The bill was expected to include a 17-percent cut in GHG emissions below 2005 levels, with staggered start times for different sectors of the economy, and to support increased nuclear power generation and expanded offshore oil and gas drilling, E&E News PM reported. Kerry said that within a few years almost all revenues from emission allowances would go back to consumers.

Democratic leaders have pushed Kerry and Lieberman to advance the legislation and to work on finding more Republicans to support it. Chris Miller, top climate aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was quoted as saying: "The only real chance we have to get it done this year is to make sure it is bipartisan. And to date ... we've seen little to any public interest by very many Republicans."

The only Senate Republicans supporting the bill to date were Graham and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, with Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, Scott Brown, R-Mass., George LeMieux, R-Fla., Judd Gregg, R-N.H., and George Voinovich, R-Ohio, seen as possible supporters, E&E News PM reported. Miller said Reid would not be likely to try to move the legislation forward unless he had 60 votes.

New Republic Calls for Obama to Lead on Climate Change Bill

2010-05-06T07:48:00.000-07:00

A New Republic editorial criticized President Obama for failing to provide leadership on climate change legislation despite the conflict in the Senate sparked by the plan of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to advance an immigration bill ahead of climate. The magazine wrote that President Obama "stood passively by while Reid pushed immigration forward" and was "yet to come out fully in favor of tackling energy as his next big priority."

The editorial cited the oil spill off the Louisiana coast as an instance of Obama missing an "opportunity to explain the urgent necessity of moving toward cleaner forms of energy" given the environmental harm caused by fossil fuels. The New Republic wrote that "a climate bill is less likely than a noisy immigration push to improve the Democrats' prospects for the midterms," but added that the progress already achieved on climate argued for focusing on it instead of immigration, which was "unlikely to go anywhere this year."

The magazine wrote: "Obama and the Democrats should take this opportunity to remind voters that doing nothing and waiting for disaster to strike is by far the most costly option."

Globe Columnist Says Political Leadership Gone on Energy/Climate

2010-05-06T07:46:00.000-07:00

Joshua Green, a senior editor at The Atlantic magazine and a new columnist for the Boston Globe, wrote in the Globe that even a disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil spill has failed to pressure Washington political leaders to move ahead with landmark climate and energy legislation. "This should have prompted the Senate to look anew at the energy bill, which steers the country towards a cleaner, safer energy future," Green wrote. "But that's not what has happened. Many early responders in both parties have defended, not condemned, offshore drilling."

Green quoted Sen. David Vitter, R-La., as saying: "I don't think that there's any argument that we should just start shutting down activity now, or even start shutting down new activity that's planned." He quoted House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, as saying: "This tragedy should remind us that America needs a real, comprehensive energy plan, like Republicans' 'all-of-the-above' strategy."

Green noted that even President Obama has done little to turn the tide, offering a comment that he describes as "most feckless" when he said: "Let me be clear. I continue to believe that domestic oil production is an important part of our overall strategy for energy security."

Concluded Green: "Perversely, the Gulf disaster has had the short-term effect of weakening the already tepid support for a Senate climate bill. That may change as Louisiana's coastline is subsumed by oil. Washington eventually responds to public outrage. (Just ask Goldman Sachs.) But for now, energy can join the long list of issues on which Washington leadership has vanished."

De Boer Pessimistic About Cancun Climate Negotiations

2010-05-04T08:54:00.000-07:00

Outgoing U.N. climate change head Yvo de Boer said he expected the Cancun climate change talks in December to fail to produce an agreement on GHG emissions cuts, the Associated Press reported. De Boer declared that "a good outcome of Cancun will be an operational architecture on climate change. And then we can decide on a treaty." He added that Cancun was unlikely to provide "enough of an answer" to ensure a 25-percent-to-40-percent cut in 1990 GHG emissions levels by 2020 in industrialized nations. De Boer said those nations needed to provide developing nations with more assurance about the formation of a $100-billion annual financial aid fund.

Reuters reported that in speaking to environment ministers holding informal climate talks in Germany, de Boer said they must take the "thorny topic" of developing a successor to the Kyoto Protocol by the horns: "A significant number of countries are saying that perhaps Cancun can do the groundwork: Cancun can adopt a series of decisions that can make climate action operational, but that turning that into treaty text would take more time." U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern said his country sought "solid, pragmatic progress" toward a climate treaty at the Germany talks. However, Stern said the U.S. was seeking a symmetrical treaty that included China, India and others, the Irish Times reported.

Leaders From 45 Countries Meet in Bonn for Interim Climate Talks

2010-05-03T13:14:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of a three-day international climate change conference in Bonn, hosts Germany and Mexico called on world leaders from 45 countries to refocus climate negotiations in order to get an agreement by the end of the year when negotiators meet in Cancun, Mexico, the Associated Press reported.

German Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen was quoted as saying: "We want to pave the way to a good result in Cancun," he said, adding that "nobody wants another big disappointment," referring to the U.N. international climate talks in Copenhagen last December. "The meeting will focus on six broad issues -- long-term goal, mitigation and measurement, reporting, verification (MRV), adaptation, finance, technology co-operation and reducing emissions from deforestation plus (REDD plus)," wrote the Economic Times.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon was quoting as saying: "We need to show the world how serious the threat is." German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: "We have to realize that we have quite a long way to go to reach the 2-degree-goal. Therefore we have to ascertain how we can reach our goals nonetheless." Roettgen said this interim meeting, the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, was designed to address some difficult issues and to build trust between poor and rich nations. AFP quoted Merkel as saying: "A preparatory job before Cancun will be to find a basis of trust for all countries that will be present in Cancun so that no one feels left out."

Roettgen called on the European Union to raise its goal for reducing GHGs from 20 percent to 30 percent by 2020, measured against emissions in 1990, AFP reported. Roettgen was quoted as saying: "The EU has good reasons, including economic ones, to rethink its current reduction offer." Switzerland's top climate negotiator, Jose Romero, was quoted as saying: "The EU has to push to 30 percent to create confidence -- it's one way to create credibility with the developed countries," AFP reported.

