Okay, I don’t know if it is a scoop, heck, I don’t know for certain it is true, but a very reliable source tells me that speaker Pelosi wants the climate bill on the House floor the last week in June.
That is consistent with what Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said (see “House Majority Leader says climate bill will see fast action“). But it will require a lot of speedy deal-making. Still, it suggests the speaker does not see any deal breakers in the path to House passage, even though, as Wonk Room reports, “Brown Dogs Poised To Block Green Economy Legislation.”
And Sen. Boxer (D-CA) can certainly get something close to the Waxman-Markey bill out of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee by the fall. And let’s assume for now it doesn’t get mired in any other committees
And that brings me to the climate politics question of the week:
Will moderate and conservative Senate Democrats — the Gang of 16 — vote for something that is called the Boxer-Waxman-Markey Bill? Or will they embarce a not-invented-here mentality and insist on substantially weakening it?
After all, at least one of them is already hard at work trying to gut an already weak Senate Renewable Energy Standard, which itself is weaker than the Waxman-Markey RES. As Wonk Room explained last week, “Evan Bayh votes against a national renewable electricity standard that even Republicans supported“:
Bayh said Indiana would be among the states that would bear a disproportionate share of the cost of meeting the requirement. He said a fairer system would be offering tax credits for producing power from renewable sources.
The standard of 15 percent renewable energy or efficiency gains by 2021 is significantly weaker than President Obama’s preferred standard of 25 percent by 2025. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) joined 11 Democrats in support of the standard, and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) did not vote.
All you Hoosiers out there need to let your Senator know what you think with letters and phone calls. He is going to be a hard sell — and one more reason why we need some sort of the deal with China this fall (see Bayh’s exchange with Energy Secretary Chu in “Does a serious bill need action from China?“)
Fourteen Democratic senators stick up for coal
Comments
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likeahurricane Posted 11:20 am
29 May 2009
Mostly, however, I've seen a tremendous sway in opinion over the last year or so on addressing global warming and clean energy. Its sad that Sen. Bayh doesn't see the same groundswell that I have. Newspapers all across the state support the ACES act, and it an odd turn of events Republicans have found themselves trying to take on Duke Energy, the states largest utility. In a recent energy summit, state Republicans even went so far as to say Jim Rogers would fail a lie detector test in saying he supported ACES.
It's disappointing to see Sen. Bayh has the same mindset that a meager 15% RES is an assualt on coal states, rather than the impetus for shift to a clean energy economy that could make Indiana a "former coal state".
Call it whatever you want, but Reps. Waxman and Markey crafted a compromrise bill that even Rep. Hill was able to vote for on the Energy and Commerce committee, and he shares identical concerns to Bayh. How is it that Rep. Hill has found a way to make the legislation work for Indiana, but Sen. Bayh cannot?
Romm is right, any Hoosier should contact Sen. Bayh and let them know they're disappointed in his RES vote, and expect him to shape up with whatever bill comes in the future.
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F James Handley Posted 10:52 pm
29 May 2009
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