Max Baucus | Grist

But Senate Finance Committee calls on polluter lobbyists to attack clean energy yet again

Baucus supports a climate bill and knows it will pass Congress, 0
Posted 2 weeks ago
Senate Finance Committee calls on polluter lobbyists to defend pollution economy yet again 2
Posted 2 weeks, 4 days ago On Tuesday, Sen. Max Baucus's (D-Mont.) Finance Committee will look at the effect of clean energy legislation on the "future of jobs." Appearing before the committee are four industry or conservative lobbyists and one coal-industry union lobbyist, Abraham Breehey. The only economist to testify will be Margo Thorning, a lobbyist for the anti-tax American Council on Capital Formation. Also testifying is Carol Berrigan, a nuclear industry representative, and American Enterprise Institute fellow Kenneth Green.
Baucus: ‘No doubt’ that climate change legislation will pass 0
Posted 2 weeks, 4 days ago Contrary to reports from many in the media, the prospects for a climate bill are as good as ever now that the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has finished its work.
the empire strikes back

Soda lobby gets its game on 4
Posted 3 weeks, 1 day ago The sugar lobby has kept their work against the soda tax off their paperwork and thus out of public sight. But its invisibility doesn't lessen its ferocity or, so far, its effectiveness.
Senate Democrats push climate bill through committee 1
Posted 3 weeks, 1 day ago Senate Democrats on Thursday pushed through a sweeping climate change bill, maneuvering an end-run around opposition Republicans who continued their boycott of deliberations.
Montana faces 175 to 400 percent increase in wildfire burn area

Memo to Baucus: Your state’s trees are being ravaged 0
Posted 4 weeks ago Media outlets trumpeted the fact that Baucus said he thought Boxer’s proposed bill was too strong. One part of the media focused on the real story that Montanans are increasingly concerned about: Climate change is already hitting their state hard now and is poised to devastate it utterly.
well suited for the job

Grass people invade Congress as Senate hearings wrap up 3
Posted 4 weeks, 1 day ago The three-days of hearings on the Kerry-Boxer climate bill are now over. Sen. Barbara Boxer wants to commence voting in committee next Tuesday. Republicans are threatening to boycott the proceedings. And an astroturf circus in the House!
Who’s who on the EPW: Senate committee begins landmark climate hearings 0
Posted 1 month ago This week, hearings begin in the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act. The committee members can be sorted by their degree of support for clean energy, progressive reform, and strong climate action.
The propitiously populist politics of permits

Bingaman hearing on pollution allowance allocation; progressive greens beware 17
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago When Kerry and Boxer introduced their clean energy bill earlier this month, it contained a huge gap: it said almost nothing about the allocation of pollution allowances under the cap-and-tr... er, pollution reduction and investment program. The reason for the omission is simple: Doling out what is effectively a huge new pot of money is a subject of considerable interest to many senators, and it's expected to help bring some recalcitrant Democrats on board. The Energy & Natural Resources Committee, under Jeff Bingaman, is holding a hearing on the subject today.
As good as it'll get

Boxer-Kerry climate bill: what to watch for 2
Posted 2 months ago Sens. Boxer and Kerry plan to introduce their climate bill tomorrow. I'm in NYC and DC this week, so it's been tough to find time to write, but here are a few brief notes on what to watch for.
Senate Chainsaw Massacre

Memo to Congress: Don’t dawdle on climate bill 1
Posted 2 months ago Like health care reform -- and bad teenage slasher movies -- the whole climate and energy debate seems to be moving very slowly down a well-trodden path toward a bloody ending.
The Max Baucus problem

Is Sen. Baucus of Montana standing in the way of swift, strong climate action? 4
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago
Politico explains why Sen. Max Baucus--more than any Republican, dirty energy flack, or right-wing blowhard--has become a thorn in the side of those working for a robust climate bill.
Green Lantern can't save us now

Netroots Nation frustration and the impediments to progressive change 13
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago
I just returned from Netroots Nation, the yearly gathering of progressive bloggers, journalists, and activists. Last year, in Austin, the atmosphere was absolutely electric, with the election approaching and a clear sense of battle lines drawn, victory within reach. Also, lots of great parties. This year, at least from my limited perspective, the atmosphere was more muted, the panels less exciting, and the parties both fewer and less fun. The tone of the conference was, in part, related to a general frustration among progressives.
Flattening the U

The senator from Montana and the middle class 0
Posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago
This morning, the Senate took its final step on climate change before its summer vacation—a hearing pulled together by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus from Montana on how carbon allowances are allocated under the Waxman-Markey bill. The main takeaway: Under the House bill, the middle class does the heavy lifting to pay for the cost of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The focus of the hearing was how the Senate can improve the allocation of the carbon allowances, which are likely to be worth more than $100 billion per year. Dallas Burtraw, a senior economist at Resources for the Future, testified on how Waxman-Markey will hit American's pocketbooks. Through his research, Burtraw found that the bill does a pretty good job of protecting the poorest 20% and the richest 10% of Americans. But everyone in the middle ends up bearing the brunt of the costs.