Energy Information Administration Analyzing Senate Climate Bill

2010-05-03T06:34:00.000-07:00

The Energy Information Administration has received a detailed enough version of the climate-change legislation Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., were working on to begin its analysis of the bill, Reuters reported. EIA spokesman Jonathan Cogan was quoted as saying: "We received details. It's not a copy of legislation, but it was specific enough to allow us to go forward with our modeling efforts."

Kerry said the bill was released to agencies for analysis despite the delay in its official release caused by Graham's withdrawal from final negotiations last weekend. Kerry's move could help speed up lawmakers' work on the legislation when it finally reaches the Senate floor, possibly in July, said Reuters. The Congressional Budget Office is expected to analyze the bill also.

Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, has called for an ongoing analysis of the anticipated costs of the Senate climate and energy legislation, E&E News PM reported. Voinovich said in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.: "Modeling of similarly styled proposals shows us that the policy options that may be employed to regulate various sectors of the economy are sufficiently intertwined that even small changes to the bill can have significant effects on other regulated sectors and the cumulative economic impacts."

EPA and the Energy Information Administration estimated their work would take up to eight weeks unless the Senate asked for additional modeling to analyze changes in the legislation. Voinovich asked that EPA and EIA also analyze the cumulative impacts from state and regional GHG programs as well as from federal statutes that would not be pre-empted by the legislation and for an analysis of the cost of implementing federal climate policy using existing laws. Supporters of Voinovich's requests include Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sens. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Susan Collins, R-Maine.

Columnist Brooks Projects Energy Innovation Soon to Soar

2010-05-03T06:33:00.000-07:00

New York Times op-ed columnist David Brooks wrote that the U.S. was "studded with venture capitalists, scientists, corporate executives and environmental activists atremble over the great opportunities they see ahead" resulting from energy and climate legislation. "The energy revolution is a material project that arouses moral fervor--exactly the sort of enterprise at which Americans excel."

Brooks wrote that it was time for the U.S to "invest more and differently" in developing "energy sources that are plentiful, clean and don't enrich the worst people on earth. That means in the short term, the U.S. has to unleash the tens of billions of dollars of potential energy investments now being pent up by uncertainty and regulatory hurdles." Brooks called the American Power Act, drafted by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the "best vehicle" to unleash entrepreneurial and scientific wizardry.

Brooks wrote that he got an e-mail from FPL Group Chairman and CEO Lew Hay saying "if he can get that certainty on the carbon price and if there can be a renewable energy standard to create a market for carbon-free energy, his company could boost investments right away." Hay was quoted as writing: "Regarding wind energy investment at our NextEra Energy Resources subsidiary, we think we might invest about $1.5 billion to $2 billion more per year. Regarding solar, we think NextEra Energy Resources might invest $500 million or more per year outside of Florida and that our Florida Power & Light subsidiary might invest about $1 billion a year inside Florida." Hay said a new climate law would be a "huge factor" in the company's decisions about building nuclear power plants.

Brooks wrote that NRG Energy CEO David Crane "wrote that with a new law, his company could double the number of clean energy projects, from 17 to 36; it could triple the megawatts of clean generating capacity it is planning to add; it could produce three times as much nuclear power and 40 times as much coal with carbon capture and sequestration."

President Clinton Expects Senate Work on Climate Bill to Resume

2010-04-29T13:07:00.000-07:00

Former President Bill Clinton expressed confidence that the Senate will return to work on climate change legislation despite the current dispute over immigration, Politico reported. Clinton said Congress will "probably get it back on track," although he acknowledged the possibility that an energy-only bill will emerge in place of a climate bill. Clinton cited the support for pricing GHG emissions from "big manufacturers" and industrial consumers who "want a deal very badly."

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., reiterated his belief that the Senate can move on climate as he criticized Republicans for their "very unreasonable and illogical" position that Congress cannot pass an immigration bill as well in 2010. Democrats did not grant the request by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., for Reid to put off consideration of immigration, and the party was said to be now seeking a new Republican sponsor for the bill.

Graham asserted that Democrats showed they were "not serious" about climate by turning their attention to immigration instead. Graham was quoted as saying: "I'm convinced that what was once a sincere effort to solve the problem of cap and trade, to replace it with a better product, has now become 2010 politics. Maybe I'm misreading the tea leaves? But that's what I believe."

- Related stories also appeared in Climate Wire via the New York Times, Greenwire via the New York Times, and the New Republic.

Sen. Reid Open to Putting Climate Ahead of Immigration

2010-04-28T08:25:00.000-07:00

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he was willing to move the climate bill ahead of immigration reform legislation, the Wall Street Journal reported. However, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., maintained his vow to absent himself from work on the bill even if the Senate took up immigration after climate. Reid said he was "going to go to" the climate bill if it was "ready to go" ahead of unfinished immigration. He criticized Republicans for failing to work with Democrats on immigration and rejected the possibility of moving immigration through Senate committees while putting the climate bill on the Senate floor.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said he, Graham, and Sen. Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., were "working very hard and constructively to pull pieces back together." Kerry said of the possibility of leaving Graham out of work on the bill: "I don't want to even consider that at this point in time." Energy Washington Week [subscription required] reported that a source said Kerry had struck an "optimistic tone" on the bill last week, including his expectation that EEI would back it at its scheduled unveiling on Monday. Sources were now looking at potential alternatives to the bill in the attempt to pass energy and/or climate legislation in 2009.

- Related stories also appeared in the Washington Post, Bloomberg, and Politico.

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Threatens Support for Climate Legislation

2010-04-28T07:37:00.000-07:00

The oil spreading from the Gulf of Mexico rig destroyed by a recent explosion has become the latest controversy dogging climate and energy legislation being readied by Sens. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., and Joseph I. Lieberman, ID-Conn, the New York Times reported today. The bill's third co-author, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., continued to insist he would stay on the sidelines if the legislation were not scheduled for consideration ahead of immigration reform.

The legislation, which had been set for a public unveiling on Monday, but was delayed by Graham's shift, was said to include expanded offshore drilling for natural gas and oil. As a result, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has backed away from his support for offshore drilling, the Miami Herald reported today. After a flight over the oil spill, Crist said: "Clearly it could be devastating to Florida if something like that were to occur. It's the last thing in the world I would want to see happen in our beautiful state."

