In The News
Boxer to Support Baucus EPA Amendment?
Tuesday March 29, 2011
Senate leaders last night were gearing up for a fight over three amendments to limit U.S. EPA's power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, though they had not announced by publication time when the votes might take place.
The Senate is expected to consider an amendment this week as part of a small business bill that would permanently strip EPA of its authority to regulate heat-trapping emissions under the Clean Air Act. The amendment is offered by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and tracks a bill sponsored by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.).
Two Democratic alternatives to McConnell-Inhofe have also been filed. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) has said Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) promised him a vote on his bill that would delay EPA's climate change rules for two years, and leaders have floated the idea of bringing it to the floor alongside McConnell's proposal.
Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), author of the third amendment, said yesterday he did not know whether his proposal would receive a vote but called it "good policy."
The Baucus amendment -- the latest entrant in the Senate battle over climate issues -- partly
The Senate is expected to consider an amendment this week as part of a small business bill that would permanently strip EPA of its authority to regulate heat-trapping emissions under the Clean Air Act. The amendment is offered by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and tracks a bill sponsored by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.).
Two Democratic alternatives to McConnell-Inhofe have also been filed. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) has said Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) promised him a vote on his bill that would delay EPA's climate change rules for two years, and leaders have floated the idea of bringing it to the floor alongside McConnell's proposal.
Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), author of the third amendment, said yesterday he did not know whether his proposal would receive a vote but called it "good policy."
The Baucus amendment -- the latest entrant in the Senate battle over climate issues -- partly
National Journal: Reid Might Be Forced to Deal With His EPA Problem
Tuesday March 29, 2011
It wasn't supposed to go this way if you're a Democrat.
The 111th Congress was supposed to enact comprehensive climate-change legislation as President Obama prodded action with looming carbon rules.
Instead, efforts to price greenhouse-gas emissions collapsed in the Senate last year and left Obama with his hands tied around his climate-change regulations.
Obama continues to publicly support the regulations and has punted the debate down Pennsylvania Avenue to Congress.
Enter Senate Majority Harry Reid, D-Nev., who finds himself at the center of one of the most politically charged debates this Congress-which comes when he would prefer to focus on other pressing issues.
"Reid has got to find a way to defuse the issue because the conversation around what EPA ought to be doing isn't very rational," said Dirk Forrister, who was chairman of the White House Climate Change Task Force in the Clinton administration.
Congress could vote on as many as three amendments as soon
The 111th Congress was supposed to enact comprehensive climate-change legislation as President Obama prodded action with looming carbon rules.
Instead, efforts to price greenhouse-gas emissions collapsed in the Senate last year and left Obama with his hands tied around his climate-change regulations.
Obama continues to publicly support the regulations and has punted the debate down Pennsylvania Avenue to Congress.
Enter Senate Majority Harry Reid, D-Nev., who finds himself at the center of one of the most politically charged debates this Congress-which comes when he would prefer to focus on other pressing issues.
"Reid has got to find a way to defuse the issue because the conversation around what EPA ought to be doing isn't very rational," said Dirk Forrister, who was chairman of the White House Climate Change Task Force in the Clinton administration.
Congress could vote on as many as three amendments as soon
"Lukewarm Reception" for Baucus Climate Amendment
Tuesday March 29, 2011
Democrats may also be recalculating their strategy after the Baucus amendment got a lukewarm reception from some key interest groups and fence-sitting lawmakers.
Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) said doesn’t like the Baucus alternative, although he favors the Rockefeller approach and hasn’t made up his mind on the Inhofe-McConnell amendment. And Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) told POLITICO he plans to vote for the GOP-led effort.
And although the Baucus language aims to please the agriculture and small-business communities, it’s gotten some pushback from those quarters. on climate rules for stationary sources.
“It still gives EPA the ability to regulate, and we’re concerned on the back end that small [business] consumers of energy will have cost increases,” said Chris Walters, NFIB’s manager of legislative affairs. The Farm Bureau sent a letter earlier this month to senators saying it would “inevitably raise fertilizer and energy costs,” which farmers and ranchers would have trouble passing on to consumers.
Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) said doesn’t like the Baucus alternative, although he favors the Rockefeller approach and hasn’t made up his mind on the Inhofe-McConnell amendment. And Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) told POLITICO he plans to vote for the GOP-led effort.
And although the Baucus language aims to please the agriculture and small-business communities, it’s gotten some pushback from those quarters. on climate rules for stationary sources.
