senate posts, articles, and infographics

Policy Hat Trick: Keystone Delayed, Cross-State Pollution Law Passed, REINS Smacked Down

November 11, 2011 by Peter Lehner
with 210 views

For the third time in two weeks, the Senate has rejected extreme measures that would expose Americans to more pollution. Today, Senators voted down Tea Party attempts to block what is known as the Good Neighbor Rule and voted against a bill, misleadingly called “The Republican Jobs Bill” that gives polluters and dirty fuel companies a... [read more]

Honey, I Shrunk the Oil Industry

May 19, 2011 by Geoffrey Styles
with 271 views

I finally finished watching the archived video from last week's Senate Finance Committee hearing with the heads of the five largest major oil companies in the US, including the two that are based in the EU. The few nuggets of real information and insight that were exchanged were nearly drowned out by political posturing, but my hat is... [read more]

Twilight of the Ethanol Subsidy?

May 10, 2011 by Geoffrey Styles
with 472 views

The current tax credit for blending grain ethanol into gasoline, the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC), has outlived its usefulness. That's not just because I consider it unwise to subsidize any industry to such a generous extent for more than thirty years, but also because the passage of the ambitious federal Renewable Fuels... [read more]

energyNOW! Interview: U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)

April 28, 2011 by Silvio Marcacci
with 185 views

energyNOW! recently interviewed U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, on several national energy policy issues. [read more]

Sen. Bingaman On Gasoline Prices: “We become less vulnerable by using less oil”

March 23, 2011 by Joseph Romm
with 99 views

BINGAMAN: The starting point for the [Senate briefing by oil experts] was one fundamental truth: the primary driver of the price for gasoline at the pump is the price of crude oil. This chart [above] was one of the key ones used by EIA Administrator Newell. It shows the price trends since 2005 for gasoline (in... [read more]

Senate Democrats' Agenda Aims to Invest in Energy Innovation

February 22, 2011 by Breakthrough Institute
with 606 views

Last week, a group of Senate Democrat leaders unveiled their plan to build off of the innovation-centered budget proposal released by the President two weeks ago, including several important energy innovation investments. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid introduced the proposal as an effort to simultaneously "create jobs, promote growth... [read more]

DOE Favoring Renewables or Reality?

February 16, 2011 by Daniel Goldfarb
with 549 views

Both Democrats and Republicans, at todays Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on the Department of Energy’s proposed $29.5 billion budget, expressed concern over increasing funding for the DOE’s renewable initiatives while simultaneously cutting its spending on fossil fuels. On a day in which the Wall... [read more]

Washington Lobbyists and Prophets of Doom

December 19, 2010 by nrdc switchboard
with 681 views

Sidewalk prophets of doom and Washington lobbyists know the best time to hype an “end of the world” story is just before the world is scheduled to come to an end. But the sidewalks are littered with the placards of doomsayers whose predictions flopped. That’s why industry lobbyists have been pushing so hard right now for a... [read more]

Rockefeller: Preventing action on global warming “is too important for us to delay any further” - But WV Senator withdraws bill to block EPA

December 18, 2010 by Joseph Romm
with 1,299 views

Climate peacock Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) threatened to tie up the funding of the government with his coal-powered campaign to kill climate action before the end of the year. But the Republicans killed the effort so that they could take the lead on it in 2011! First, Brad Johnson explains what Rockefeller tried to do: In... [read more]

Solar Manufacture Funding May Be Extended with Tax Bill

December 14, 2010 by Taylen Peterson
with 345 views

As Greg Jenner reported yesterday, there may be hope for solar funding in one version of the tax bill currently before the Senate. This version, a compromise between the Senate and the White House, was voted on today, Dec. 14, and includes a one-year extension of the Treasury Grant Program mandate (TGP; 1603) to Dec. 31, 2011.... [read more]

Daniel J. Weiss = Senate adds key clean energy program to tax bill - But let's not raise taxes on advanced energy manufacturing!

December 13, 2010 by Joseph Romm
with 669 views

By CAP’s Daniel J. Weiss. This afternoon the Senate overwhelmingly approved ending debate on the “Obama-McConnell” compromise tax package by a vote of 83-15. This limits debate to no more than thirty hours, and makes likely the final passage of the bill on Tuesday or Wednesday. The tax bill, H.R. 4853, would extend tax cuts... [read more]

Midwest versus the rest in Senate support for ethanol subsidies

December 1, 2010 by James Cartledge
with 1,299 views

Battle lines are being drawn in Congress over whether to renew tax credits and import tariffs for American ethanol – based on a regional, rather than partisan divide. [read more]

Reid Promises Incoming Senator: Cap and Trade is Dead Next Session

November 16, 2010 by Breakthrough Institute
with 1,125 views

According to E&E: There will be no cap-and-trade climate bill considered in the next Congress, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) promised a colleague today. Newly sworn-in Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said today that Reid made a "total commitment" to him that there would be no cap and trade next session. [read more]

What Won't Change After the Election?

November 1, 2010 by Geoffrey Styles
with 1,021 views

Tomorrow's US mid-term election dominates today's headlines, with most analysts expecting a dramatic shift in control, at least in the House of Representatives. However, from an energy perspective, many aspects of the situation in which we will find ourselves after the ballots are counted will remain largely predetermined for the next... [read more]

BP and other large European green-washing polluters funnel cash to U.S. Senators blocking climate action

October 25, 2010 by Joseph Romm
with 845 views

Today CAN Europe released a new report based on an analysis of publicly available campaign finance records, definitively proving that polluting European companies are funding climate legislation blockers in US politics. Their overseas support is all the more galling because the same companies argue that additional emissions... [read more]