Dayton Daily News: GOP, Dems Could Come to Global Warming Agreement, Ohio Senator Says

News Article

By Jack Torry

Emerging from a White House meeting with President Barack Obama, Sen. Sherrod Brown on Tuesday, March 9, said there was "a chance" that Senate Republicans and Democrats could agree on a sweeping bill that would curb global warming through the development of cleaner energy.


The 90-minute session, which included seven Senate Democrats, six Senate Republicans and one independent, represents a major effort by Obama and his senior advisers to forge a bipartisan agreement on how to combat climate change.


Brown, D-Ohio, said a consensus emerged among the 14 senators that "we want to find a way to do this, a consensus that we need to deal with our dependence on foreign oil, and a consensus that this needs to be a jobs bill."

"When the president of the United States convenes people, there is momentum created," Brown said. "This created momentum and brought some Republicans and Democrats together. But it's just a step."


The White House and the senators are seeking an alternative to a House bill approved last year that would reduce emissions of carbon dioxide through a regulatory scheme known as cap-and-trade. That bill provoked intense opposition from industry and coal-state senators and has little chance of winning Senate approval.


"The House bill is really not on the table," Brown said.


Instead, senators are trying to bridge party differences by creating incentives that would encourage the development of wind and solar energy, boost the use of nuclear power, and open up large swaths of the coastal United States to oil exploration.


But Brown added that Obama "doesn't just want nuclear power and off-shore drilling," but instead "wants it more transformational" to move private investors toward energy sources that do not emit much greenhouse gas.


Environmentalists, many of whom are wary of nuclear power and off-shore oil exploration, expressed some unease with the meeting.


Frank O'Donnell, president of the Washington-based Clean Air Watch, said he was "concerned there is a race to the bottom ... My concern is they may end up with a bill that gives them a great press release, but no results."


Source