Pelosi Has No Regrets Over Passing Climate Bill

By Linn Grubbstrom - Talk Radio News Service

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) discussed the importance of investing in renewable energy during her weekly news conference. Pelosi said the oil spill in the Gulf along with a push to pass energy legislation in the Senate has convinced her that passing the America’s Clean Energy and Security Act was the right thing to do.

“It was absolutely essential for us, from a national security standpoint, to reduce our dependence on foreign oil…to reduce the emissions of fossil fields into the air…and be number one on the new green technology,” she said. “We staked down a bold position, one that was a consensus within our caucus, one that received some Republican votes. We are very proud of it.”

Pelosi also slammed Senate Republicans for delaying passage of a bill to extend unemployment benefits to millions of jobless Americans.

“It shouldn’t have been so hard,” she lamented. “Republicans in the Senate have stood in the way of so many initiatives, including unemployment insurance, until now.”

The House is expcted to finally pass the bill later today.

Kerry, Lieberman Unveil Climate Bill Without Graham

Joined by over a dozen stakeholders, but absent the presence of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) put forth their much-anticipated energy bill today, the American Power Act (APA).

After months of delay, the duo decided they could no longer wait for Graham, an original co-author of the bill, to move forward with them. Graham has expressed displeasure over the Obama administration's calls for Congress to take up work on immigration reform. Earlier in the day, however, Kerry told MSNBC that Graham will support the bill, which If enacted, he said, would leave a positive print on just about every aspect of American society.

"The bill that we are introducing today...will restore America's economy and reassert our position as a global leader in clean energy technology," he said. "It will create millions of jobs, move us towards energy independence and strengthen America's security. And it will give us cleaner air."

The Kerry-Lieberman bill is being framed as somewhat of a compromise between the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), passed by the House last year, and the broad energy proposal laid out by President Obama. On a controversial item known as cap and trade, a system by which companies are provided with economic incentives for limiting their emissions, the APA would gradually implement the policy, first on utilities and industries, and then on the broader economy by 2025. The President's plan calls for the imposition of an economy-wide system of cap and trade, while the House bill would mandate cap and trade for utilities, industries and big oil starting in 2012.

Similar to both the White House plan and the House bill, the APA aims to lower emissions by 80% below 2005 levels by the year 2050. Yet unlike them, the APA contains support for nuclear energy and natural gas, items that could win the support of conservative Democrats and Republicans. In addition, its price tag is slightly lower than both its counterpart in the House and the administration's plan. Another key difference is its inclusion of language that would allow states to opt out of offshore drilling within 75 miles of their coast.

But although the bill attempts to usher in a new era of clean energy usage in the U.S., many of its provisions already face legions of criticism. For starters, opponents say it will ration energy use for Americans by increasing the cost of everyday consumption for businesses and individuals.

Ben Lieberman, a senior energy and environment policy analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told Talk Radio News Service that the APA amounts to nothing more than a giant energy tax.

"The only way to reduce these greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels is to raise the cost of energy," he said. "They have to raise costs high enough so that people are forced to use less, that's how this works."

In addition, there are concerns about the bill's impact on the nation's coal industry, which has lately been the focus of an intense debate in Washington over energy safety due to the tragic deaths of dozens of miners in West Virginia earlier this year. Though the APA contains weaker financial restrictions on coal production than the House bill, critics believe the administration favors moving completely away from coal. In fact, days before he was elected President in 2008, Mr. Obama said "if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted."

According to Lieberman, the net effect of smaller investment in coal and natural gas will be increased unemployment.

'Sure, there's a few 'make-work' jobs created in specialized industries that will deal with reducing emissions," he said. "But overall the impact is negative; higher cost of energy and fewer jobs."

Click here for more on the American Power Act

Chances Of Climate Bill Passing This Year Are Slim, Says Expert

The odds of Congress passing a comprehensive climate control bill in 2010 are not very good, according to Margie Kriz Hobson with the National Journal. Hobson, an energy and environment reporter at the Washington, D.C. based political news organization, told Talk Radio News Service on Friday that simply put, Democrats who want a bill passed do not have the votes.

"I think that the chances of passing climate change legislation are less than 50/50," Hobson told TRNS correspondent Geoff Holtzman. "A dozen Democrats are saying they're not necessarily interested in a bill, and very few Republicans have even hinted that they'd consider voting for a bill, so you just don't have the numbers."

The Washington Post reported on Friday that Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) will unveil a climate proposal on April 26. According to sources, the legislation would include a measure to place carbon emissions caps on businesses and manufacturers. Hobson said most experts believe that many lawmakers just don't have the political will to support a cap-and-trade provision.

"People can definitely describe [cap-and-trade] as a tax," she said. "The House passed a climate bill last year, only the Democrats voted for it. And now, many have discovered that their votes are being used against them in their campaigns for re-election. [Senate Democrats] have to see the pain that it's causing their House colleagues."

Follow Geoff Holtzman on Twitter

McConnell ‘Sure Hopes’ Democrats' Health Care Reform Push Is Dead

Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown’s victory Tuesday night could kill Democrats’ chances of completing their months-long effort to reform the health care system, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell seems just fine with that.

When asked at a press conference Wednesday whether he believed if Brown’s long-shot victory meant the legislation in its current form was dead, McConnell replied “I sure hope so.”

“This was in many ways a national referendum, principally on the major issue we’re wrestling with here in the Congress,” the Kentucky Senator explained.

According to McConnell, Brown’s victory could also impede a number of other items on the majority party’s agenda, including climate change legislation.

“There is minimal enthusiasm, to put it mildly, for cap and trade,” McConnell said, but noted that the decision to pursue climate policy would ultimately be left with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

McConnell expressed confidence that neither Democrats in the Massachusetts state legislature or the U.S. Senate will make any moves to pass the legislation prior to Brown being sworn-in, but conceded that the House could still adopt the Senate’s version of the legislation as-is, and thus pass reform.

“I can’t speak for the House,” McConnell said. “There has been discussion on the House side.”

Pence: Obama And Congress Should Focus On Jobs, Not Climate Change

By Meagan Wiseley - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) told reporters at a pen and pad session Monday that U.S. President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress should be focused on jobs and the economic recession, not climate change.

"House Republicans continue to believe that...jobs are the number one priority of the American people, and should be the number one priority of this Congress," Pence said.

According to a press release from Pence's office, the Republican leader believes President Obama should "address serious concerns before traveling to Copenhagen" for the United Nations global climate change summit.

"At the time of double-digit unemployment, the last thing our country needs is a jobs-killing cap and trade scheme on our families and small businesses by bureaucrats at the United Nations," the statement added.

In his remarks before reporters, Pence also said that if Obama enters the U.S. into a political agreement to reduce carbon emissions, U.S. small businesses would be at a "competitive disadvantage to those developing countries who have pledged to protect their growing economies from international carbon caps."