The Wall Street Journal reported today that President Obama, participating in a town hall meeting in New Hampshire, for the first time indicated that he might back away from tying a cap-and-trade bill to green-jobs legislation. The Journal wrote that it was a "maneuver that could kill what once had been one of the administration's top policy priorities."
Wrote the Journal: "Answering a participant in a town-hall meeting in Nashua who asked about green jobs--those connected to renewable energy--and so-called cap-and-trade legislation, Mr. Obama said, 'The only thing I would say about it is this: We may be able to separate these things out. And it's possible that that's where the Senate ends up.'"
The Obama comment came as Reps. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, and Collin Peterson, D-Minn., chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, introduced legislation "to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse-gas emissions under the Clean Air Act." Skelton said the bill would set aside existing legislation cleared by the House to cap GHG emissions and focus on "scaled-back energy legislation" that could command greater support in both parties.
Wrote the Journal: "One possibility for Senate Democrats is to push forward with a bill already approved by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources that would require electric utilities nationwide to generate 15% of their electricity supplies through renewable resources, with some portion met by energy efficiency measures, by 2021. The bill would also open the Eastern Gulf of Mexico to leasing and exploration for oil and gas, and establish energy efficiency standard for table and floor lamps."