“It still gives EPA the ability to regulate, and we’re concerned on the back end that small [business] consumers of energy will have cost increases,” said Chris Walters, NFIB’s manager of legislative affairs. The Farm Bureau sent a letter earlier this month to senators saying it would “inevitably raise fertilizer and energy costs,” which farmers and ranchers would have trouble passing on to consumers.
Senate climate votes in flux (Politico Pro)
Senate Democrats appear to be recalculating their approach to a series of floor votes on efforts to curtail the EPA’s climate rules.
Tuesday March 29, 2011
Senate Democrats appear to be recalculating their approach to a series of floor votes on efforts to curtail the EPA’s climate rules.
Senior lawmakers didn’t seem to have a clear road map when they returned from the weeklong recess. "We're still talking about it. Unresolved,” Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin told POLITICO late Monday.
Durbin, Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and other Democrats huddled earlier Monday to discuss the EPA votes.
Late last week, the plan was to allow votes this week on three amendments to limit the Obama administration’s climate regulations: a sweeping GOP-led effort to unravel EPA’s authority and two less confrontational Democratic alternatives.
Senior lawmakers didn’t seem to have a clear road map when they returned from the weeklong recess. "We're still talking about it. Unresolved,” Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin told POLITICO late Monday.
Durbin, Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and other Democrats huddled earlier Monday to discuss the EPA votes.
Late last week, the plan was to allow votes this week on three amendments to limit the Obama administration’s climate regulations: a sweeping GOP-led effort to unravel EPA’s authority and two less confrontational Democratic alternatives.
Inhofe Op-Ed: Energy Tax Prevention Act: The Only End to Cap and Trade (Human Events)
Monday March 28, 2011
The evidence is in: The Obama Environmental Protection Agency's cap-and-trade agenda is destroying jobs and decreasing domestic energy supplies. That agenda is slowing our economic recovery. It will mean higher gas and electricity bills for consumers.
Congress can stop this attack on jobs and affordable energy by passing the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011. The bill would stop EPA's cap-and-trade regulations, which are designed to make the energy we use more expensive.
They will also strangle economic growth. As the National Association of Manufacturers wrote, "At a time when our economy is attempting to recover from the most severe recession since the 1930s, [EPA] regulations, with no guidance from Congress, will establish disincentives for the long-term investments necessary to grow jobs and expedite economic recovery."
Workers and consumers will feel the pain. A study by CRA International estimates that the EPA's cap-and-trade regulations could increase wholesale electricity costs by 35% to 45% and reduce average worker compensation by $700 a year. What would they get in return? EPA itself has conceded that its unilateral actions will be overwhelmed and rendered meaningless due to ever-increasing emissions from China and India.
I introduced the Energy Tax Prevention Act (S 482) with House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R.-Mich.) on March 3. The House is expected to vote on the bill soon, and it has bipartisan support. The Senate could vote on the bill, in the form of an amendement sponsored by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, as early as next week.
Congress can stop this attack on jobs and affordable energy by passing the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011. The bill would stop EPA's cap-and-trade regulations, which are designed to make the energy we use more expensive.
They will also strangle economic growth. As the National Association of Manufacturers wrote, "At a time when our economy is attempting to recover from the most severe recession since the 1930s, [EPA] regulations, with no guidance from Congress, will establish disincentives for the long-term investments necessary to grow jobs and expedite economic recovery."
Workers and consumers will feel the pain. A study by CRA International estimates that the EPA's cap-and-trade regulations could increase wholesale electricity costs by 35% to 45% and reduce average worker compensation by $700 a year. What would they get in return? EPA itself has conceded that its unilateral actions will be overwhelmed and rendered meaningless due to ever-increasing emissions from China and India.
I introduced the Energy Tax Prevention Act (S 482) with House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R.-Mich.) on March 3. The House is expected to vote on the bill soon, and it has bipartisan support. The Senate could vote on the bill, in the form of an amendement sponsored by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, as early as next week.
Poll: Water worries trump global warming (PoliticoPro)
Monday March 28, 2011
Water pollution trumps global warming among Americans' top environmental worries in a new Gallup poll - released just as Congress is about to resume battle on EPA's ability to regulate the water-quality impacts of mining, farming and other industries.
In the survey, 79 percent of people told Gallup they worry either a great deal or a fair amount about contamination of soil and water by toxic waste, and about pollution of rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Seventy-seven percent said they worry about drinking-water pollution, while three-quarters worry about maintaining the nation's supply of fresh water for household needs.
A bare majority - 51 percent - said they worry about global warming.
