Weekly Political Roundup: ‘Tis The Season
Posted December 11, 2009 at 2:06 pm 
Filed in: In an effort to cobble together 60 votes on energy and climate legislation before the legislative session’s clock strikes midnight, ‘tripartisan’ Sens. John Kerry (D-MA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) released a policy framework Thursday that highlighted nuclear power and offshore drilling. E&E explains:
“‘This is a package with a lot of new agreements in it and new shared vision about how we get over 60 votes,’ Lieberman said.
“The senators’ blueprint calls nuclear power an ‘essential component’ of the strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They vowed to make it easier to finance the construction of new nuclear plants and to improve the efficiency of the licensing process for traditional and small modular reactors.
“Offshore drilling would also see new incentives under the bill. The senators said their legislation would seek to boost the supply of domestically produced oil and natural gas both on land and offshore. ‘We will do so in a way that sends money back to the states that opt to drill and also provides new federal government revenues to advance climate goals,’ the framework states.
“‘Some people who were leery about nuclear power are committing here to a very robust nuclear power title,’ Lieberman said. ‘Some people before who haven’t been very eager to support offshore drilling were saying, ‘You know, we’ve got to do that in this combined bill, and we’ve got to share some of the revenues with the states.’’
“‘And on the other side, some of our colleagues have been reluctant to support an exact cap on carbon reductions, in a near term and to support a market-based system to get to it are committing now to do that,’ Lieberman added.”
“Graham has said the senators should examine drilling provisions endorsed by the bipartisan ‘Gang of 10’ — which later grew to 20 — last year. That plan called for shrinking the no-leasing buffer in the eastern Gulf of Mexico to 50 miles. It would also allow drilling greater than 50 miles off the coasts of Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia if those states allowed it.”
While it’s good to see that former drilling opponents like Kerry and Lieberman have become closer to proponents, tried and true supply advocates are hoping for a more robust plan than the 2008 ‘Gang’ offering.
Those weren’t the only senators attempting to make hay during Copenhagen. Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) “plan to introduce a measure today that would set a price on fossil fuels’ carbon dioxide emissions and return the revenue to consumers,” according to E&E. Here’s more on their innovative approach:
“Under the proposal, energy producers would bid in monthly auctions for ‘carbon shares.’ Consumers would get 75 percent of the resulting revenue as a refund to help compensate for increased energy costs; the remaining 25 percent would go toward clean energy research and development.
“‘Climate change legislation must protect consumers and industries that could be hit with higher energy prices,’ Collins said in a statement.
“A typical family of four would receive tax-free monthly checks from the government averaging $1,100 per year, according to Cantwell’s office.
“The measure is aimed at slashing greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels 20 percent by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050.
“The bill ‘provides businesses and investors with a simple, predictable mechanism that will open the way to clean energy expansion while achieving America’s goals of reducing carbon emission,’ Cantwell said.
“Cantwell is one of several lawmakers who have touted a ‘cap and dividend’ climate policy, which involves capping carbon emissions, auctioning the permits and funneling the proceeds back to consumers. Some members of Congress and advocacy groups prefer that alternative to the cap-and-trade approach, which some say would leave consumers vulnerable to price spikes.
“Cantwell has cited the questions surrounding the effectiveness of the marketplace to regulate carbon emissions to explain her preference for cap and dividend.
“‘People are moving more toward something that’s much more streamlined,’ Cantwell said last month. ‘The bottom line is you don’t want to have added volatility to the market when trying to solve [the emissions] problem. … What you want is a predictable price so that people can move forward and diversify.’”
It will be interesting to see if the upcoming election year, which is sure to be hotly-contested, allows for much in the way of legislative progress. Last time around, skyrocketing energy prices provided some motivation, but ultimately election year inertia and the pull of partisanship prevailed. Something’s bound to happen eventually … right?
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