EEI Backing Said to Be Key to Passage of Energy, Climate Bills

EEI has pledged to be in the thick of efforts to help pass favorable, economy-wide climate and energy legislation this year. As part of an overview of last ditch efforts by President Obama to pass climate and energy legislation, ClimateWire quoted EEI spokesman Jim Owen as saying: "We still believe that an economywide approach is the best way to go. There are still votes for that, but as other approaches come up and get discussed and debated, we're not going to be on the sidelines."

One key source, a former energy aide for a Senate Democrat, told the newswire that any energy- or climate-related legislation would have to gain EEI backing to have any chance of passage.

Obama appears to be pressing for a hybrid version of bills that would include some details pertinent to the White House view that human activities are linked to climate change and some steps to enhance U.S. energy production, the newswire reported, citing the president's statements at a town hall meeting in Nevada Feb. 19.

After addressing GHGs, Obama said: "It's going to take some time. We're still going to be getting our electricity from coal."

ClimateWire wrote that a source familiar with discussions on Capitol Hill and with ties to the White House said the administration and congressional leaders "are at this point considering four basic policy options. The most aggressive option would steer clear of an all-in-one economywide approach by adopting a strong clean energy bill and pared-down climate provisions that include a cap on electric utility emissions. If policymakers pursue that option, utilities would likely call for the proposal to include a phased-in cap on industrial emissions from other corners of the economy."

Obama was scheduled to address the Business Roundtable this week and was expected to "float a couple more energy sweeteners for Congress," the newswire wrote. These could include policy incentives for the use of natural gas for power plants, and increased funding for carbon-sequestration and storage technologies. Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp said of Obama's press for hybrid legislation: "I've never seen everyone so engaged in something that conventional wisdom thinks is dead."