Gallup said concern about all the issues has dropped significantly in the decade since a March 2001 survey in which 88 percent of respondents fretted about drinking-water pollution and 63 percent expressed worries about global warming. "The decline over the past decade spans a period when the public often expressed surging concern about terrorism, the Iraq war, gas prices and the economy," the polling service said.
In the survey, 79 percent of people told Gallup they worry either a great deal or a fair amount about contamination of soil and water by toxic waste, and about pollution of rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Seventy-seven percent said they worry about drinking-water pollution, while three-quarters worry about maintaining the nation's supply of fresh water for household needs.
A bare majority - 51 percent - said they worry about global warming.
Gallup said concern about all the issues has dropped significantly in the decade since a March 2001 survey in which 88 percent of respondents fretted about drinking-water pollution and 63 percent expressed worries about global warming. "The decline over the past decade spans a period when the public often expressed surging concern about terrorism, the Iraq war, gas prices and the economy," the polling service said.
Republicans see inevitable win in EPA fight (PoliticoPro)
Monday March 28, 2011
Either way, Republicans are eager to get Democrats on the record opposing the administration’s climate policies.
“What is clear is that Democrats themselves are looking for ways to be on the opposite side of the administration’s agenda,” said Matt Dempsey, a spokesman for Oklahoma Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe.
Inhofe and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have offered a proposal that would block the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases.
As alternatives, Democrats are offering an amendment from Montana Sen. Max Baucus that would exempt agriculture and small industrial facilities from climate rules, and another from West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller that would impose a two-year timeout on regulations of stationary sources.
The Baucus and Rockefeller alternatives “are being used by Democrats as political cover,” Dempsey said. “So the question will eventually become, 'Do these Democrats actually want to stop the [Obama] agenda, or do they just want to talk about it?'”
Meanwhile, the House is expected to pass a stand-alone bill to throttle the EPA rules, so the issue isn’t likely to go away any time soon, even if the Senate rejects the McConnell-Inhofe rider this week. Republican supporters of the EPA limits have vowed to try to bring up similar legislation at every opportunity, and the issue is likely to be a thorn in the side of Democrats on future spending bills and other must-pass measures.
“What is clear is that Democrats themselves are looking for ways to be on the opposite side of the administration’s agenda,” said Matt Dempsey, a spokesman for Oklahoma Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe.
Inhofe and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have offered a proposal that would block the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases.
As alternatives, Democrats are offering an amendment from Montana Sen. Max Baucus that would exempt agriculture and small industrial facilities from climate rules, and another from West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller that would impose a two-year timeout on regulations of stationary sources.
The Baucus and Rockefeller alternatives “are being used by Democrats as political cover,” Dempsey said. “So the question will eventually become, 'Do these Democrats actually want to stop the [Obama] agenda, or do they just want to talk about it?'”
Meanwhile, the House is expected to pass a stand-alone bill to throttle the EPA rules, so the issue isn’t likely to go away any time soon, even if the Senate rejects the McConnell-Inhofe rider this week. Republican supporters of the EPA limits have vowed to try to bring up similar legislation at every opportunity, and the issue is likely to be a thorn in the side of Democrats on future spending bills and other must-pass measures.
WSJ EDITORIAL: The Senate's EPA Showdown
Democrats face a moment of truth on regulatory cap and trade.
Monday March 28, 2011
The Environmental Protection Agency debate lands in the Senate this week, amid the makings of a left-right coalition to mitigate the agency's abuses. Few other votes this year could do more to help the private economy-but only if enough Democrats are willing to buck the White House.
This moment arrived unexpectedly, with Majority Leader Harry Reid opening a small business bill to amendments. Republican leader Mitch McConnell promptly introduced a rider to strip the EPA of the carbon regulation authority that the Obama Administration has given itself. Two weeks ago, Mr. Reid pulled the bill from the floor once it became clear Mr. McConnell might have the 13 Democrats he needs to clear 60.
The votes are now due as soon as tomorrow, and Mr. Reid is trying to attract 41 Democrats with a rival amendment from Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus. The Baucus plan is a political veneer that would exempt some farms and businesses from the EPA maw but at the cost of endorsing everything else. The question for Democrats is whether their loyalties to President Obama and EPA chief Lisa Jackson trump the larger economic good, not to mention constituents already facing far higher energy costs.
The story of how we arrived at this pass begins in 1999, when Clinton EPA chief Carol Browner floated the idea that carbon dioxide could be regulated as a pollutant under the 1970 Clean Air Act and its later amendments. The Bush Administration rejected Ms. Browner's theory, in part because Congress kept rejecting statutory language to that effect.
