As always, the action is on C-SPAN.
By the by, Murkowski has a challenger for November: Scott McAdams, he's the current mayor of Sitka. Oh yeah!
And what's going on today? Debate on our energy and climate policy, namely Lisa Murkowski's amendment to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gas pollution.
If her measure becomes law, the effects would be immediate. Nearly every step President Obama has taken to promote clean energy would be repealed. It would wreak havoc on the President's landmark clean vehicle standards that ensure cars go farther on a gallon of gas, and it would block requirements that force large power plants and factories to use new technology and clean energy to reduce their pollution.
This resolution is a giant step backward.
Please call your Senators today, like NOW, and tell them to vote Murkowski's proposal down and clean energy UP.
And while you've got them on the line, please also tell them to stop mountaintop mining already. And tell them to overturn the disastrous changes shrubCo made to the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that gave FERC inordinate power to let LNG destroy ecosystems about which they know nothing:
Senate:
3/2/2010--Introduced. Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to repeal provisions amending the Natural Gas Act to extend its jurisdiction to:
(1) the exportation or importation of natural gas in foreign commerce and to persons engaged in it; and
(2) liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals. States that the Natural Gas Act shall be applied and administered as if such provisions and attendant amendments had not been enacted.
House:
The bill repeals a provision in the 2005 Energy bill that gave the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) the exclusive authority to site LNG facilities.
U.S. Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA), Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) and James Langevin (D-RI) are original co-sponsors of the bill. U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) has introduced the legislation in the Senate.
FERC does not currently seek adequate input from states in LNG siting reviews, and governors lack veto authority for onshore LNG terminals, despite having that authority for offshore terminals under the Deepwater Port Act. Although states and localities face all the potential risks and impacts of a LNG facility, they lack an equal voice in the siting and approval process. Prior to the 2005 Energy Bill, such decisions had historically been made by siting agencies in each state.
Update from the comments: as of yesterday, Obama still says he will veto this if Murkowski wins:
The White House made it clear Tuesday that President Barack Obama will veto Sen. Lisa Murkowski's proposal to curtail the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's effort to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, in the unlikely event the Alaska Republican's proposal passes Congress.
The White House went as far as to issue a statement of administration policy on the EPA matter, and said Tuesday that the proposal from the Alaska Republican would "undermine the administration's efforts to reduce the negative impacts of pollution and the risks associated with environmental catastrophes, like the ongoing BP oil spill."