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.
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