The Herald wrote: "He said there is no question now that lawmakers should give up on the idea of drilling off Florida's coast this year and in coming years. He had said previously that he would support drilling if it was far enough from shore, safe enough and clean enough. He said the spill is proof that that is not possible."

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said a "thorough investigation of the industry's safety practices" was necessary, the Times wrote, noting that he had pressed the Obama administration to "extend the coastal buffer zone off Florida to 125 miles from 75 miles. Now he said he was not certain that even that was enough margin for safety." Nelson was quoted as saying: "The tragedy off the coast of Louisiana shows we need to be asking a lot more tough questions of Big Oil. We need to look back over 10 years or so to see if the record denies the industry's claims about safety and technology."

The Times wrote that "several other coastal-state senators whose votes could be crucial to passage of climate legislation have expressed concerns about the safety and environmental impacts. The Times named Sens Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.; Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J.; Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md., Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md.; Mark Warner, D-Va.; Kay Hagan, D-N.C.; and George LeMieux, R-Fla. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., was quoted as saying: "I have been an advocate of climate change legislation, but I'm going to have a real problem if we have drilling as I've heard it. Unless there is the ability for neighboring states to have some type of veto in the process, unless there's some serious environmental consideration before any drilling takes place, unless there are very significant buffer zones, I'm going to have a hard time at the end of the day supporting this legislation."

Kerry said EPA would study the possible economic impacts in a draft of the legislation he was sending the agency, Reuters reported. Kerry was quoted as saying: "We are sending the bill to be modeled now with Lindsey Graham's consent." Asked if the bill would be unveiled without Graham, Kerry said: "We're not even thinking about that."

Friedman Tells Obama to Play Bigger Role on Energy, Climate

2010-04-28T07:35:00.001-07:00

New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman suggested today that President Obama use his leadership abilities to coax climate and energy legislation through the Senate. Friedman said Obama "has always been rather coy when it comes to when and how much he will personally push an energy/climate bill that would fix a price on carbon-emitting fuels. Without that price signal, you will never get sustained consumer demand for, or sustained private investment in, clean-power technologies. All you will get are hobbies."

Friedman wrote that he would like Obama to say: "Yes, if we pass this energy legislation, a small price on carbon will likely show up on your gasoline or electricity bill. I'm not going to lie. But it is an investment that will pay off in so many ways. It will spur innovation in energy efficiency that will actually lower the total amount you pay for driving, heating or cooling. It will reduce carbon pollution in the air we breathe and make us healthier as a country. It will reduce the money we are sending to nations that crush democracy and promote intolerance. It will strengthen the dollar. It will make us more energy secure, environmentally secure and strategically secure."

EEI's Kuhn Says Climate Bill Needed for Investment Certainty

2010-04-27T08:39:00.000-07:00

EEI President Tom Kuhn, on National Public Radio, said that the climate bill squabble on Capitol Hill was a distraction to the goal: "We all know that there is an objective to move to lower carbon fuels in the future, and it is extremely important to us when we are making billions of dollars worth of investments to have the certainty."

On Capitol Hill, a maneuver by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to bring forward an immigration bill, brought a rebuff from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the key Republican partner in the triumvirate bringing the climate legislation forward. The other senators, John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., stalled their expected announcement of a final version of the climate bill on Monday, looking for a compromise with Graham. Politico reported that Graham said the effort by Reid "dooms everything" because it was "breaking faith."

On American Public Media's Market Watch, EEI spokesman Jim Owen noted that utility CEOs "see a lot of challenges going forward in terms of what kinds of power plants to build and where to build them," and the continued uncertainty over the climate bill was creating problems for planning investments in new generation. Exelon spokeswoman Judy Rader was quoted as saying: "We are disappointed by this temporary setback. We remain hopeful that the issues will be resolved quickly, and that the U.S. Senate will make passage of an energy and climate bill an urgent priority."

Graham noted that the immigration bill "has no chance" to pass and the issue had come "out of left field" just before the planned unveiling of the climate bill. Graham disavowed speculation by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs that he withdrew because of pressure from other Republicans. Graham added: "I've made it perfectly clear that if you bring up immigration you're breaking faith with me. The faith was broken when immigration was interjected in the 11th hour."

Reid spokesman Jim Manley saw "no reason why we can't do climate change first" and then work on the immigration bill, and said it was "difficult to understand why we have gotten this reaction to Reid demonstrating his commitment to the issue." Lieberman said "we're working really hard to get" the climate partnership with Graham "back together," and he asked for Obama administration support in that effort.

- Related stories also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Politico, and National Journal.

Editorials Mull Effects of Reid-Graham Argument on Legislation

2010-04-27T08:33:00.000-07:00

Editorials on climate legislation published today targeted the scheduling argument between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., as the most immediate cause for delaying the bill being prepared by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and Graham.

The New York Times saw danger in the "squabble," writing: "Unless Lindsey Graham and Harry Reid can patch up a needless feud, the Senate could end up doing neither (immigration or climate bills). That would be a terrible outcome, since nobody knows what the appetite for either task will be after the November elections. Truth is, Mr. Reid and Mr. Graham need each other. And there is no reason this has to be a zero-sum game."

The Washington Post agreed with Graham's position. Graham had "derided Democratic leaders for opening the way to take up immigration reform before the climate bill, calling the move 'a cynical political ploy' and claiming that it endangered the climate effort. He has a point." Noting that work on the climate bill was far more advanced than efforts on immigration, the Post wrote: "Politics aside, it's past time that Congress dealt with climate change. Businesses face stifling uncertainty about the shape of inevitable climate legislation. World leaders wonder when America will finally lead on global warming. And every year Congress waits to legislate, adequately curbing emissions will get harder and more expensive. Any comprehensive climate bill will require the support of at least a few Republicans to pass. We hope Mr. Graham and his Democratic partners find a way not to miss this opportunity."

The Washington Times said the policy "collision has left the strategy of the global-warming theocracy in pieces, at least for the moment." The editorial said the climate change bill, "which contains a version of the despised cap-and-trade mechanism for taxing carbon, aims to cut emissions of pollution-causing greenhouse gases 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. It also purports to expand domestic production of oil, natural gas and nuclear power. Those provisions sound nice, but recent delaying tactics by the Obama administration on the future of offshore drilling and the storage of nuclear waste cast doubt on prospects for more domestic energy production."

