After almost two years of stalled efforts, President Obama announced that he will be making climate change legislation one of his administration’s top priorities next year.
In a recent Rolling Stone magazine interview, the President said that he was very disappointed at his inability to keep his campaign promises of reducing carbon emissions so far, as the Senate was unable to bring their version of a climate bill to a full vote.
Last summer, the U.S. House of Representatives passed their version of a climate bill, but due to a lack of Republican support, the U.S. Senate never brought their version to a vote, thus stalling the entire process.
In the Rolling Stone interview, President Obama acknowledged that enacting meaningful climate legislation would not only be good for the environment, but also for the U.S. economy. Business Green quoted the President as saying:
“One of my top priorities next year is to have an energy policy that begins to address all facets of our over-reliance on fossil fuels. I am committed to making sure we get an energy policy that makes sense for the country and that helps us grow at the same time as it deals with climate change in a serious way.”
The President went on to say that if a comprehensive bill is not possible, then he will encourage Congress to attach pieces of the original bills onto other bills in order to get them to pass.
However, this plan hinges on the belief that the Democrats will retain control of both Houses of Congress after this year’s midterm elections, as Republicans have made it clear they will not support the President’s energy policies, instead pushing for further production of dangerous forms of energy, including offshore drilling, “clean” coal production, and gas exploration.
Image credit: Pete Souza
Farron Cousins is an editor and senior staff writer for The American Trial Lawyer magazine, where he has covered issues of renewable energy and environmental law since 2007. His writings have also appeared in publications such as California's Information Press, and Pensacola's Independent Weekly.
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