McConnell sees path to ‘pretty broad agreement’ on energy

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) believes the death of greenhouse gas caps could give new life to energy legislation in the next Congress.

“I think energy is an area where there is potential for a bipartisan accomplishment of some consequence,” McConnell told The Wall Street Journal in a video interview posted Friday.

McConnell cited President Obama’s post-election acknowledgment Wednesday that cap-and-trade bills will remain on ice.

“That is important — you need to get that off the table,” McConnell said. “There are a variety of other things there could be pretty broad agreement on.”

The minority leader cited nuclear power and electric vehicles — areas Obama also called ripe for cooperation after the elections that handed Republicans the House and shrank the Democrats’ Senate majority.

“Most people on both sides of the aisle are very enthusiastic about plug-in cars. Nuclear power — more popular on my side of the aisle than on theirs — [there is] bipartisan support, however, for that, for clean coal technology,” McConnell said.

“Nobody thinks it is a bad idea to reduce carbon emissions, the question is how do you do it,” he added.