Sen. Graham Bolts Over Immigration as Climate Bill Flutters

2010-04-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., abruptly announced his withdrawal from the climate change bill partnership with Sens. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., and Joseph I. Lieberman, ID-Conn., because of the move by Senate Democrats to give priority to the Obama administration's immigration legislation, the New York Times reported. Kerry said Democrats "will continue to work" on the bill, "but regrettably external issues have arisen that force us to postpone" the planned release of the bill on Monday.

A letter from Graham to various senators said the shift of emphasis toward immigration "destroyed my confidence that there will be a serious commitment and focus to move energy legislation this year." Graham was quoted by Politico as saying in his letter: "I will not allow our hard work to be rolled out in a manner that has no chance of success."

Kerry said he was now looking for another Republican partner, and he was hopeful that Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., will "see the virtues of the bill," the Boston Globe reported. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., reiterated his commitment to passing the bill in "this session of Congress," and he criticized Graham for using immigration as "an excuse for not acting" on climate.

Lieberman said Graham had told him he could still back the bill if the immigration dispute was settled and if Graham was reassured about "the primacy of energy and climate legislation in Sen. Reid's scheduling."

Lieberman said "we need him to come back" to work on the bill. Before Graham released his statement, PSEG Chairman, President and CEO Ralph Izzo commented that "in the absence of information, people create all kinds of monsters."

Meanwhile, White House climate czar Carol Browner stated: "We're determined to see it happen this year, and we encourage the senators to continue their important work on behalf of the country and not walk away from the progress that's already been made."

- Related stories also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post.

Senators Seek EEI Buy-In to Bring Forward Climate Legislation

2010-04-23T08:12:00.000-07:00

EEI President Tom Kuhn met with key senators working on the climate bill in an attempt to shape components critical to the utility industry, E&E News PM reported. The senators, Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn have been working at a fast clip in an effort to produce legislation in the next several days. Graham said the "transportation sector is a problem," with the senators still seeking a method for limiting emissions by the sector.

Graham noted that obtaining EEI's support would be an important "piece of the puzzle." The newsletter reported that Kuhn said the trade association membership was "still looking at language and particulars" and expected additional shaping to occur before the anticipated Monday roll-out.

- Related stories also appeared in the National Journal, Politico, and Reuters.

Key Senators Oppose Maneuver to Avoid Filibuster on Climate Bill

2010-04-23T08:10:00.000-07:00

Several senators said they opposed using the budget reconciliation process to avoid a potential filibuster of climate legislation, Environment and Energy Daily reported. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., expressed his opposition to the process and said he believed at least two-thirds of the Senate also opposed it. Conrad added that he intended to have senators approve an amendment barring the process.

Committee ranking member Judd Gregg, R-N.H., who had previously proposed such an amendment, warned against use of "the reconciliation instruction" contained in the 2011 budget bill to move the legislation forward.

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said: "We should all have our flexibility" to turn to reconciliation to avoid a filibuster. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said: "We are exploring where budget reconciliation instructions would be helpful to our efforts to address climate change."

Poll Finds Two-Thirds Backing for Revamped Energy Policy

2010-04-23T08:08:00.000-07:00

A Public Opinion Strategies poll found 65 percent of those surveyed supported substantial changes to U.S. energy policy, Greenwire reported. Sixty-four percent of polled Republicans backed a program of cutting GHG emissions and developing clean energy. Following introduction of the Cantwell-Collins cap-and-refund proposal, the poll sought opinions about an energy plan that "aims to protect working families, so it refunds almost all of the money it collects directly to the American people, like a tax refund, and most families end up better off." Nearly 75 percent of those polled supported such a plan.

Sen. Kerry Says No Gas Tax Hike Coming in Climate Change Bill

2010-04-22T07:52:00.000-07:00

Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., is tamping down speculation that the climate change bill might include an increase in the gas tax, The Hill reported. Kerry declared that "there is no gas tax, never was a gas tax, will not be a gas tax" in the bill. Kerry also rejected speculation that oil companies might pay a fee linked to the cost of GHG emissions permits for plants by saying "there is not even a linked fee, there is not a tax, there is nothing similar."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., reiterated Kerry's remarks by saying "there won't be a gas tax" and "the linked-fee idea is not going to be in" the bill, Bloomberg reported. The bill was expected to be released on Monday, but sources said senators were still working on its details. An industry source was quoted as saying of Kerry: "He's literally trying to promise everything to everybody. While his enthusiasm is appreciated, there's grave doubts he can hold the promises he makes."

Sen. Voinovich Circulating Amendment to Climate Change Bill

2010-04-22T07:50:00.000-07:00

A Senate Republican aide said Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, was circulating for discussion language for an amendment to the climate change bill that would pre-empt EPA and state regulation of GHG emissions outside the bill, Greenwire reported. Regulation would be authorized only in cases where the emissions directly impacted public health or where they harmed the ozone layer. The amendment would limit the use of current environmental laws to develop emissions rules and also bar climate change nuisance lawsuits. It would assign the Transportation Department exclusive authority over vehicular emissions.

The source called pre-emption a "threshold issue" for Voinovich and said the Clean Air Act and other laws "were not written with an eye toward addressing climate change." Robert Dillon, the spokesman for Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said Voinovich's amendment would "make a climate bill more likely to gain Republican support. Obviously pre-emption is a must-have going forward. If we're going to address carbon emission regulation, it should be a national standard, and we shouldn't have redundant practices and policies that are going to reduce certainty for industry."

Commentary Says States Should Withdraw Claims From Climate Bill

2010-04-22T07:49:00.000-07:00

In an op-ed published in the Boston Globe, environmental economist Robert Stavins called on California and members of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to withdraw their request for the climate change bill to provide an exemption allowing them to maintain their programs for cutting GHG emissions.

Stavins, the Albert Pratt professor of business and government at the Harvard Kennedy School, wrote climate change had universal rather than local impacts and therefore there was no reason to allow "states to act more aggressively on environmental protection."