This moment arrived unexpectedly, with Majority Leader Harry Reid opening a small business bill to amendments. Republican leader Mitch McConnell promptly introduced a rider to strip the EPA of the carbon regulation authority that the Obama Administration has given itself. Two weeks ago, Mr. Reid pulled the bill from the floor once it became clear Mr. McConnell might have the 13 Democrats he needs to clear 60.
The votes are now due as soon as tomorrow, and Mr. Reid is trying to attract 41 Democrats with a rival amendment from Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus. The Baucus plan is a political veneer that would exempt some farms and businesses from the EPA maw but at the cost of endorsing everything else. The question for Democrats is whether their loyalties to President Obama and EPA chief Lisa Jackson trump the larger economic good, not to mention constituents already facing far higher energy costs.
The story of how we arrived at this pass begins in 1999, when Clinton EPA chief Carol Browner floated the idea that carbon dioxide could be regulated as a pollutant under the 1970 Clean Air Act and its later amendments. The Bush Administration rejected Ms. Browner's theory, in part because Congress kept rejecting statutory language to that effect.
Growing Momentum Against President Obamas Cap and Trade Agenda
Senate Democrats hope to siphon votes from a GOP bid to hamstring EPA climate rules by voting first on a Democratic alternative.
Friday March 25, 2011
Senate Democrats hope to siphon votes from a GOP bid to hamstring EPA climate rules by voting first on a Democratic alternative.
Top Democrats plan to hold a vote next week on an amendment from Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus before allowing a vote on a more sweeping climate amendment from Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a senior Democratic leadership aide told POLITICO on Thursday.
Baucus’s amendment — which aims to exempt agriculture and small industrial facilities from climate rules — would allow moderate Democrats to support limits on EPA regulations without backing the Republican effort to upend the Obama administration’s climate policies.
McConnell’s amendment, authored by Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe, would fully revoke the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, a move the White House opposes and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has called “draconian.” Companion legislation is slated for a House vote next month, when it’s expected to easily pass.
The Senate is also likely to vote next week on a third climate amendment, from Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), to impose a two-year delay on EPA climate rules for industrial facilities, the leadership aide said.
Top Democrats plan to hold a vote next week on an amendment from Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus before allowing a vote on a more sweeping climate amendment from Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a senior Democratic leadership aide told POLITICO on Thursday.
Baucus’s amendment — which aims to exempt agriculture and small industrial facilities from climate rules — would allow moderate Democrats to support limits on EPA regulations without backing the Republican effort to upend the Obama administration’s climate policies.
McConnell’s amendment, authored by Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe, would fully revoke the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, a move the White House opposes and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has called “draconian.” Companion legislation is slated for a House vote next month, when it’s expected to easily pass.
The Senate is also likely to vote next week on a third climate amendment, from Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), to impose a two-year delay on EPA climate rules for industrial facilities, the leadership aide said.
POLITICO Pro: Oklahoma threatens suit over EPA haze rules
Thursday March 24, 2011
Sen. Jim Inhofe has a powerful new legal ally in his campaign to halt EPA's efforts to slash haze in Oklahoma.
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt warned EPA chief Lisa Jackson on Wednesday that the state will sue the agency over its plans to replace the state's anti-haze efforts with a more stringent program.
The Clean Air Act makes it clear that "plans to address regional haze should be made by the state, not by EPA," he wrote to Jackson, contending that EPA didn't follow the proper steps for taking over the state pollution program. Pruitt said he'll file a formal lawsuit in 60 days.
Inhofe, the top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and one of EPA's fiercest critics on Capitol Hill, has blasted the agency for weeks over its rejection of Oklahoma's haze plans.
"State officials in Oklahoma did the right thing: They worked with state utilities to devise a plan that will continue progress in cleaning the air while ensuring affordable, reliable electricity for consumers," Inhofe said in a statement earlier this month.
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt warned EPA chief Lisa Jackson on Wednesday that the state will sue the agency over its plans to replace the state's anti-haze efforts with a more stringent program.
The Clean Air Act makes it clear that "plans to address regional haze should be made by the state, not by EPA," he wrote to Jackson, contending that EPA didn't follow the proper steps for taking over the state pollution program. Pruitt said he'll file a formal lawsuit in 60 days.
Inhofe, the top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and one of EPA's fiercest critics on Capitol Hill, has blasted the agency for weeks over its rejection of Oklahoma's haze plans.
"State officials in Oklahoma did the right thing: They worked with state utilities to devise a plan that will continue progress in cleaning the air while ensuring affordable, reliable electricity for consumers," Inhofe said in a statement earlier this month.
