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Cap and trade shelved for now in U.S. Senate

The U.S. Senate will begin hashing out an energy bill next week and, fortunately for truckers, the bill won’t include a cap-and-trade or carbon tax plan.

Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, announced Thursday, July 22, that he would introduce an energy bill without cap and trade – the comprehensive system that aims to cut carbon emissions. It was narrowly approved by the U.S. House in 2009.

“It’s easy to count to 60,” Reid said, according to Congressional Quarterly. “I could do it by the time I was in eighth grade. My point is this, we know where we are. We know we don’t have the votes. This is a step forward.”

Senate procedure requires 60 votes to move a bill to a floor vote.

As a concept, cap and trade would give polluters emissions limits. If they pollute more than their limit, they could purchase emission credits from others who polluted less and had more credits than they need. The concept called for credits to be bought and sold on the open market. It was expected to draw interest from venture capitalists who could invest and make money from the system.

Cap and trade also was expected to boost diesel prices, said OOIDA Legislative Affairs Director Mike Joyce.

“Cap and trade is off the table at this point, which is good news for truckers,” Joyce said. “We were concerned that the proposals we’ve seen drafted in both the House and the Senate would have created a trickle-down effect in the increase of diesel fuel prices.”

Sen. Majority Leader Reid is expected to move a narrowly focused energy package to the floor in the next two weeks, before Congress’ August recess. The Reid package is focused on four primary areas. They are:

Hold oil producers responsible for the Gulf oil spill; Lessen U.S. dependence on foreign oil by tapping into domestic natural gas resources; Decrease domestic energy consumption through the Home Star energy efficiency program; and Focus on land conservation.
The second point of the Reid proposal incorporates a bill, Senate Bill 1408, sponsored by Sens. Robert Menendez, and Orrin Hatch. Titled the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act, the plan has garnered bipartisan support. It provides incentives to power vehicles by natural gas.

A companion bill, HR1835, was introduced in the House of Representatives and also has broad support from both parties.

At a Thursday press conference announcing cap and trade’s lack of support, Reid said the Senate couldn’t find a single Republican to work with Democrats. He also brought up heavy-duty trucking specifically.

“These trucks – there are 6 million 18-wheelers around America today driving around,” Reid said. The lifespan of a truck isn’t very long. During the good times, three years ago, one major trucking company was buying 175 new 18 wheel trucks every week. This legislation allows the conversion of those trucks from diesel fuel to natural gas. This will lessen our dependence on foreign oil.”

Robert Dillon, GOP communications director for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, told The Washington Post by e-mail that cap and trade divided Democrats.

“Reid can hardly blame Republicans for opposing legislation that would raise energy prices on Americans, when his own party doesn’t even support the idea,” Dillon wrote to the Post.

Though Congress may be done with cap and trade for the time being, carbon regulation may still be coming.

Carol Browner, director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy for the Obama administration, hinted during the press conference that EPA could regulate carbon emissions, regardless of Congress’ actions.

“We will continue to use our existing tools to address these problems,” Browner said, according to CongressDaily.

Joyce said such regulations will face opposition, and pointed to this year’s efforts by Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-AK, and Jay Rockefeller, D-WV, to prevent EPA from regulating carbon.

“We can expect EPA will begin to look at ways in which they can regulate greenhouse gas emissions,” Joyce said. “I would suggest that there will be members of Congress that will raise a red flag to that, as Sen. Rockefeller has done.”

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