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Climate backers say Obama speech a boost despite carbon silence
Advocates of climate legislation are scrambling to
cast
President Barack Obama’s primetime speech Tuesday as a political boost,
even
though Obama’s call for action on a clean energy bill omitted explicit
mention
of greenhouse gas emissions curbs.
While Obama steered clear of a specific push for an
emissions cap, Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.)
described
Obama’s remarks as a lift for the broad climate change and energy bill
they
unveiled in May. A joint press release from their offices said the
speech
“boosts prospects” for the effort.
“There can be no doubt that the president is rolling up his sleeves to ensure we establish a market mechanism to tackle carbon pollution, create hundreds of thousands of new jobs each year, strengthen energy independence and improve the quality of the air we breathe,” the two senators said in a joint statement Tuesday night.
White House aides insist Obama is committed to a comprehensive climate and energy bill. White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton on Wednesday said energy legislation would be Obama’s highest legislative priority this summer.
But Obama’s primetime speech steered clear of
explicitly
mentioning greenhouse gas emissions or global warming or repeating his
past call
to put a price on carbon.
Obama did press for legislation that curbs reliance on fossil fuels, noting “the tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now.”
He also noted that as a candidate for office, he
laid out
principles that would move the country toward greater energy
independence.
“Last year, the House of Representatives acted on these principles by passing a strong and comprehensive energy and climate bill — a bill that finally makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy for America’s businesses.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is
gathering the
Senate Democratic Conference for a meeting Thursday to discuss how to
proceed on
energy and — maybe — climate change provisions. He wants to bring a bill
to the
floor as soon as next month.
In a statement issued shortly after Obama’s
address, Reid
emphasized he’ll need Republicans to come on board in order to move
legislation.
“This legislation can only be passed if Republicans decide to work with us and demonstrate that they share our serious commitment to building a 21st-century energy strategy for America,” Reid said in the statement.
But it remains unclear if advocates of greenhouse
gas limits
can muster the traction to keep climate provisions in the mix,
particularly as
they work against a tight clock. Congress is scheduled to adjourn in
August,
and this fall lawmakers will have both eyes on their electoral hopes.
Environmental advocates, praising Obama for his call for clean-energy legislation, said the Senate should act within the next 30 days.
“We commend President Obama for his call tonight to
urgently
embrace the clean-energy future. To do so means that the Senate must
pass
comprehensive clean-energy and climate change legislation in the next 30
days
that will create millions of good jobs across America and move our
nation to a
clean, renewable energy future,” said David Foster of the BlueGreen
Alliance, a
coalition of unions and environmental groups, in a Tuesday night
statement.
League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski also interpreted Obama’s address as a call for climate change.
“Let the president’s call for action serve as a
final
warning to wavering senators that failing to pass comprehensive energy
and
climate legislation is not an option,” he said. “It’s time to stand up,
vote
and be counted. You’re either with the big oil companies blocking reform
or
you’re with the millions of Americans who want a new clean-energy
future.”
In his address, Obama said that the sweeping climate change and energy bill the House approved last year — which has a cap-and-trade system to limit greenhouse gases at its core — reflects his principles.
Obama also said he’s happy to examine ideas and
approaches
from either party that “seriously tackle our addiction to fossil fuels.”
Raising building efficiency standards, using wind and solar power and boosting investments in research and development for new energies are ideas that all have merit, Obama said.
“But the one approach I will not accept is inaction,” he said.
