After a meeting of Democratic and Republican congressional leaders, President Obama said he will reach out for a bipartisan solution to energy issues, E&E News PM reported. Obama was quoted by the newsletter as saying: "Bipartisanship can't be that I agree to all the things that [Republicans] believe in or want, and they agree to none of the things I believe in or want and that's the price of bipartisan. But that's sometimes the way it gets presented."
Obama made a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room on Tuesday, taking a handful of questions from reporters and saying that the U.S. "must develop cleaner energy technologies while at the same time still relying upon traditional power sources like nuclear and coal," the Associated Press wrote. Obama told reporters the U.S. "can't overnight convert to an all-solar, all-wind economy." He said, according to the AP, that he was convinced the nation that leads the way in clean energy "is going to win the race in the 21st century global economy."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., indicated, according to E&E News PM, that he supported Democratic administration goals "on nuclear energy, and clean coal technology and more drilling to increase oil production," the president was quoted as saying, adding: "Well, of course he likes that. That's part of the Republican agenda for energy, which I accept. And I'm willing to move off some of the preferences of my party in order to meet them halfway. But there's got to be some give from their side, as well. That's true on health care. That's true on energy, that's true on financial reform, that's what I'm hoping gets accomplished."
Wrote the newsletter: "Obama did not go into specifics on where he would be willing to budge when it comes to the energy and global warming debate. Last week in New Hampshire, he acknowledged pressure from some moderate Democrats to slice the cap-and-trade provisions out of an energy bill even as he insisted that a price on greenhouse gas emissions was necessary to spur technological developments."
- Related stories also appeared in the Washington Post, Political Hotsheet blog via CBS News, and the San Francisco Chronicle blog.