Stavins wrote "existing state systems" should be absorbed by a federal cap-and-trade program. Local governments could still assist the federal program by devising "regionally-differentiated building codes and zoning" to promote energy efficiency. However, Stavins argued that California and the RGGI members "will better serve their states and the country by declaring victory and getting out of the way" than by seeking "to retain their existing state and regional systems."

EPA's Jackson Says GHG Regs Would Focus on Large Industries

2010-04-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

EPA Administration Lisa P. Jackson said in an interview with The State that the agency intends to focus on GHG regulations on large industries that produce 80 percent of the pollution linked to climate change, not on small businesses such as restaurants and apartment buildings. She was quoted as saying: "You go after the big folks. You don't start with the little ones. It wouldn't be in anybody's interests."

Jackson was defending EPA against criticism from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and the South Carolina Health and Environmental Control Department that EPA regulations would impact small businesses as part of their argument that a legislative approach to GHG emissions would be better than an agency approach. Jackson has said she would prefer a legislative solution to GHG emissions. But Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., was quoted as saying: "It's always best to have the input of Congress on these kinds of things. But if people are going to filibuster everything we do, then let's go the regulation route."

Climate Negotiators Say Path to New International Agreement in Cancun Improving

2010-04-20T09:12:00.000-07:00

The chief U.S. negotiator on climate change issues, Todd Stern, said that there is a slow "convergence" and agreement at a "broad level" on world climate change issues, at least among major countries, AFP reported. After conducting a private conference call with key leaders, Stern told reporters in Washington that there was "considerable support" for this December's U.N. climate summit in Cancun to shape an agreement that "carries legal force," AFP reported. Said Stern: "People would be delighted if that happened this year, but I think people are also quite cognizant that that might or might not happen."

The talks included representation from 17 major economies and Michael Froman, a senior White House adviser who led the meeting, said the talks also included Colombia, Denmark, Grenada and Yemen. With air travel disrupted by Iceland's volcanic eruption, some nations participated by videoconference or were represented by Washington-based diplomats. Added AFP: "The United States did not invite small nations such as Sudan and Venezuela, whose negotiators launched hours of loud protests at December's UN summit in Copenhagen attended by 120 national leaders."

India's Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, in prepared remarks quoted by Indian media, told the conference that he wanted the Washington talks to reduce the "huge trust deficit" in climate negotiation, the AFP reported, writing: "One way to build trust, he said, was to begin the disbursement of some of the 30 billion dollars that wealthy nations say developing nations will need in the short-term to adapt to climate change."

State Dept. Report Links Human Activities to Climate Change

2010-04-20T09:09:00.000-07:00

A State Department draft report on climate change, "Fifth U.S. Climate Action Report," stated climate change was human-caused, Reuters reported. The report said: "Global warming is unequivocal and primarily human-induced. Global temperature has increased over the past 50 years. This observed increase is due primarily to human-induced emissions of heat-trapping gases."

The report found that the actions outlined in House-passed climate change legislation could reduce predicted GHG emissions from 8,000 megatonnes (8.8 trillion tons) by mid-century to fewer than 2,000 megatonnes (2.2 trillion tons). The draft report is open for public comment. It is expected ultimately to be submitted to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, following reports submitted in 1994, 1997, 2002 and 2007.

Senate Climate Bill Called Simple vs. Complex House Offering

2010-04-20T09:08:00.000-07:00

Investing Daily today published a commentary by utility forecast editor Roger S. Conrad that said the Senate climate legislation (crafted by Sens. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., John F. Kerry, D-Mass., and Joseph I. Lieberman, ID-Conn.) stands a good chance of passage because it was "as simple as last year's now-dead offering from the House of Representatives was complex. Another is there are considerably more carrots than sticks for industry. That should ensure more industry support than last time around. And finally, advocates appear considerably more willing to compromise."

Conrad noted that EEI has just asked for more information from key Senators on the impact of their version. Wrote Conrad: "Given Senator Graham's assurances that this was 'about energy independence,' utilities are likely to find a lot they like." The aim of the legislation remains cutting GHGs, and the target of 17-percent reduction from 2005 levels by 2020 was being helped "by power utilities switching from coal to natural gas, largely because the latter has become much more price-competitive but also due to closings of some less efficient coal-fired plants."

The bill will avoid the argument that cap-and-trade amounts to cap-and-tax by "returning the vast majority of funds from the purchase of emissions credits to ratepayers. That's a sharp modification of earlier plans that would have used emission auction proceeds to finance the budget deficit. Combined with other, as-yet-unnamed provisions, it would reduce the burden placed on the more coal-dependent states."

Coal Execs Spar With Committee Over Climate Change Legislation

2010-04-15T07:53:00.000-07:00

Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, greeted officials from Peabody Energy, Arch Coal, Rio Tinto and the Ohio Coal Association by saying at a committee hearing: "I ask you that you cease efforts to deny the science of global warming and stop spending millions of dollars misleading the public on the true science behind climate change," The Guardian reported.

Michael Carey, president of the Ohio Coal Association, was quoted as saying: "The role for coal in the new energy age is greatly hampered by the regulatory assault waged by the Obama administration and the Environmental Protection Agency and in particular the 'war on coal'."

Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., referred to the funds for clean-coal technology in the Waxman-Markey climate change legislation when he responded: "We don't give $60 billion to people we are at war with. We aren't giving $60 billion to al-Qaida."

Peabody Coal President and CEO Gregory Boyce called for an independent review of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and other science underlying EPA's endangerment finding that GHGs harm human health, saying: "We think the EPA should take a step back and do more work." Boyce said Peabody would support climate legislation that allowed carbon reduction technologies such as carbon capture and sequestration to mature before imposing emissions caps, The Hill reported.

Power Gen World quoted Boyce as saying: "A strong energy bill that advances CCS is the best way to achieve both our energy and environmental goals. Greater deployment of advanced energy technologies including coal with carbon capture and storage would create tremendous economic stimulus, reindustrializing our economic base and putting people to work." CNN reported that protesters wearing surgical masks made their presence in the chamber known during Boyce's remarks.

