Obama Officials Make Economic Case for Climate Change Bill

Obama administration officials claimed that failing to pass a climate change bill would hurt the economy by discouraging investment in clean energy and renewables, the Wall Street Journal Realtime Economics blog reported. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said "there's a lot of money on the sidelines" that will be invested if a bill were to be signed into a law.

Kevin Walsh, managing director for power and renewable energy at GE Energy Financial Services, said financial companies were "grappling for a steady footing to invest," and putting a price on GHG emissions would give clean energy a "shot in the arm."

American Electric Power strategic policy analysis head Bruce Braine warned that if the delay in Congress leads to EPA attempts to regulate GHG emissions, the agency's proposal will "be litigated like crazy."

Joseph Aldy, Obama's special assistant for energy and environment, was quoted as saying: "There's significant concern that as we’re trying to get the economy up and going again, that this kind of uncertainty may stall things some."