Emailing "Quiet Horse-Trading on Climate Change Bill Continues"
With Washington absorbed with this week's health care showdown, there's little attention being paid to the progress of climate change legislation. As I've blogged about here before, however, it would be a mistake to assume that just because attention has been diverted that the Democrats have given up on climate change legislation. It would also be a mistake to assume that the climate bill will end up going down the same path as health care reform. The issue is in many ways less divisive, and more important, than health care, and has many more international wrinkles to consider. Throw in the Supreme Court's command to regulate greenhouse gas, and it's clear that Congress must act eventually to rein in carbon emissions.
Granted, there is a lot of sensitivity in Washington about public perceptions and Senators in particular are worried about how constituents interpret their stances on
climate change. As long as that sensitivity remains, few will be willing to go on the record at this early stage about how they feel about specific items of progress. Nonetheless, as the majority party the Democrats are starting to quietly corral forces together to build a coalition around an upcoming
climate bill, a process the White House remains optimistic about.
Just yesterday, former President Bill Clinton and Center for American Progress CEO John Podesta were guests at the Democrats' weekly Tuesday caucus luncheon, where
climate change and energy policy were the topics of discussion. At the luncheon, Clinton urged Democrats to back Senator Kerry's efforts to negotiate bipartisan support for a
climate bill to be announced probably next month.
Details on the bill remain unclear, but rumors are that it will be unprecedented in its attempts to gather support from both Democrats and Republicans. Elements include a 10 cent a gallon gasoline tax, eventually ramping up to 20 cents a gallon, a cap-and-trade provision on power producers, exempting manufacturers from any regulations, allowing an import tax on countries that don't rein in emissions, and access to off-shore oil drilling including in Alaska. The hope is that there's enough in the bill to attract broad support, while acknowledging that there are some provisions some Senators will just have to hold their noses and try to accept.
Stay tuned to this blog as the unveiling of the bill approaches -- it promises to be a key fight to pay attention to, and its impact on Green IT will no doubt become clearer once it's unveiled as well. In the meantime, I wish all our readers a very happy GREEN St. Patrick's Day!