Creative Senate Procedure Developed on Climate Legislation

2010-04-15T07:50:00.000-07:00

A deal has been structured to give Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., control of the Senate climate bill when it is unveiled by its three sponsors next week, Environment and Energy Daily reported. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, ID-Conn., said he and Sens. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., want to put it into Reid's hands to manage its progress through the Senate. Lieberman said that strategy will let Reid "work with it and bring it out onto the floor as a leader whenever he's ready."

Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., a member of the Senate Budget Committee, quickly criticized the run-around as a "new concept in the legislative flow chart." Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., added that her alternative climate bill was available for review already, while "the other thing is something that's still out there still being massaged."

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said: "I would say to those who have been working on climate change and blocking our ability to bring an energy bill to the floor of the Senate, I hope perhaps we could find a way to work together to bring the energy bill to the floor. That's the way the Senate works. The Senate works by running things through a committee."

- Related stories also appeared in the National Journal and the Washington Examiner.

Ways & Means Chairman Calls for Expanded Low-Carbon Tax Credits

2010-04-15T07:48:00.000-07:00

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin, D-Mich., called on Congress to expand tax credits that support domestic manufacture of renewable and other low-carbon technologies, Dow Jones Newswires reported. Levin, at a committee hearing, was quoted as saying: "We have to make certain this demand is satisfied with goods produced in the U.S. If we are not aggressive about expanding our green manufacturing capacity, these manufacturing jobs will be created overseas and the United States will become more reliant on products that are produced outside of our borders."

The Obama administration has proposed an additional $5 billion in tax credits for the manufacturers to supplement the $2.3 billion in last year's federal economic stimulus bill. The administration and Democrats proposed paying for the initiative by cutting tax credits for the oil and natural gas industry, a move opposed by Republicans on Ways and Means. Rep. Dave Camp, R.-Mich., the tax panel's ranking member, was quoted as saying: "I don't know how you can tax 85 percent of energy and still grow the economy."

Winners and Losers Emerging in Senate Climate Legislation

2010-04-15T07:45:00.000-07:00

As the proposed climate change legislation being crafted by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Joseph Lieberman, ID-Conn., nears completion, Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Scott Brown, R-Mass., expressed their willingness to give the proposed bill an open-minded review, Reuters reported.

Alexander was quoted as saying: "A sector-by-sector approach [to reducing CO2 emissions] makes a lot more sense for dealing with carbon." He also said he would "consider a cap on utilities only if we could figure out the right way to do it that didn't drive costs up substantially over the short term." Brown was quoted as saying: "I'm open to reading anything."

On the other side, Sens. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said expanded offshore gas and oil drilling provisions in the legislation could cost their votes.

Several issues in the legislation still needed to be ironed out, reported Reuters, including the allocation of future carbon pollution permits for electric power companies. A possible gasoline tax in the range of 15 cents a gallon, conceived with the input of some oil companies, Shell, BP and ConocoPhillips and favored by Graham, could also prove controversial, the Los Angeles Times reported. Oil companies, said the Times, had signed on to the proposal because they believed it would cost them less than other schemes to reduce GHG emissions. Resistance to the tax has come from some Democrats, and no other Republicans have stepped forward to support it.

Wrote the Times: "Proponents call the tax approach under consideration a 'linked fee,' because it links the extra cost for gasoline to the average cost of greenhouse gas emission permits created through a so-called cap-and-trade system for electric utilities." Backers of the tax proposal said they hoped it would help convince oil companies and the American Petroleum Institute to endorse the bill, or, at the least, not mount an ad campaign against it. Scott Segal, a lobbyist for the Bracewell & Giuliani, was quoted as saying: "It's not clear that a linked fee creates a path to 60 votes."

Key Senators Might Unveil Latest Climate Change Bill Within Days

2010-04-12T07:37:00.000-07:00

Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Joseph Lieberman, ID-Conn., may unveil their revamped climate change bill early in the week, Reuters reported. Aides to the senators spent the two-week Easter recess working on the legislation, which will feature the goal of cutting 2005 GHG emissions levels 17 percent by 2020. A Senate source added: "We are working to address and reconcile all of the concerns raised by particular members about particular provisions."

Wrote Reuters: "Kerry is being hit with an array of other competing concerns: Industry wants the federal legislation to pre-empt state climate control efforts and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulation, an idea many state officials oppose. A dizzying number of other concerns were still being addressed too, according to government and private-sector sources. They include how oil industry tax revenues would be used, how pollution permits would be allocated to utilities and the shape of a border tax to protect steelmakers and other energy-intensive industries from unfair foreign competition."

Columnist: Utilities Would Be Hurt if Energy Legislation Stalls

2010-04-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

National Journal columnist Ronald Brownstein said President Obama and the three senators readying a compromise energy bill--Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn.--"are making extraordinary efforts to address the concerns of energy interests and legislative moderates on both sides who have resisted action on climate. If those incentives can't break the logjam, the result could be a sustained stalemate that prevents the United States from advancing in any direction on energy."

The "grand bargain" the trio is work on features "more incentives for nuclear power and greater domestic production of oil and gas in return for limits on the carbon emissions linked to climate change." If this version of climate and energy legislation does not make it through Congress, Brownstein wrote, "stalemate would force more-severe carbon-emission reductions later on. It would also shroud the energy sector in uncertainty. That could especially hurt the utility industry." Duke Energy Chairman, President and CEO James Rogers was quoted as saying: "If you are going to modernize the fleet, you want to know what the carbon regime is."

Washington Post Seeks Carbon Cap in Energy-Climate Legislation

2010-04-05T11:08:00.000-07:00

The Washington Post, in an editorial published today on climate legislation, said setting a progressive cap on CO2 emissions was preferable to trying to pass a bill that merely subsidizes alternative energy. Basing its opinion on proposed legislation expected from Sens. Lindsey O. Graham, R-S.C., John F. Kerry, D-Mass., and Joseph I. Lieberman, ID-Conn., the Post wrote: "If America is to deal with climate change, it has to reduce carbon emissions--the pollution caused by burning oil, gas and coal. The most cost-effective way to do that is by placing a price on carbon that gradually rises, which a cap could achieve. If well-designed, carbon pricing will attract private capital into the clean-energy effort and spur the technological innovation that will smooth the transition to a cleaner economy. Even a weak cap can be strengthened later, as long as the structure is in place."

