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Gibbs: Obama’s ‘direction’ on energy reflects Kerry plan
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Wednesday that President Barack Obama’s views on energy largely reflect the sweeping climate change and energy bill authored by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).
“It is safe to say that the president’s direction on energy is very similar to the direction that is in the Kerry-Lieberman bill,” Gibbs said at a White House press briefing. “And the president feels strongly that including a component to deal with climate is important in comprehensive energy [legislation].”
The speech quickly prompted speculation that Obama is leaving himself space to accept legislation that does not include his goal of putting a price on carbon dioxide emissions. Greenhouse gas limits face resistance among many Republicans and some centrist Democrats.
Kerry and Lieberman are struggling to gain traction for their plan that imposes a cap-and-trade system on power plants and big manufacturers, and also provides new support for nuclear power plants and alternative energy.
Gibbs – echoing Obama’s pledge to consider a range of approaches – said Obama spoke Wednesday with Kerry and Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.). Lugar last week unveiled a new bill that contains several measures to curb oil consumption but steers clear of greenhouse gas provisions.
“There are a number of proposals. That is why Senator Lugar and Senator Kerry both got calls,” Gibbs said.
Obama is slated to meet with a bipartisan group of senators at the White House on Wednesday to discuss energy legislation. “There are a lot of ways to get to this. The president is going to have a meeting next week here to work through that process going forward,” Gibbs said.
A White House aide said the meeting will include Sens. Kerry, Lieberman, Lugar, Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) hopes to have an energy package on the floor as soon as next month.
While Obama’s Tuesday speech lauded the bill the House narrowly passed last year – which has a sweeping cap-and-trade system at its core – he also stressed that he’s open to numerous ideas.
“I’m happy to look at other ideas and approaches from either party -– as long they seriously tackle our addiction to fossil fuels,” Obama said Tuesday night.
“Some have suggested raising efficiency standards in our buildings like we did in our cars and trucks. Some believe we should set standards to ensure that more of our electricity comes from wind and solar power. Others wonder why the energy industry only spends a fraction of what the high-tech industry does on research and development — and want to rapidly boost our investments in such research and development,” he said.
