EEI's Kuhn Outlines Views on Climate Bill

EEI President Tom Kuhn cited the partisanship in Washington and the closeness to the November elections as reasons that there were only modest chances that climate change legislation would clear Congress this year. Kuhn, who appeared on the Platts Energy Week broadcast on Sunday, along with Mark Crisson of the American Public Power Association, emphasized that "if you're going to have a price on carbon, and I think we need to if we're going to move forward, I think cap-and-trade is the best way to go."

Crisson said he was skeptical about cap and trade because there were insufficient emission allowances for utilities: "While it's failed to gain support, I wouldn't necessarily say it's off the table or dead," he said. "But this may provide an opportunity to explore other options."

Wrote Platts: "President Barack Obama last week continued to call on Congress to pass climate-change legislation, and Senator John Kerry, Democrat-Massachusetts, a leading advocate of such a measure, indicated he may try to rekindle the issue in a lame-duck session following the November congressional elections. Kuhn and Crisson also agreed that legislation on climate change, with provisions to mitigate the impact of emissions reductions on consumers, remains preferable to regulation by the Environmental Protection Act under the existing Clean Air Act."