Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) said Thursday that no decisions are coming soon about bringing energy and climate legislation to the Senate floor this year.

There has been a flurry of activity of late as Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) meet with industry groups, environmentalists and lawmakers about the bill they're crafting.

Dorgan noted that the Senate will first tackle the big, "heavily lobbied" Wall Street reform bill.

Sen. Lindsey Graham has added a new wrinkle to his argument that healthcare's passage toughens chances for climate change legislation.

House Republicans “strongly object” to the administration’s decision to develop a new plan for leasing offshore areas to oil companies. They say the decision means that no new areas of offshore areas will be accessible to oil companies until after President Obama's first term in office.

The letter, which was signed by 88 members, follows the jump.

Renewable energy is good, most everyone agrees. But a fight is looming over who should pay for the transmission lines to carry the power from the remote areas where the wind blows the hardest and the sun shines the brightest to more populated areas that need the electricity.

Renewable energy developers, labor groups and environmental organizations sent a letter Thursday taking issue with how energy legislation from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee handles transmission development. It's a reminder that there are more hurdles to be overcome in comprehensive energy and climate legislation than finding the right formula for greenhouse gas emissions cuts. (Here's a post about another one.)

Transmission pricing is a complicated issue, but basically the groups want costs to be spread over a broader ratepayer base. Theoretically, ratepayers in one state could pay higher electric bills even though a line starts and ends outside of their state's borders. 

Read more...

Does the Democrats' victory on the sweeping health care overhaul help or hurt prospects for a big Senate climate and energy bill this year?



On Capitol Hill, it depends who you ask.



Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of three architects of the brewing bipartisan Senate climate plan, has warned that it hurts.

Ten coastal state Senate Democrats say they'll oppose a climate bill if it greatly expands offshore oil and gas drilling.

While the U.S. Senate struggles to address climate change, across the country a California state agency issued a study Wednesday concluding that state’s 2006 global warming law won’t harm its economy, Reuters reports.

From Reuters:

The analysis by the state Air Resources Board, the chief regulator of the law, forecast higher energy prices from new regulations and a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases, but said greater energy efficiency would keep costs manageable in the trend-setting environmental state. Read more...

Call China the green menace. Last year marked the first time China outpaced other countries with large economies in making clean energy investments, according to a new report from Pew Charitable Trusts. The country invested $34.6 billion in a clean energy economy, nearly twice the United States’ total of $18.6 billion, according to Pew.

“China is now clearly the world leader in attracting new capital and making new investments in this area,” said Bloomberg New Energy Finance Chief Executive Michael Liebreich in a release.

Pew’s report, Who's Winning the Clean Energy Race?, tracked and measured global investment activity, such as venture capital, initial public offerings from companies seeking to expand, mergers and acquisitions and lending for large-scale projects. 

Senate meetings on planned climate and energy legislation continued at a fast clip Wednesday but the bill’s architects – Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) – are not far along enough to release a long-awaited draft before the Spring recess that begins Monday.

There were at least two sets of meetings in the Capitol Wednesday afternoon and evening. The chairmen of several committees with jurisdiction over climate and energy huddled with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in his office. And later Kerry, Graham and Lieberman briefed freshman Democrats on the plan the three are crafting.

Senators that met with Reid include Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), and Kerry, who helms the Foreign Relations Committee.