Fresh from receiving 100 percent rating from the League of Conservation Voters, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., is making noises about introducing a new tripartisan climate bill soon. Kerry told a climate policy forum today that he is working with White House officials and other lawmakers on getting a bill, Reuters reports.
Any bets on when this new bill is coming out? And will he get support from Massachusetts’ new junior senator, Republican Scott Brown?
Buffett: a clever bet on coal
O, Oracle of Omaha, how could we ever have doubted that your bet on coal was a wise choice?
Now, as coal prices have surged more than 40 percent from last year’s lows, we see three reasons why Warren Buffett’s purchase of the Burlington Northern Sanata Fe railroad – which hauls 1/5 of the nation’s coal – was smart. Read More »
Lindsey Graham: Greener than Obama?
“Obama now not as green as Lindsey Graham.”
That little gem from Talking Points Memo’s Brian Beutler summed up our topsy-turvy world today. He was responding to a speech in which the South Carolina Republican senator said President Obama was unwise to propose an energy bill without putting a price on carbon.
Graham accomplished a seemingly impossible feat (for a Republican) in his speech at the “Business Advocacy Day for Jobs, Climate & New Energy Leadership” in Washington D.C.: he outflanked Obama from the LEFT. Read More »
A sad New Year's for cap and trade?
Cap and trade has no chance in 2010, Senate Democrats are saying.
At this point in our democracy’s media evolution, it seems almost churlish to point this out, but here goes: 2009 isn’t even over yet, so it feels a bit premature to rule things out for next year. Read More »
Will this be the framework that can attract votes?
The big John Kerry – Joe Lieberman – Lindsey Graham climate “framework” is out and it’s… pretty vague.
The only firm numbers in the document, which was attached to a letter sent to President Barack Obama, are pretty predictable and conservative — emissions reductions of 17 percent below 2005 levels in the “near term” (which means 2020, apparently) and a “long term” target of 80 percent below 2005 levels. The 2020 target is the same as what was proposed in the Waxman-Markey bill that passed through the house this spring.
Apparently, they’re following Obama’s approach of outsourcing the writing of legislation to committee chairs. But they intend to get the bill to a floor vote by early next year. Read More »
