Senate Watch: Baucus, Boxer, Conrad, Kerry, Feinstein, Graham, Klobuchar, Lieberman, Murkowski, Reid, Mark Udall, Voinovich
The Hill If it’s a viable bill, we’ll have a markup.
Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Senate Environment & Public Works ChairmanNational Journal I just want to see the bill when it’s written. I’d be foolhardy to get more specific.
Kent Conrad (D-N.D.)E&E News In general terms, they give a lot of power to the states on that [offshore drilling]. It seems to me what they’re doing is they’re taking the best ideas that have appeared over the years.
Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)E&E News I’m kind of waiting to see what happens. But if it looks like we’re not going to advance on the broader bill, I think it’s critically important that we at least have legislation to reduce dependence on foreign energy. I just think it’s critically important to the economy, critically important to our energy and economic future, and that can be done in a way that it’s harmonized with reducing our carbon footprint as well.
Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)E&E News On such a substantial decision about the future of a state [offshore drilling], a decision should be made by both the legislature and the governor. The state should also have the power to review its decision on a regular basis.
E&E News I’m still committed to trying to roll out a vision of how you can price carbon and make it business-friendly. We’re still going to do that. ... But the truth of the matter is, I think you’re going to find most of our colleagues around here risk adverse.
E&E News In the wake of health care’s passage, we have a strong case to make that this can be the next breakthrough legislative fight. Many senators who want to see a comprehensive energy and climate bill passed have been consumed with the drive to get health care passed. The same was rightfully true of the White House even as they kept the coals warm on energy and climate. Now they can pour their energy and attention into climate and energy. And here I think we can put the pieces of real bipartisanship back together.
E&E News We have a lot of work to do in the next 48 hours.
The Hill This will be the first time that we have sort of gone through an overall sense of where we think we are right now, but it is not cast in stone yet either. We expect in the next days to kind of really close in on some concepts, but we have a lot of meetings going on right now.
Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)National Journal He [Sen. Reid] has said repeatedly that we are going to do the combination of climate and energy. I don’t think he’s ever varied from that.
Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.)E&E News We’re going to have to see language on this, but clearly there was interest in the bill and moving along. People hadn’t staked out ground against it. They were very open to it.
Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)E&E News We’d like to go to drafting over the break… let us know if they have specific parts of what we’re describing that they want to respond to.
Harry Reid (D-Nev.)E&E News It’s [the mood on Capitol Hill] no different than it was last week. It was bad last week. It’s going to be bad this week. Who knows what it’s going to be like next week?
E&E News I’ve got lots of options on energy. And I’m going to try to work it through with Bingaman and Kerry.
Mark Udall (D-Colo.)E&E News Clean natural gas projects like this will help us use this clean energy source to strengthen our economy while protecting Nevada’s great outdoors.
George Voinovich (R-Ohio)E&E News It’s reasonable to protect proprietary information of individual companies. That said, the public has many questions about fracturing technology’s impacts on the environment, and we need to make sure their reasonable questions and concerns are answered.
E&E News It [the KGL draft] raises a lot of questions. I want to keep working on the answers.