Noting that some senators are pressing for a renewable energy bill without capping CO2, the Post wrote: "As the Senate begins to look beyond the health-care fight, the question legislators should be asking is not whether to put a price on carbon. It's how to do it best."

Sen. Lugar Says His Climate Bill Won't Set Price on CO2

2010-03-31T08:22:00.000-07:00

Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., has drafted new climate and energy legislation, the Washington Post's Juliet Eilperin reported on the Post Carbon blog. The bill would reduce GHG emissions, but it would not set a price on CO2.

In a letter to his fellow senators, Lugar wrote: "Several colleagues have diligently worked on proposals centering on cap and trade. No matter your position on such proposals, I believe that we can have broad bipartisan agreement on the streamlined plan I share with you today. In fact, initial analysis of my plan indicates its implementation would accomplish half of the president's 2020 greenhouse gas emissions goal, thus reducing the carbon-reduction burden of future climate proposals."

The blog stated that under Lugar's bill, GHGs would fall "by 25 percent compared to 2005 levels" by 2030, foreign oil dependence would be slashed by two-thirds and national energy consumption would drop by 14 percent "while simultaneously lowering the average household electric bill by 10 percent."

Coalition of 45 House Democrats Opposes Energy-Only Bill

2010-03-30T11:27:00.000-07:00

Forty-five House Democrats belonging to the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition have asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi not to accept the energy-only bill being advocated by some Senate Democrats in place of a climate change bill, E&E News PM reported. Coalition Co-Chairman Jay Inslee, D-Wash., said "it is essential" to include GHG emissions limits in the legislation and establish "durable mechanisms to ensure those targets are achieved."

Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Committee Chairman Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., was leading the push for an energy-only bill that would expand offshore energy production while also establishing a 15-percent-by-2021 renewable requirement. He claimed it would produce emissions reductions and have a greater chance of becoming law than a climate bill would. However, Dorgan's proposal inspired its own opposition from 10 Democratic senators representing coastal states.

EPA Delays Planned GHG Emissions Rules Until January

2010-03-30T11:23:00.000-07:00

EPA said it was delaying until January 2011 plans to introduce Clean Air Act rules for GHG emissions from plants and other stationary sources, Reuters reported. The agency also planned to determine the emissions level at which the rules will apply during this spring. EPA Administration Lisa Jackson called the delay "a common sense plan for phasing in the protections of the Clean Air Act" because "it gives large facilities the time they need to innovate, governments the time to prepare to cut greenhouse gases."

EPA declared that all Clean Air Act permits issued after the rules take effect will restrict GHG emissions, no matter when the permit applications were filed. Former EPA air head Jeff Holmstead criticized that plan because "it's not whatever requirements apply when they finally decide to give you your permit," E&E News PM reported.

National Association of Clean Air Agencies Executive Director Bill Becker commented of the delay: "Providing nine additional months for states to revise their clean air laws and regulations will enable these agencies to closely align their programs with the federal permitting rules, thereby assuring a smooth and rational transition to the daunting but important challenges of regulating greenhouse gases from industrial facilities."

- Related stories also appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg.

Sen. Graham Seeks Path to Climate Change Rules Without EPA

2010-03-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he was pressing forward on the goal of introducing a climate change bill before May because of the need to address energy security without introducing EPA rules to limit GHG emissions, the State reported. Graham, who reiterated that emissions should be regulated through Congress, not through the EPA, said the combination of more domestic energy production and emissions limits will help the U.S. "get away from our dependence on Mideast oil."

BP CEO Tony Hayward praised the senators for working "incredibly constructively" as "they have almost built a coalition of the willing, and they should be commended for that." The New York Times Greenwire blog cited an example of state-level opposition to EPA regulation by quoting a Kansas State Senate resolution that declared: "Lawmaking that impacts entire sections of the American economy should not be done by administrative fiat, but rather such laws and regulations should be made by elected members of the United States Congress."

- A related story also appeared in The Wall Street Journal's Capital Journal blog (subscription required).

Chu Says Administration Focused On Cutting CO2 Emissions

2010-03-30T11:13:00.000-07:00

Energy Secretary Steven Chu, in an interview with Newsweek columnist Fareed Zakaria, said Obama administration energy policy is focused on slashing CO2 to "get to the lowest possible level of carbon as quickly as possible and not only at the lowest cost but with the greatest possible economic opportunity for the U.S."

Chu urged Congress to pass CO2 legislation without worrying about it being perfect: "Once you get it going and start making progress, very clever people start to dream up better solutions. So rather than wait around for a perfect bill that might be delayed for four or five years or forever, get it going."

On smart grids, Chu said: "It will take several decades to be able to get this to [work], and the cost will be very large. Before I took this job I [participated in] a National Academies study called America's Energy Future. The total cost, public and private, that I heard was half a trillion dollars or more."

Key Senators Note Constructive Support in Shaping Climate Bill

2010-03-29T09:02:00.000-07:00

Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Joseph Lieberman, ID-Conn., said they believed EEI and other utility industry groups were engaged in a constructive effort to have a positive impact on shaping a climate bill, Bloomberg reported. Lieberman, who said the bill should be released on April 22, was quoted as saying: "Nobody's signed on, but I think we've got them engaged."

Graham said the bill will propose initiating GHG emissions limits for plants in 2012 and using distribution utilities to return the proceeds from selling permits to consumers. Ten Senate Democrats from coastal states warned Graham, Lieberman and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., of their opposition if the bill authorizes "unfettered" offshore energy production. Sources said Kerry was repositioning the bill as a "reduction and refund" way to cut GHG emissions.

One source said that in meetings with industry Kerry was showing "a willingness to include any reasonable concept" in developing the bill, Congressional Quarterly reported. Environment and Energy Daily quoted Kerry as saying of the decision to not yet release a bill draft: "You don't want paper before you're locked in with affected parties. It's actually destructive. Counter-productive. We're making enormous progress on all fronts, and we'll have paper out at the right moment."

EEI's Kuhn Meets With Key Senators to Sort Through Allocation Issue

2010-03-26T10:41:00.000-07:00

Some of the Senate powerhouse leaders are squaring off in the climate debate, partly in response to EEI's initiatives to strike a balance that favors a resolution to the allowances issue, ClimateWire reported today on the New York Times Web site.

