Climate Change Bill Hits Senate With Little Chance For Success

Wednesday, after months of partisan bickering and the peevish defection of one of its main sponsors, the Senate climate change bill was unveiled. Senators of Massachusetts, John Kerry, and Joe Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, presented a climate and energy package intended to limit climate change and promote clean energy jobs. Kerry said it was imperative the Senate climate change bill, which consists of just a little something for every person, gets passed this year. But one of the vote-getting goodies within the climate bill is expanded off-shore drilling -- a provision that could backfire in the wake of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

A bad climate for change

Negotiations with lawmakers by Kerry and Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, on the climate and energy bill appeared to be humming along until just last month. Graham abruptly withdrew his support of the energy legislation under a whole lot of pressure from GOP true believers. Right Wing enforcers seemed to be angry with Graham for giving the Democrats what seemed to be installment loans of Republican support. Graham said something referencing immigration politics as an excuse. Numerous Republican votes will now change because of Graham.

Stained by oil is clean energy

Written to the bill was incentives to increase domestic offshore drilling right following the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico erupted last month. The New York Times says that rather than providing for a broad expansion of offshore drilling, the Kerry-Lieberman bill will end up giving coastal states the right to veto any drilling plan that could possibly cause environmental or economic harm. Graham had a hand in drafting the original oil drilling provision.

Energy legislation and a big crowd

A swarm of lobbyists are attracted by the Senate Climate change bill. Oil companies have spent millions to derail the climate and energy package. Clean energy producers with big investments in low-carbon nuclear power, natural gas or wind and solar power are trying to enrich themselves with the Senate climate bill. Reuters reports that green energy utilities like FPL Group, Duke Energy and Exelon have all lobbied alongside environmental groups for the climate change bill.

Clean energy and green jobs

Kerry's presentation of the Senate climate change bill was accompanied by a blog on the Huffington Post asking for public support. Kerry says that the climate and energy bill package will create nearly 2 million new green energy jobs, develop new products, and support the research and development required to help the U.S. maintain leadership within the global economy. He also explains that this specific climate bill would reduce the deficit by $21 billion in nine years.

Climate change in the Senate?

Kerry says it’s long overdue for The United States to lead on climate change. He says he’ll mount a “full court press” to pass the energy legislation in 2010. But Kerry wants to add more pressure to a Congress that happens to be paralyzed from dealing with the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico, immigration reform, financial reform, an upcoming Supreme Court nomination battle and a sputtering economic recovery.

Sources

The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/science/earth/13climate.html

Reuters reports

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1219978020100512?type=marketsNews

Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-kerry/transforming-our-power_b_573303...