Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will bring an energy bill to the floor as soon as July 26:
Reid confirmed that the bill will have four sections: an oil spill response; a clean energy and job creation title; a tax package from the Finance Committee; and a section that deals with greenhouse gas emissions from the electric utility industry.
Neat emphasis, that. The Democracts have been leading the carbon tax dance with the “green jobs” foot for years now, but the BP spill gives them an even better smokescreen.
Then comes the ominously vague “tax package” and the last section, where the cap-and-tax substitute will come. In a nod to the political impossibility of passing anything broader, that section will focus on regulating power plants (and raising your energy bills):
“In this stage, we’ve not completed it, but we’re looking at a way that’s making sure when we talk about pollution, it’ll focus just on the utility sector,” Reid said.
But don’t call it cap and trade:
Underscoring the delicate nature of the debate, Reid insisted that the proposal he will introduce should not be called a cap-and-trade plan, or even a cap on emissions.
“I don’t use that,” he said. “Those words are not in my vocabulary. We’re going to work on pollution.”
Full story here.