Republicans and Democrats are lining up for a fight on the Senate floor, as they prepare to debate comprehensive energy legislation Wednesday evening.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, wants to include an amendment that would roll back new Obama administration rules banning coal mining.
Hatch’s amendment would allow the ban to go forward as long as the new coal leasing rules are approved by Congress. It also would require the administration to submit a plan detailing the impact of the new rules on federal leasing revenue, jobs and related industries.
The amendment is one of more than a dozen that have been filed.
On the other side of the aisle, climate change stalwart Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., is preparing to turn the floor debate into one over clean energy and combatting global warming, he said Wednesday.
He said it’s a “safe bet” to endorse a strategy to cut greenhouse gas emissions, which many scientists blame for causing the Earth’s climate to warm. He said Republicans continue to back subsidies for the fossil fuel industry, without seriously considering a new plan that includes wind and solar energy as a job creator that will save people money.
“There will be a reckoning” if action isn’t taken, Whitehouse added. He paraphrased scripture, saying, “Turn back, O man, forswear thy foolish fossil fuel ways.”
“It’s time for this chamber to wake up” and use the debate to raise concerns over climate change, he said.
The legislation being debated would advance efficiency programs, create new public-private partnerhships to defend the power grid against cyber attack and streamline approvals for natural gas exports. The White House has serious concerns over some of the provisions, but is not threatening to veto the bill. Instead, it is asking for Congress to work with the administration to rectify its concerns.
