The Future of Clean Energy: Key Actors and Pivotal Politics
Posted July 12, 2010 at 2:52 pm 
Filed in: Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said “the Senate has got to pass something…before the August break”. Today is July 12. Recess begins on August 9. That gives Congress just 28 days. The window for debating energy legislation is closing rapidly.
Senator Bingaman went on to add that, if the necessary steps are not taken now, “we will lock in high-emitting and inefficient energy technologies that will be costly to reverse. We may completely lose the opportunity to achieve the necessary emissions reductions at an acceptable cost. The time to act is now… Congress should move forward with the strongest package that it can achieve”, Bingaman stated.
The Senate’s Majority Leader, Harry Reid, is currently assembling an energy/climate legislation package that could guarantee at least 60 votes. Such legislation will break down into in 3 main elements: offshore drilling, with higher disaster liabilities on oil companies; requirements for boosting electricity from cleaner/renewable sources; and pricing greenhouse gas emissions. As expected, the most controversial issue is the latter.
Politico ranks senators’ expected vote based on interviews and public statements as well as their past votes. It predicts 27 “yes”, 21 “possibly yes”, 13 “possibly no”, 25 “no” and 13 Senators that might “jump the fence” and take sides. Thus, the possibility of passing a climate and energy bill depends on the chances of convincing the key, pivotal actors, in the Senate. Politico also has a very interesting special section – Energy Reform: The Final Push, covering a broad array of hot issues on the current energy scene.
These are some of the key actors’ views on the tipping points:
Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), a leader on the energy scene, is vehemently against using the oil spill as an excuse to pass cap-and-trade or incentives for clean energy. “The so-called cap-and-trade national energy tax is not appropriate here because it has nothing to do with cleaning up this oil spill”. He also calls cap-and-trade “premature” because there is currently no feasible way of capturing emissions from coal plants, and thus increased electricity costs would necessarily pass costs onto the consumer. A proud Prius-owner, his views on energy have been progressive in terms of energy security, including calling for the electrification of half our cars and trucks, and heavy investment in energy research and development.
Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D) has also been a leader on the energy front, especially concerned about the U.S.’s reliance on foreign oil and its costs to our economic security and climate. While he supports capping and pricing carbon, he opposes using market-based trading mechanisms to do so. “I do not support however a cap-and-trade system”… “But there are ways for us to price carbon and to restrict carbon. I understand that.” Dorgan asserts that an energy-only bill is more realistic and says he will support a bill that would require utilities to meet 15% of their electricity sales with renewables, and invest heavily in energy infrastructure and innovation.
Senator Murkowski (R-AK), from the Energy Committee, argues that instituting a system that puts a price tag on carbon emissions could cost U.S. jobs at a time when the economy is still struggling. “It still puts you in the world of cap-and-trade,” she told CNN. “And this is where we just simply have not been able to get to 60.”
Senator Dick Lugar (R-IN), who has introduced his own “practical approach to energy”, defends that “a carbon tax or cap and trade system is a non-starter in this Congress. Instead, we should pass an energy bill that will reduce our need for imported oil and save Americans money, even while it cuts greenhouse gas emissions”… by establishing “long-term, flexible frameworks for innovation and investment”. Senator Graham (R-S.C.), cosponsor of Lugar’s Practical Energy and Climate Plan, states that “the carrot-stick approach is the basis of cap-and- trade” and, while Lugar’s proposal is still a carrot-stick approach, at least “there are more carrots than sticks.”
One hopes that it will be a very energetic four weeks in Congress.
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