Lawmakers Hoping President Recommits To Energy Reform

By Linn Grubbstrom - Talk Radio News Service

Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), co-authors of the Senate's comprehensive energy independence and climate change legislation, said Tuesday that recent analysis from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) showed a decrease in the cost of Americans' energy bills resulting from their newly proposed legislation, the American Power Act.

"That means that every day, the American Power Act will save 60 times the amount of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. That's real change," said Lieberman.

Both Senators said they are looking forward to hearing President Barack Obama's speech from the Oval Office tonight as he is expected to make a big push in favor of energy reform.

"The best way to avoid another tragic oil spill like the one on the Gulf today is to break our dependence in oil today to power our society and we need legislation to make that happen," Lieberman said. "So I hope and believe that President Obama will renew his commitment to comprehensive clean energy legislation."

Secretary Napolitano Defends The Administration's Response To BP Spill

By Justine Rellosa-Talk Radio News Service

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano defended the Obama administration's response to the massive oil spill off the Gulf Coast during her testimony Monday before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

"We are doing everything we can to ensure that vital response assets and personnel and equipment are efficiently and effectively deployed and utilized," Napolitano said.

According to the Secretary, more than 17,000 paid personnel, 21,000 volunteers and 750 vessels are currently responding to the spill.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I. Conn.), the committee's chairman, took a less favorable approach to the government's activity prior to the spill.

"The U.S government has a responsibility for protecting the public safety ... and that responsibility, I fear was not fulfilled in this case prior to the accident occurring. The result is the human, environmental and economic catastrophe we are now witnessing in the gulf."

Napolitano reiterated that the financial responsibility for all claims that emerged from the spill falls upon BP.

"We are ensuring that British Petroleum, as the responsible party, is paying the costs of the clean up and compensating the individuals, communities, and businesses that have suffered already as the result of this spill."

BP America Chairman and President Lamar McKay told the committee that there will be a new online claims filing system that will be implemented starting this week as a means to help those affected by the slick.

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

Sen. Lieberman Shows Support At Rally To End ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

By Justine Rellosa- Talk Radio News Service

Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) made an appearance at a rally Tuesday morning held by gay and lesbian veterans who hope to convince members of Congress to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the controversial policy barring gay Americans from openly serving in the military, this year.

“The repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is consistent with our country’s best values and it is consistent with the best interests of the United States military, and therefore, Americans' national security,” Lieberman said. “We have justice on our side ... we really can, and I believe will, repeal 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' this year.”

The veterans and Lieberman converged on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Following the rally, the veterans planned on going inside the Congressional office buildings and talking to members and their staffs directly.

“We need to repeal 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' now ... this legislation is sending good people out of the military," said Joe Lazzerini, a member of the Army Reserve from Massachusetts. "I want to be able to continue serving my country, not because I’m gay, but because I do like serving my country.”

In the coming weeks, Congress will take on the Defense Authorization Bill. Opponents of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" are expected to attempt to add an amendment to repeal the policy.

Lieberman Aims To Strip American-Born Terrorists Of Their Citizenship

Just days after a Pakistani-American named Faisal Shazhad was arrested for allegedly attempting to detonate a car bomb in New York’s Times Square, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) unveiled legislation aimed at preventing future American-born terrorists from traveling out of the country with the intent to return and wage attacks on U.S. soil.

The Terrorist Expatriation Act would update an existing federal law that strips U.S. citizens of their citizenship if they voluntarily perform one of several acts “with the intention of relinquishing United States nationality.” If adopted, the new law would authorize the State Department to “revoke the citizenship of a U.S. national who provides material support or resources to a Foreign Terrorist Organization, as designated by the Secretary of State, or who engages in or supports hostilities against the United States or its allies,” according to a summary of the bill released by Lieberman’s office.

“This proposal updates the existing law to include American citizens who are found to have joined and worked with a foreign terrorist organization whose aim is to attack and kill Americans,” said Lieberman to reporters. “Those who join such groups join our enemy and should be deprived of rights and privileges of U.S. citizenship and the ability to use their American passports as tools of terror.”

According to reports, Shazhad, who moved to the U.S. when he was 18 and became a citizen last year, has confessed to traveling to Pakistan for a period of several months last year, during which time he attending a terrorist training camp affiliated with the Taliban. He then used his passport to return to the U.S., and shortly thereafter purchased a vehicle along with a series of bomb-making materials, presumably with the intent of blowing up the vehicle. The SUV he purchased was found late Saturday night, rigged with explosives in the middle of Times Square. Shazhad nearly escaped, but was captured Monday night after he had boarded a plane that was 30 minutes from taking off to Dubai.

Though Lieberman said he was prompted to move on the bill by Shazhad's failed attack as well as the failed airline attack on Christmas Day, in which a Nigerian man aboard a flight headed for Detroit attempted to detonate an explosive he had hidden in his pants during the plane's descent, the Senator said the new law would not apply to terror suspects like Shazhad because he was captured on U.S. soil.