In an appearance this morning on MSNBC, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the vice-chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus, treated legislation to fight global warming as an afterthought to an energy-only bill. Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) have painstakingly crafted a comprehensive climate policy bill, the American Power Act, that would build upon the legislation passed last year by the House of Representatives. Also last year, Sen. Jeff Bingaman’s (D-NM) energy committee passed a limited package which Center for American Progress president John Podesta described as “weak, toothless, and unacceptable.” Sitting with the Morning Joe anchors, Schumer praised the building codes in the Bingaman bill. He said that Kerry’s “thing” would be offered as an amendment to Bingaman’s “good, strong energy bill”:
In the bill that Jeff Bingaman has proposed, which is the base energy bill upon which Kerry is going to try to add his thing, we have those codes nationally. Will it immediately have an effect in the first year? No. But in ten or 15 years it will do a huge amount.
In this bill is something — it’s a little controversial: much more ability to do nuclear energy. If we standardize it and apply the same rules we talked about with oil, that you know, you got to be real careful because if you screw up, you’re going to pay the price — but do it! And people want to take that, that endeavor, they should. It’s going to be a good strong energy bill and I think it’s been given new life.
Now what do you do about, uh, climate change? Now Kerry has a proposal that has pretty broad support, it has the environmental groups, the energy companies, et cetera. And of course, the extreme people at each side say it’s not good enough. But he’s done a damn good job. He’s in my opinion going to get a chance to offer that amendment and we’ll see if it has the votes.
Watch it:
Evidently, Schumer is skeptical of President Barack Obama’s commitment that although “the votes may not be there right now” for a comprehensive bill like Kerry-Lieberman that puts a price on carbon, “I intend to find them in the coming months.”
Update
Honestly, with natural gas wells and pipelines exploding and killing people, with the BP oil gusher continuing to spew uncontrollably into the gulf, with tornadoes ravaging the country as the globe reaches record temperatures, I just don’t have the energy to deal with Schumer equating people concerned by billion-dollar giveaways to the fossil and nuclear industries with people who deny the existence of science as the “the extreme people at each side.”
Update
,Schumer’s spokesman walked back his remarks later in the day. Schumer spokesman Brian Fallon said in an e-mail to National Journal:
To the senator’s knowledge, no decisions have been made yet on the floor strategy for legislation addressing the nation’s urgent energy challenges, nor is it his decision to make. The senator speculated on one procedural option, but make no mistake: He believes climate change legislation is vital to our nation’s energy security and looks forward to voting for it.
Kerry and Schumer “will meet later this week to talk about a possible strategy for moving a broad climate and energy plan.”
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