Posted on 03/16/2010 6:26:10 PM PDT by neverdem
Former President Bill Clinton urged Senate Democrats to pass a climate bill this year during their weekly luncheon on Tuesday, arguing that legislation would spur innovation and create new jobs.
Clinton aimed his remarks at moderate Democrats, who fear taking up another controversial bill in the midst of an economic recession and just months before the midterm elections. To reassure them, Clinton distributed polling data showing support for a comprehensive climate bill.
‘We need all the pep talk we can get,” said Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, who has expressed concerns about the impact the bill would have on her coal-dependent state.
Clinton argued that a climate bill could provide a much-needed economic boost to the country, spurring a flood of new, clean energy jobs.
“He thinks, bottom line, that there's no better way to create a surge of new jobs, in this case clean energy jobs, than passing an energy independence bill," said Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).
And he dismissed the idea of an energy-only bill, a proposal backed by some moderates. A cap on greenhouse gas emissions is necessary to spur new, clean energy investments and jobs, Clinton told the Democratic senators.
“He was very strong about it and that we need to price carbon in the effort to get the money flowing to help to transform the economy,” said Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.). “I thought he spoke very strongly.”
Kerry is working Lieberman and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on a revamped version of the climate bill that they hope to release by the end of the month. In hopes of attracting bipartisan support, the three lawmakers plan to include several proposals traditionally backed by Republicans like expanding nuclear power and offshore drilling.
Other members of the Democratic caucus would prefer to use legislation that passed the Energy and Natural Resources committee last June as the basis for a climate bill.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid indicated that he had not yet decided how to move a climate bill forward.
“We have a bill already out of the Energy Committee,” he said. “The question is, do we amend that with the climate change stuff or do we come up with a bill to take care of all that?
Reid noted that climate “kind of got pushed to the side” as Congress took up health care and regulatory reform.
© 2010 Capitol News Company, LLC |
clinton is a F#$%aHole
.....so is his mammie and spawn!
..and the jerks that protect him
But they don’t view it as us vs. them.
They only need to play the game long enough to ruin the nation.
Then they take their special planes out of the nation as the New World Order takes over.
Slick Willie must have invested in some of that “green” bull****.
That makes sense!
Don't be surprised if it shows up in the health care reconcilliation bill.
Brain damage during bypass surgery is so common that hospital personnel refer to it as pump head.
There. Fixed it.
Sometimes I wonder if ol’ Bill is just egging Obama on so he can witness him fail miserably. I highly doubt he believes in this man made climate change crap. The last thing he would want is for BHO to succeed in his presidency.
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