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Republicans have undermined climate and energy legislation, but more modest provisions focused on accountability and a proactive approach to oil spills still have a good chance of being passed into law this summer.
On July 23 2010, Senate majority leader Harry Reid acknowledged that due to Republican opposition, Democrats would not be able to secure the required number of votes to pass the energy and climate bill before recess. This means the Senate will not be able to tackle the climate bill until September at the earliest. Congress could still employ a variety of measures including supplemental appropriations, jobs packages and a scaled back energy bill.
Continue Reading Climate Change Legislation Thwarted, Oil Spill Legislation Still Alive
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By Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium blogger
(reposted with permission)
Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) introduced a limited energy bill that responds to the oil spill and promotes energy efficiency. Reid’s action is a signal that the Senate will not pass climate legislation before November, although Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) said that a climate bill could come up in the lame-duck session following the election.
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The recession has delayed the passage of energy legislation and it has stymied hopes for cap-and-trade. The current conventional wisdom is that cap-and-trade legislation is dead. However, rumours of the death of cap-and-trade may have been greatly exaggerated.
Continue Reading The Resurrection of Cap-and-Trade
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The President remains committed to advancing his stalled legislative agenda. Addressing the Democratic National Committee in Washington last Saturday, Obama insisted he is not going to let go of his aspirations for America. “I’m not going to walk away from the American people,” he said. “I’m not going to walk away on any challenge.”
Continue Reading The President’s Strategy and Climate Change Legislation
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NOTE: See the update below for the latest from the UNFCCC and links to countries officially submitting targets and mitigation plans under the Copenhagen Accord
Meeting the January 31st deadline specified in the Copenhagen Accord that president Obama helped negotiate at the COP15 climate conference in Copenhagen, the State Department has formally submitted its emissions reduction target to the UNFCC of 17 percent over 2005 levels by 2020. The target is consistent with expectations and in line with the Waxman-Markey Clean Energy and Security Act that passed the House last summer.
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By Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium Blogger
(reposted with permission)
In his first State of the Union address, President Barack Obama touched on climate issues only briefly. He called on the Senate to pass a climate bill, but did not give Congress a deadline or promise to veto weak legislation. Nor did he mention the Copenhagen climate conference, where international negotiators struggled to produce an agreement on limiting global carbon emissions.
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Almost one year ago, on February 24 2009, President Obama asked Congress for legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution. Henry Waxman and Edward Markey responded with The American Clean Energy and Security Act. Waxman and Markey outlined a cap-and-trade system involving significant US carbon emissions reductions. Early last fall Senators Barbara Boxer and John Kerry put together a new climate change bill.
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Environment & Energy reporter Alex Kaplun reports on the gap between consistent polling that shows most American favor passage of a climate and energy bill and the difficulty such legislation has in gaining any real traction in Congress.
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By Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium Blogger
The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen should have cleared a path for the U.S. Congress move forward again on climate change legislation, but Senate Democrats already are saying the bill might not come in 2010. After fights over the stimulus and health care, legislators are less willing to stomach compromises on climate change. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is looking smarter for having passed the House’s version of the climate change bill when she had the chance.
Continue Reading Climate Bill Bogs Down in Senate
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Major differences begin to emerge between the Senate and House versions of cap-and-trade legislation. Due to more stringent budget requirements – known as the “CBO haircut” – in the Senate, the Kerry-Boxer bill is forced to dole out emissions allowances from a smaller pie. A difference that Boxer didn’t highlight when the 923-page draft bill was released late last Friday, but that is becoming apparent to those vying for a piece of the pie.
Continue Reading Podcast: Senate Climate Bill Cuts-up Smaller Allocation Pie Than House Version
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