Energy Talks Continue on Capitol Hill
Moderates are pushing for energy only legislation without cap and trade.
Compiled by staff
Published: Feb 9, 2010
"We've done things on the energy side, we've got some buy-in from people on the left and the middle," said Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. "We've got the best chance we'll ever have to get meaningful energy independence. I just hope we don't blow it."
But the question of cap-and-trade remains just that, a question. Senators Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, have proposed Senate bill 2877, a cap and dividend proposal. As written, allocations would be auctioned off with the revenue returned directly to taxpayers. Graham says this proposal has some aspects that make sense.
Senate moderates from both parties, including Agriculture Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., Budget Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and Senators Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Judd Gregg, R-N.H., are pushing President Obama to accept an energy-only approach without putting a price on carbon emissions the way the House-passed bill, H.R. 2454, does. But, the main priority remains, according to Conrad, a bill to reduce dependence on foreign energy.
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