Weekly Political Roundup—An Important Weekend for … Energy?
Posted March 19, 2010 at 7:34 am 
Filed in: This week featured almost daily headlines about the bipartisan climate/energy effort by Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Joe Lieberman (I-CT), as those senators shared an eight-page summary with stakeholders in closed meetings. Some details emerged. According to E&E earlier this week (subscription required):
“According to several sources in the meeting room, the bill will call for greenhouse gas curbs across multiple economic sectors, with a target of reducing emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. Power plant emissions would be regulated in 2012, with other major industrial sources phased in starting in 2016.
“In a bow to industry demands, the senators’ proposal would pre-empt U.S. EPA climate regulations under the Clean Air Act and halt dozens of state climate laws and regulations now on the books. Also, only facilities that release 25,000 tons per year of greenhouse gases must participate in the climate program.”
The same article emphasized, however, that the Kerry/Graham/Lieberman show was not the only one in town:
“On Monday, Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) met for about 45 minutes with Reid to plead their case for taking up energy legislation approved last spring by Bingaman’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee. That bill (S. 1462) includes a renewable energy standard and offshore oil drilling but no cap on greenhouse gas emissions — a centerpiece of the Kerry-Graham-Lieberman effort.”
None of these, however, represent the most important energy news this week. In fact, the most important energy news is … the upcoming health care vote.
For more than a year now, energy security advocates have been concerned that health care has pushed energy (not to mention a host of other issues) to the back burner. It has dominated the political debate inside and outside of Washington. But now that it looks like the end may be in sight, there is no relief. Why? Because the process has become so bitter that it may be impossible to forge a bipartisan consensus on any other issue this year, even one that clearly has support from across the political spectrum. Business Week’s web site today has an article entitled “How Health Care is Hurting the Chances for an Energy Bill”—and they are not the only ones who have noticed.
What energy security needs is leaders on both sides of the aisle to be willing to stand up. Democratic leaders need to say “Climate change alone is not enough.” Republican leaders need to say “This is an issue important enough to be worth reaching across partisan lines.” There are such leaders in the House and Senate; the question is, will anyone be listening?
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