Journal, Post Examine Failure of Kerry-Lieberman GHG Bill

The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, in editorials published today, focused on climate legislation. The Journal said the failure of the Senate to pass the Kerry-Lieberman legislation marked a "landmark defeat" for the green lobby and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. According to the Journal, the "bill went down for lack of Democratic votes, in particular those from Midwest coal and manufacturing states. Voters in those states have figured out that cap and tax is a redistributionist exercise from the carbon-dependent heartland to the richer coasts."

The Journal said cap and trade, at "enormous economic cost, would do little to reduce global carbon emissions. To the extent that it reduces growth, it would make the world less able to cope with the consequences if temperatures do rise. The richer the world, the more resources the world will have to adapt and ameliorate bad effects."

The Washington Post found irony in the "death of climate change legislation" because of the two government reports released shortly after Reid opted not to submit Kerry-Lieberman to a vote. The studies "underscore the overwhelming scientific case for global warming--and go out of the way to repudiate skeptics." After mentioning details from the reports, the Post said that many "climate-change skeptics will simply dismiss these reports as more evidence of a sprawling conspiracy instead of what they really are: yet more affirmation of the risks humanity runs if it continues to pump carbon into the atmosphere."

President to Hold Bipartisan Meeting Today on Climate, Energy

The Wall Street Journal today reported that Congressional Democrats are looking to use a bipartisan meeting with President Obama on Tuesday to leverage a clear solution to energy and climate efforts on Capitol Hill.

Energy & Environment reported today that even if the Senate passed a watered-down version of climate and energy legislation before the mid-term elections, the House-Senate conference committee could end up revisiting everything, including a cap-and-trade program, during a subsequent lame duck session. Wrote the newsletter: "Even if they do not enact cap and trade, Democratic leaders could use a conference to ratchet up the climate regulations past what the Senate agreed to and beyond what Democratic House centrists want."

Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., have expressed reservations about leaving so much work to the conferees. Sanders was quoted as saying: "Members of the Senate have their views as to what constitutes a strong bill, and they're going to want to be heard on this." The policies that could be radically revised during a conference, the newsletter reported, include oil spill liability, stricter drilling regulations, a renewable energy standard, sharing offshore drilling royalties with states, nuclear plant loan guarantees "and the big one -- a price on carbon."

A question that adds more uncertainty is what bill Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., would bring to the Senate floor. One possibility is that he would add climate provisions to a legislative response to the oil spill on the assumption that the latter would have to pass or he could add the oil spill provisions to an energy-only bill. If Reid went with the latter strategy, it would present a problem for conservative Democrats who would rather vote on an energy bill after the elections, even though they might want to go home in November with a credible bill to stop future oils spills.

- Related story appeared in the Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire.

Options Abound as Democrats Struggle to Craft Climate-Energy Bill

Democrats hoping to pass climate change legislation through the Senate were using elements from a variety of proposals in the hope of gaining a 60-vote majority, Greenwire reported. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said "there's enough in each" of the proposals to put together "a serious and comprehensive energy bill" that will pass in 2010.

Meanwhile, Energy Secretary Steven Chu welcomed another energy bill backed by Sens. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Reuters reported. In a letter to Lugar, Chu wrote: "In particular, I appreciate your ideas for reducing America's oil dependence--which has taken on greater urgency as a result of the BP oil spill."

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said she expected Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to introduce his own bill as an alternative to the Kerry-Lieberman proposal. Reid was to meet with committee leaders today to begin devising a strategy, with a Democratic caucus to follow next week.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., contended that introducing his proposal as a bill amendment was "wrong as a matter of policy and what's best for the country," and he called for it to instead "be at the center of the arena" as its own bill. Lieberman and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., objected to a cap-and-trade program that would apply only to utilities, with Lieberman arguing that "the moment is right for comprehensive legislation."

Brian Wolff, EEI senior VP of external affairs, was quoted by Greenwire as saying: "What you have is everybody right now is just throwing everything on the table."

Related story also appeared in Bloomberg via BusinessWeek.

EPA to Release Climate, Energy Bill Economic Modeling June 10

EPA is expected on June 10 to publicly release its economic modeling results on comprehensive energy and climate legislation, Greenwire reported. Republicans, said Greenwire, were expected to challenge the assumptions EPA used in the analysis of projected household costs and consumption rates resulting from cutting U.S. GHG emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.

