Lobbyists Suggest Cap and Trade be Split Into Smaller Bills

Cap and Trade, now stuck in a Senate log jam, is looking less likely to pass, said renewable energy lobbyist Chris Stimpson. According to Stimpson, faltering public opinion polls, the upcoming mid-term election, and the health care bill are pushing cap and trade farther and farther back on the Congressional calendar. The earliest expected date for Senators to resume discussion on the climate bill in sometime in March. Because this is a congressional election year, some Senators seeking reelection may be wary about voting for a bill that fares poorly in public opinion polls.

"[Congress] may not have the energy, ironically enough, to work on an energy bill,” says Stimpson. “If it doesn't happen by Memorial day, this being an election year, it's generally understood here [in Washington] that you can forget it — nothing else will happen until after the election." Stimpson believes that focused bills have the greatest chance of success, specifically those that specifically target things like renewable energy subsidies or tighter pollution controls. Stimpson says that any bills that haven't been voted on by the end of May have very little hope.

D.C. lobbyists still feel that the Obama administration presents the best bet for passing comprehensive climate legislation, Renewable Energy World contends that Obama has made more moves to protect the environment in the past year than the American presidency has made in the last decade. Some contrarians are concerned about the upcoming election, which may see an uptick of pro-business conservatives with less environmental concern entering Congress. Jim Rubens of Clean Energy Works says that fracturing cap and trade into a collection of smaller bills is too risky. "If we can't get them in this year, they're just going to be tougher to get later," said Rubens of the anticipated shift in congressional power.

Given the growth of the renewable energy industry, advocates are contemplating pushing their legislative agenda separate from global warming initiatives.