EEI's position, as noted by EEI President Tom Kuhn, has been to create an allowance split of 50-50 between companies based on their historic emission levels and retail sales. The issue has become divisive because at least 14 Democratic senators in the Midwest and Great Plains have raised concerns about the approach in Senate debate, insisting that the "formula should be changed to reflect allocations based solely on emissions."

Leaving a meeting with key senators involved in the issue--Sens. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., Joseph I. Lieberman, ID-Conn., and John F. Kerry, D-Mass.--Kuhn was quoted as saying: "Everything is under discussion." Wrote ClimateWire: "Kuhn said yesterday that he thinks final decisions on allocations won't be made until several other critical parts of the proposal are decided, including emission limits and cost containment. 'We've said it's right at the very end because it's a question of how the other pieces play out,' Kuhn said."

A leading critic, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, was quoted as saying: "There will be a battle on it. We're going to fight hard. I think equity will be on our side. After all, if you're trying to get at emissions, it'd seem to me the allocations would be based on emissions, not on how much you sell." While Harkin claimed that he had logic and the votes to prevail, EEI's position is supported by Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Tom Carper, D-Del., who want the Senate version to match the House version to smooth passage.

Wrote ClimateWire: "In a letter sent last week to Kerry, Feinstein said a change from the EEI-approved allocation system could force electric companies to drop their support for the legislation. It also would leave energy consumers in California to pay higher costs for electricity even though their utilities already made significant low-carbon investments."

N.Y. Times Examines Move Away From 'Cap-and-Trade' to Alternatives

2010-03-26T10:33:00.000-07:00

The New York Times examined how the "cap-and-trade" oncept has lost its standing as the "energy policy of choice," replaced by a panoply of alternatives--including "cap and dividend"--as critics decried the original concept as "cap-and-tax." The Times noted that "Tea Party followers" were using it "as a symbol of much of what they say is wrong with Washington."

Wrote the Times: "Why did cap and trade die? The short answer is that it was done in by the weak economy, the Wall Street meltdown, determined industry opposition and its own complexity. The idea began as a middle-of-the-road Republican plan to unleash the market to reduce power plant pollution and spur innovation. But when lawmakers tried to apply the concept to the far more pervasive problem of carbon dioxide emissions, it ran into gale-force opposition from the oil industry, conservative groups that portrayed it as an economy-killing tax and lawmakers terrified that it would become a bonanza for Wall Street traders and Enron-style manipulators."

Environmental Defense Fund president Fred Krupp was quoted as saying: "Economywide cap and trade died of what amounts to natural causes in Washington. The term itself became too polarizing and too paralyzing in the effort to win over conservative Democrats and moderate Republicans to try to do something about climate change and our oil dependency."

Competitive Enterprise Institute's Myron Ebell was quoted by the Times as saying: "We turned it into 'cap and tax,' and we turned that into an epithet. We also did a good job of showing that a bunch of big companies--Goldman Sachs, the oil companies, the big utilities--would get windfall profits because they'd been given free ration coupons."

The Times noted that a key alternative on the table currently was crafted by Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Susan M. Collins, R-Maine, and closely resembles President Obama's campaign notion providing only auctioned permits. Said Cantwell, of Obama's view of the legislative initiative: "He called our bill 'very elegant.' Simplicity and having something people can understand is important."

Sens. Cantwell, Collins Say Their Climate Bill More Balanced

2010-03-25T08:57:00.000-07:00

Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, voiced objections to plans by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Joseph I. Lieberman, ID-Conn., to incorporate their cap-and-dividend proposal in the climate change bill the three senators were preparing, E&E News PM reported. Cantwell and Collins said their bill was more advanced than the still-unfinished proposal from the three senators.

The Cantwell-Collins bill would distribute 75 percent of the proceeds from auctioning off GHG emissions permits to consumers, and sources said the three senators planned to have the level of proceeds going to consumers eventually reach 75 percent. Sources also noted that the two proposals could be merged to enhance the possibility that a climate bill will win approval in 2010. Collins was quoted as saying: "The bill we came up with is the right approach. Rather than seeing parts of our bill cannibalized and put into another bill, I think they should take a look at coming onto our legislation."

Sen. Graham Says Health Care Struggle Weakens Chance of Climate Bill

2010-03-24T08:51:00.000-07:00

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., predicted that the health care debate will increase the obstacles for passage of a climate change bill, Environment and Energy Daily reported. Graham said the struggle over health care will "make it very difficult to do anything complicated and controversial" in Congress. Graham predicted that "most of our colleagues around here" will be averse to taking on the risk involved in climate negotiations, but Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., claimed that Congress will now be free to focus on the climate bill.

Kerry was quoted as saying: "We can put the pieces of real bipartisanship back together" and that the Obama administration also will devote its "energy and attention" to climate. Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and John McCain, R-Ariz., noted Graham's warning that Democrats will find it difficult to win Republican support for the climate bill. Bloomberg reported that Graham said he was "still committed to trying to roll out a vision of how you price carbon and make it business friendly."

Kerry was quoted as saying: "Unlike health care, we start out with a bipartisan issue where a progressive senator from Massachusetts and a conservative from South Carolina have already struck an alliance. An unlikely odd couple of stakeholders want to see our effort go forward, and recognize that it's now or never."

- Related stories also appeared in AFP and Reuters.

Politico Contends Energy Legislation Moving Toward Center Stage

2010-03-23T07:56:00.000-07:00

With health care behind them, Congress is returning its central focus on a climate bill amid partisan and intra-party squabbling by Democrats, Politico reported today. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who is key to allowing floor debate, has been reluctant to take up an energy-only bill, such as one approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last June, the newspaper reported. That version of the legislation does not include a cap on GHG emissions.

Even Monday, Reid said no decisions had been made to move forward, and he acknowledged that he had a lot of "options on energy." While Reid has to placate Sens. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., the chairman of the Energy Committee, and Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman, ID-Conn., and Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., are also considered key players in the negotiations.

Graham was quoted by Politico as saying: "I'm still committed to trying to roll out a vision of how to price carbon and make it business friendly, but the truth of the matter is you are going to find most of our colleagues here risk-adverse."