Stabenow and Bipartisan Senate Delegation Meets with President to Discuss Passing Comprehensive Energy and Climate Legislation

On June 29, Debbie Stabenow and a cadre of 23 other Senators were invited to the White House to meet with President Obama to determine how the Senate would proceed on clean energy legislation this year. The Senator said in a letter sent to constituents before the meeting that she “will reiterate my strong support for a comprehensive energy bill this year that works for Michigan and creates jobs in our state. There is no question that now is the time to act. This is critical to the future of our country and to the future of Michigan's economy.”

The current legislation under consideration is the American Power Act, submitted by Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joseph Liberman (I-CT), and written in cooperation with Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Introduced on May 12, the bill was written to reflect the passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which passed the House of Representatives last June.

According to the official White House press release “the President made clear his view that a full transition to clean energy will require more than just the government action we’ve taken so far.  It will require a national effort from all of us to change the way we produce and use energy.” Although they have already made several concessions to limit the bill's ability to put a price on carbon emissions, Senators Kerry and Lieberman said after the meeting they are willing to “scale back” the reach of a bill that makes it to the Senate floor.

The President told the Senators that he still believes the best way for us to transition to a clean energy economy is with a bill that makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy for America’s businesses by putting a price on pollution – because when companies pollute, they should be responsible for the costs to the environment and their contribution to climate change. 

The bipartisan nature of the meeting (7 of the 24 invitees are Republicans), as well as of the bill itself, could indicate that a compromise deal may still get written into law this year, and there was general agreement that urgency is required to move forward with legislations this year. 

Meanwhile, given Senator Kerry's assertion that the bill could create at least 250,000 American jobs over the next 10 to 20 years, we encourage Senator Levin and Senator Stabenow to press the Senate leadership to pass this bill, for our future and for our children's future. We encourage you to do the same. To get more information on how you can help make a difference, send an email to mark@michiganlcv.org today.

-submitted by Mark Neisler

-photo courtesy of wattsupwiththat.com