Climate Change Bill Hits Senate – Little Chance For Success

Climate Change Bill Hits Senate – Little Chance For Success

The Senate climate change bill has come forth Wednesday after numerous months of bickering and having a main sponsors drop it. Senators John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Joe Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, presented a climate and energy package designed to limit climate change and promote clean energy jobs. Kerry said the climate change bill must be passed this year as it has something in it for everyone. But one of the vote-getting surprises within the climate bill is expanded off-shore drilling -- a provision that could backfire easily within 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 were really upset with Graham for giving Democrats short term loans of Republican support. As an excuse, Graham gave an oblique reference to immigration politics. Unfortunately, numerous Republican votes left with Graham.

Clean energy happens to be stained by oil

After the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico started last month, incentives to increase domestic offshore drilling was written in.  The New York Times explains that rather than providing for an expansion of offshore drilling, the Kerry-Lieberman bill gives coastal states the right to veto any drilling plan that could cause environmental or economic harm. The original drafting of oil drilling provisions was done in part by Graham.

Large Crowd drawn by Energy legislation

The Senate climate change bill has attracted a swarm of lobbyists. Oil companies have spent millions of dollars trying to stop the bill from passing. Clean energy producers with large investments in low-carbon nuclear power, natural gas or wind and solar power have been trying to enrich themselves with the Senate climate bill. Reuters reports that green energy utilities like FPL Group and Exelon have lobbied alongside environmental groups for the climate change bill, along with General Electric, a manufacturer of clean coal for power plants and wind turbines.

Green jobs, clean energy

Kerry's presentation of the Senate climate change bill was accompanied by a blog on the  Huffington Post asking for public to support him and the bill. Kerry claims the climate and energy bill package will likely create nearly 2 million new green energy jobs, develop new products, and support the research and development that is needed 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 conveys a sense of urgency for clean energy and green energy jobs, saying it’s long overdue for The US to lead on climate change. He says that he will definitely mount a “full court press” to pass the energy legislation in 2010. But Kerry wants to add more pressure to a Congress paralyzed from dealing with the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico, financial reform, immigration reform, an upcoming Supreme Court nomination battle and a sputtering economic recovery.