White House not backing down on climate

A senior White House official on Thursday said the Obama administration is continuing to press Congress to endorse cap-and-trade legislation, deflecting calls to back a more limited package of energy measures that omits mandatory greenhouse gas cuts.

“The administration remains committed to comprehensive energy and climate legislation that includes cap-and-trade,” said Gary Guzy, deputy director of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

“There continues to be very strong support among a range of legislators for comprehensive climate and energy legislation that includes cap-and-trade,” he later added.

Broad cap-and-trade legislation faces large Senate hurdles, especially in the wake of Republican Scott Brown’s victory in the Massachusetts Senate race.

Also, some centrist Democrats – such as Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) – have called for the Senate to split off and pass a package of measures on energy efficiency, renewable power, and domestic production of oil and nuclear energy.

But Guzy said the administration’s policy calls for a combined approach.

“The President believes that the . . . transformation of the economy to a clean energy economy is a critical part of achieving our country’s economic recovery, so we will continue to work to address that comprehensive set of issues,” he said at a briefing hosted by the consulting company ICF International.