Most of the Congressional attention in Washington D.C. over the last three months has been directed solely on Health Care Reform. As the dust settles, the Senate Climate Bill will soon emerge as the next landmark decision awaiting the Obama Administration. As opposition to EPA regulatory measures continues to rise and as mid-term elections draw closer, the hope for the passage of a similarly contentious piece of American legislation hangs in the balance. Despite the challenges ahead, the latest news indicates that passage of the Senate Bill could still be a possibility in the coming months. 

One source of pressure fueling movement on the Senate Climate bill is the EPA’s GHG Endangerment Finding. This ruling requires the Federal agency to regulate GHG emissions in the economy under the authority of the Clean Air Act (CAA). The EPA has come under fire from business lobbyists, the oil industry and conservative senators, among others, who have issued letters, lawsuits and plans to thwart the Agency’s attempts at regulating GHG emissions. Those in opposition cite the potential for economic collapse and the stalling of investments as a primary reason to avoid regulation. Summarizing the thoughts of those against Agency regulation, Senator John D. Rockefeller IV (R-W.Va.) said “E.P.A. actions in this area would have enormous implications, and these issues need to be handled carefully and appropriately dealt with by the Congress, not in isolation by a federal environmental agency,” (NYTimes, 2010).

The EPA has responded to such criticism by relaxing the threshold for emissions reporting and has decided to delay the initial timetables for regulating industry emissions. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson confirmed on March 30th 2010 that no stationary sources would face regulation this year, as was originally determined. Instead, plans have been put in place that will target large facilities in early 2011, medium-sized emitters in late 2011, and smaller emitters by 2016. Both Senators John D. Rockefeller and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) have expressed approval of the EPA’s efforts to relax their initial implementation plan.

As EPA efforts to regulate GHG emissions flounder, a more commercially palatable Senate Bill equipped with a cap and trade approach has been brewing behind closed doors. Senators John Kerry (D-Mass), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have been working for months to put together a “hybrid” Climate Bill that infuses elements from a number of pieces of draft energy and climate legislation. Energy efficiency and renewable energy language for the bill is being pulled from the American Clean Energy Leadership Act which passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in 2009. Ideas on “cap and dividend” carbon market regulation crafted by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) in the CLEAR Act are also being considered.

The latest news from Environment and Energy (E&E) Daily indicates that the Senators plan to unveil their draft bill on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, on April 22nd 2010. While the Senate Bill waits in the wings, the EPA continues to plan the implementation of its regulations against GHG emissions under the Clean Air Act. It is clear that climate policy in the United States will come alive in some form or another in the next year. Businesses will have to wait with baited breath to see what form it will take and what impact it will have on them. Do you think a Climate Bill will actually come to fruition in 2010? Which GHG regulatory method do you anticipate coming into action first: EPA emissions regulations under the Clean Air Act or a yet to be named Senate Climate Bill?

Photo credit: Margot Wolfs via Flickr CC