The House Energy and Commerce Committee today rejected an amendment which would have excluded electricity generated from nuclear energy from the baseline calculations for cap and trade program carbon reduction requirements. That proposed compromise would not have made nuclear power a "renewable source," but would have excluded it from being counted as a carbon emitting source, as it is under the bills pending in both houses. Ouch!
Meanwhile, over on the Senate side, Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman and Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas have reached agreement on a renewable electricity mandate in the Senate version of climate change legislation. Finally, further delays in passage may be in the offing, as House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel announced yesterday that his committee intends to act on health care reform before taking up climate change issues, and also that he thinks a straight carbon tax may be better than the bill coming out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. I guess President Obama will not be looking to sign any climate change bill before Memorial Day as he thought he might be doing.
Meanwhile, over on the Senate side, Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman and Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas have reached agreement on a renewable electricity mandate in the Senate version of climate change legislation. Finally, further delays in passage may be in the offing, as House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel announced yesterday that his committee intends to act on health care reform before taking up climate change issues, and also that he thinks a straight carbon tax may be better than the bill coming out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. I guess President Obama will not be looking to sign any climate change bill before Memorial Day as he thought he might be doing.
