House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman now predicts he will have the votes to sent to send a climate change bill to the House floor next week, following a closed door meeting of Democrats on the committee. Expect a draft of the bill Thursday and a markup beginning Monday. Apparently the bill will set a greenhouse gas emission reduction goal of 17% by 2020 and 83% by 2050. Cap and trade credits will be distributed 35% to electric utilities, 15% to heavy industry, with details still to be worked out regarding credits to refineries.
The bill will likely require 20% electric power production through a combination of energy efficiency measures and renewable power production by 2020, with 5% of that coming from efficiency measures, unless a state's governor certifies 15% renewable production is not possible in his or her state, in which case an additional 3% efficiency offset will be allowed. Further increase to 25% renewable/efficient energy by 2025 is also to be required. "Renewable" sources will most likely include energy from waste and biomass, but not nuclear energy. The compromise is to exclude existing nuclear facility power from the baseline for measuring the reductions.
On the Senate side, Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman is marking up plans for a new power transmission grid, facing 28 proposed amendments to his draft proposal, which will then become part of the cap and trade Senate bill originating in Barbara Boxer's Environment and Public Works Committee.
At a Chamber of Commerce energy forum today House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the Obama administration is committed to a comprehensive energy program including coal, oil and nuclear power as well as renewable energy. Hoyer reminded the audience of business people that nuclear power and coal produce 85% of electrical power in this country. Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander of Tennessee reminded the same audience that wind and solar power are inefficient, expensive, occupy a large amount of space, and cannot be counted on to provide sufficient power during peak demand.
All of this legislative committee activity has certainly brought out the industry and environmental lobbyists on all sides of these issues. Statistical analysis shows Democrats on Waxman's 58 member committee who oppose the bill have receives on the average six times as much campaign money from industries emitting greenhouse gasses as those committee Democrats supporting the legislation. In the first quarter of 2009 industry interests have spent a total of nearly $80 million lobbying against cap and trade, with environmental groups spending $4.7 million pressing for passage, and the renewable energy industry adding another $7.5 million in support of the measure.
The bill will likely require 20% electric power production through a combination of energy efficiency measures and renewable power production by 2020, with 5% of that coming from efficiency measures, unless a state's governor certifies 15% renewable production is not possible in his or her state, in which case an additional 3% efficiency offset will be allowed. Further increase to 25% renewable/efficient energy by 2025 is also to be required. "Renewable" sources will most likely include energy from waste and biomass, but not nuclear energy. The compromise is to exclude existing nuclear facility power from the baseline for measuring the reductions.
On the Senate side, Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman is marking up plans for a new power transmission grid, facing 28 proposed amendments to his draft proposal, which will then become part of the cap and trade Senate bill originating in Barbara Boxer's Environment and Public Works Committee.
At a Chamber of Commerce energy forum today House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the Obama administration is committed to a comprehensive energy program including coal, oil and nuclear power as well as renewable energy. Hoyer reminded the audience of business people that nuclear power and coal produce 85% of electrical power in this country. Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander of Tennessee reminded the same audience that wind and solar power are inefficient, expensive, occupy a large amount of space, and cannot be counted on to provide sufficient power during peak demand.
All of this legislative committee activity has certainly brought out the industry and environmental lobbyists on all sides of these issues. Statistical analysis shows Democrats on Waxman's 58 member committee who oppose the bill have receives on the average six times as much campaign money from industries emitting greenhouse gasses as those committee Democrats supporting the legislation. In the first quarter of 2009 industry interests have spent a total of nearly $80 million lobbying against cap and trade, with environmental groups spending $4.7 million pressing for passage, and the renewable energy industry adding another $7.5 million in support of the measure.
