White House Holds Energy and Climate Talks; Prospect of New Regulation Drives Efforts on Bipartisan Senate 'Framework'

摘要

A "tri-partisan" Senate "framework" for national energy and climate policy may become actual legislation by the end of this month - or it may not. A compromise measure is being drafted by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C), and Joe Lieberman (l-Conn.) with a host of affected industries. The latest forum for ongoing negotiations was the White House. This week, on 3/9/10, President Barack Obama invited 14 Senators to meet with Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson, and White House Energy Adviser Carol Browner. A strong inducement for Congressional action is the Endangerment Finding issued on 12/7/09 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Clean Air Act, which (unless blocked or delayed) is about to result in new regulations (see adjacent article).