Climate Legislation in the U.S. Senate:
Will there Be a Bill this Year?  What Will it Look Like?
Originally Aired September 30, 1 PM EST / 10 AM PST

Key U.S. CEOs and world leaders are urging the Obama Administration not to go empty-handed to the UNFCCC Conference in Copenhagen this December. All eyes are on the president, who will address the UN on climate change in New York on September 22 while the Senate considers climate legislation back in DC. But with the President’s focus on passing health care legislation, the climate bill awaiting action in the Senate risks being “back-burnered.”

Todd Stern, the U.S. State Department lead negotiator, has urged Congress to act. How critical is it that the U.S. climate negotiators have a bill this year? Would a strong bilateral China-U.S. agreement before December be sufficient instead? In the Senate, what type of climate and energy bill has the greatest likelihood of passage, and how will it differ from the House version? Do you agree with TEC blogger Joe Romm of climateprogress.org that there could be a “better” climate bill next year?

To explore these issues and to answer your questions about the current legislation, The Energy Collective and several of its members present an interactive panel discussion.

Moderator Marc Gunther explores questions such as these:

• What are the sections of the bill that have the greatest support?
• Is there any chance of a bi-partisan bill? If so, what is required for Republican support?
• What role will nuclear play in the climate legislation? Will the new nuclear title negotiated over break remain intact? Will there be greater support for loan guarantees?
• What about oversight for carbon markets, as addressed in the House bill?
• Will there be more concessions and free allowance allocation to carbon producers (oil & gas, utilities, industrial manufacturers) in the Senate version?
• Will a safety valve be necessary politically, and to ensure carbon permit prices are stable and predictable?
• How strong will international trade protection be? Will Obama reconsider mandatory border-tax adjustments to protect U.S. industries?
• What role will the EPA play in the negotiations?
• If legislation is not enacted this year, what constructive action, if any, can the U.S. government take at Copenhagen?

 

	Marc Gunther is a veteran journalist, speaker, writer and consultant whose focus is business and sustainability. Marc is a contributing editor at FORTUNE magazine, a senior writer at Greenbiz.com, a lead blogger at The Energy Collective. He's also a husband and father, a lover of the outdoors and a marathon runner. Marc is the author or co-author of four books, including Faith and Fortune: How Compassionate Capitalism is Transforming American Business. He's a graduate of Yale who lives in Bethesda, MD.
	Jesse Jenkins is Director of Energy and Climate Policy at the Breakthrough Institute, and is one of the country's leading energy and climate policy analysts and advocates. Jesse has written for publications including the San Francisco Chronicle, Baltimore Sun, Yale Environment 360, Grist.org, and HuffingtonPost.com, and his published works on energy policy have been cited by many more. He is founder and chief editor of WattHead - Energy News and Commentary and a featured writer at the Energy Collective. Jesse goes by @JesseJenkins on Twitter.
	Michael Zimmer is counsel practicing in the Energy group at Thompson Hine LLP, with a focus on energy regulation, climate change and energy corporate acquisition and finance transactions. He has been involved in assignments in non-utility generation, renewables, gas and electric, emissions credits, rural cooperatives, energy and emissions trading, and manufacturing industries. Michael is also currently national co-chair of the ABA Renewable Energy and Distributed Generation Resources Committee, and ABA Vice Chair of the Committee on Energy & Environmental Finance.
	Manik Roy is the Vice President of Federal Government Outreach for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, where he manages communication between the Center and the U.S. Congress. Dr. Roy has twenty-five years of experience in environmental policy, having worked, before coming to the Pew Center, for Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, Representative Henry A. Waxman, the U.S. EPA, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the Environmental Defense Fund. Dr. Roy holds a Ph.D. in public policy from Harvard University and a Master of Science degree in environmental engineering from Stanford University.