You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Home Front: Politix
Energy Czar Raises Possibility Of EPA Implementing Cap-And-Trade
2009-10-03
There's more than one way to get cap-and-trade, President Obama's energy czar said today.

Carol Browner, the former Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) administrator who now serves in the Obama administration's newly created role of energy czar, floated the possibility today of the EPA implementing cap-and-trade energy policies, during an interview at The Atlantic's First Draft of History symposium in Washington, DC.

"We also have the reality of EPA, under current law, moving forward...to start the traditional regulatory clock," Browner said when asked, during an interview with Atlantic Media Political Director Ronald Brownstein, about the difficulties of passing the stalled energy/climate bill--which would implement a cap-and-trade carbon emissions scheme--through the Senate.

Starting that "clock," as Browner puts it, would "obviously encourage the business community to raise their voices in Congress"--since businesses could wind up with a less cohesive regulatory scheme, more difficult to comply with in multiple states, if the EPA moves forward on its own.

Environmentalists have pushed for the EPA to implement emissions reforms if Democrats can't pass a bill, circumventing the politics of Congress and using the EPA's environmental authority to get the job done, and there's a pending Supreme Court case on the matter.

But it's not viewed as a likely scenario--which some members of the environmental community readily admit--even as the reforms passed by the House have become mired in the upper chamber, with analysts skeptical that a formidable cap-and-trade plan will pass.

The Obama administration strongly prefers a congressional consensus, as creating a cap-and-trade scheme would be a massive, controversial, and perhaps unprecedented undertaking for the EPA.

And after floating the possibility of circumventing legislative difficulties, Browner made that point.

EPA action "is a little bit more diff, there are ways it can be done...but it's much better if Congress does it, and that's what the president wants," adding that legislation is "absolutely" the administration's preference over EPA action.
Posted by:Fred

#9  Neville - good, but once was enough. I hope the mods don't ban you until you learn good manners.

The entire EPA is unconstitutional. The Congress passed off some of its responsibility to an uncontrolled mess, and got away with it so far. The other thing is that Cap and Tax will be the ONE thing that will ignite a revolution in this nation faster than anything, and the people ARE paying attention, Fred. There are a dozen NEW groups forming up in Denver to fight this piece of total nonsense, and some of them are armed. The Democrats are playing with dynamite in an oil refinery - not a smart move.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2009-10-03 22:56  

#8  News on the Energy Bill October 2,2009
Posted by: Neville Thrineng4301   2009-10-03 16:34  

#7  Yup, Charlie Rangel could be caught in bed with BOTH a dead girl and a live boy and still get re-elected.
Posted by: Steve White   2009-10-03 10:27  

#6  Never underestimate the power of short attention span. Most of those guys will be reelected.

You heard read it here first.
Posted by: Fred   2009-10-03 09:44  

#5  We don't need no stinking laws. Hey, Carol, just make the EPA one of the first federal bureaucracies to be axed when the time comes to downsize the Beltway. Stand up and say 'Kick Me'. Yeah, I know in some of the processes the EPA does stuff it probably should, but when its grossly misused as she proposes it has become as destructive as contributory and unlikely to be properly reformed in its current incarnation.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2009-10-03 07:55  

#4  Come on Carol, don't be afraid. Just do it Babe!

also: LOL Carol Browner, Florida's answer to Babs Boxer.
Posted by: .5MT   2009-10-03 07:08  

#3  I thought cap and trade was an attempt to combat global warming, which in my mind is losing credibility almost as fast as The One.
Posted by: gorb   2009-10-03 01:24  

#2  NO, it's all about POWER,
WE CAN DO THIS, and you can't do shit to stop us.

Oh and IT"S FOR YOUR OWN GOOD so of course we'll be reelected until we fall over dead (In the public service, of course)
DON'T PAY ANY ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN(Translation, the high salary, medical perks and POWER, doesn't count), we do this for your own good (Peasants)

Now reward us with Idolization, and cash (Plenty of Both) and hurry up about it.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2009-10-03 00:51  

#1  okay they went overboard on health care...
the good ship Acorn is sinking..
and now they want Cap and Trade....
I take it none of these guys want to be re-elected?
Posted by: 3dc   2009-10-03 00:13  

00:00