Citing other studies on the proposed legislation, authors Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joseph Lieberman, ID-Conn., were quoted as saying: "Several nonpartisan studies and economic analyses have now concluded that the American Power Act achieves the goals we set: to strengthen energy security and address climate change. Our approach creates jobs, protects consumers and reduces our oil dependence."

Also on June 10, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., plans to hold a climate legislation strategy meeting with key committee chairmen, and the Senate is scheduled to vote on a resolution offered by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, intended to prevent EPA from writing emissions rules for cars and industrial facilities.

Sen. Reid to Push for GOP Help on Climate Legislation

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said support from at least one Republican was necessary to move the Kerry-Lieberman climate change bill forward, Environment and Energy Daily reported. Reid said he planned to meet with Democrats in June to consider plans for the legislation, including to revive the possibility of pursuing an energy-only bill.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said he and other Democrats from coal states might not vote for the bill. Brown speculated that Reid was pressing Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., to "deliver something with more consensus than they're getting, including more Republicans."

A former aide to the Clinton administration said "the silence from the White House is deafening" and added that without more support from the Obama administration "there does not seem to be adequate political momentum" to pass Kerry-Lieberman. Lieberman was quoted as saying of Midwest Democrats: "The support from Midwestern utilities would be helpful in reassuring them their consumers won't be experiencing a big price hike. My hope is a smaller group of oil-producing states will come together and after that it's going to be one by one. It's house-to-house combat."

- Related story also appeared in The Hill.

Sen. Reid Open to Putting Climate Ahead of Immigration

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he was willing to move the climate bill ahead of immigration reform legislation, the Wall Street Journal reported. However, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., maintained his vow to absent himself from work on the bill even if the Senate took up immigration after climate. Reid said he was "going to go to" the climate bill if it was "ready to go" ahead of unfinished immigration. He criticized Republicans for failing to work with Democrats on immigration and rejected the possibility of moving immigration through Senate committees while putting the climate bill on the Senate floor.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said he, Graham, and Sen. Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., were "working very hard and constructively to pull pieces back together." Kerry said of the possibility of leaving Graham out of work on the bill: "I don't want to even consider that at this point in time." Energy Washington Week [subscription required] reported that a source said Kerry had struck an "optimistic tone" on the bill last week, including his expectation that EEI would back it at its scheduled unveiling on Monday. Sources were now looking at potential alternatives to the bill in the attempt to pass energy and/or climate legislation in 2009.

- Related stories also appeared in the Washington Post, Bloomberg, and Politico.

EEI's Kuhn Says Climate Bill Needed for Investment Certainty

EEI President Tom Kuhn, on National Public Radio, said that the climate bill squabble on Capitol Hill was a distraction to the goal: "We all know that there is an objective to move to lower carbon fuels in the future, and it is extremely important to us when we are making billions of dollars worth of investments to have the certainty."

On Capitol Hill, a maneuver by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to bring forward an immigration bill, brought a rebuff from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the key Republican partner in the triumvirate bringing the climate legislation forward. The other senators, John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., stalled their expected announcement of a final version of the climate bill on Monday, looking for a compromise with Graham. Politico reported that Graham said the effort by Reid "dooms everything" because it was "breaking faith."

On American Public Media's Market Watch, EEI spokesman Jim Owen noted that utility CEOs "see a lot of challenges going forward in terms of what kinds of power plants to build and where to build them," and the continued uncertainty over the climate bill was creating problems for planning investments in new generation. Exelon spokeswoman Judy Rader was quoted as saying: "We are disappointed by this temporary setback. We remain hopeful that the issues will be resolved quickly, and that the U.S. Senate will make passage of an energy and climate bill an urgent priority."

Graham noted that the immigration bill "has no chance" to pass and the issue had come "out of left field" just before the planned unveiling of the climate bill. Graham disavowed speculation by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs that he withdrew because of pressure from other Republicans. Graham added: "I've made it perfectly clear that if you bring up immigration you're breaking faith with me. The faith was broken when immigration was interjected in the 11th hour."

Reid spokesman Jim Manley saw "no reason why we can't do climate change first" and then work on the immigration bill, and said it was "difficult to understand why we have gotten this reaction to Reid demonstrating his commitment to the issue." Lieberman said "we're working really hard to get" the climate partnership with Graham "back together," and he asked for Obama administration support in that effort.

- Related stories also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Politico, and National Journal.