Sen. Byrd's Death Could Complicate Senate Climate, Energy Battle

The death yesterday morning of Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., could make Senate passage of climate and energy legislation more complicated, even though he was not necessarily going to vote for it, Greenwire reported. Wrote Greenwire: "Byrd's support for a Senate climate bill was far from certain since he had long questioned action to curb greenhouse gas emissions. But his recent actions had signaled that he may have endorsed a climate bill if it had come to the floor this year."

In 2009, Byrd urged the coal industry to participate in forging climate legislation and earlier this month he voted against a resolution put forward by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, to prevent EPA from issuing GHG regulations. Daniel Weiss, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, was quoted as saying: "He's played a very constructive role in trying to build support for comprehensive clean energy and global warming legislation."

The appointment of Byrd's replacement falls to West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, an avowed opponent of cap-and-trade legislation. Manchin told the Associated Press that the appointment would be a significant because of the effect on climate legislation and the mining debate.

Greenwire quoted Andrew Wheeler, a former Republican staff director for the Environment and Public Works Committee, as saying: "Most West Virginia politicians oppose climate change legislation, so I don't think it's a stretch to assume that Senator Byrd's successor will also oppose climate change legislation." Byrd's death also leaves Democrats a vote short of being able to stop a Republican filibuster of financial reform legislation, Grist reported.

- Related stories also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post.