PrintAugust 2, 2010
Poison Pill: The New Senate Energy Bill
The latest Senate energy bill, quietly unveiled last week, looks like sweet compromise on radical measures like cap and trade, but buried within is a bitter poison pill that will could be swallowed in a vote that may come this week.Unlike the 1,200-page House of Representatives energy bill, which passed last year, this scaled-down proposal does not call for an 83-percent reduction in greenhouse gases (or any reduction in greenhouse gases) and contains no mention of a cap-and-trade scheme. Also contrary to the House bill, this one does not provide a family of four earning up to $55,000 with a monthly stipend -- deposited directly into their bank accounts -- to offset higher energy costs. It also does not supply three years of unemployment benefits at 70 percent of former wages -- plus job retraining and relocation -- to those whose jobs are shipped overseas, as prescribed in the House bill.Instead, at a glance (which is the way most in Congress ever seem to examine legislation), this...(Read Full Article)
