Senate Energy Bill: Obama, Biden and Cabinet Go All-In on Another Top Priority
Posted by CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE at 8:10 AMNothing says all-in like having the president, the vice president, three Cabinet secretaries, and two agency heads send the same "we care" message on the same day. It's all about achieving liftoff for the Senate energy and climate bill that's in the spotlight this week.
It may seem as if that part of President Obama's agenda, involving the controversial "cap and trade" system of curbing carbon emissions, has been nudged off to the side while he and Congress deal with everything from CEO bonuses to overhauling the health care system. The events of Tuesday are a reminder that for this administration, there's always room for one more top priority.
So, with Sens. Barbara Boxer and John Kerry launching three straight days of hearings on their Senate counterpart to a massive bill already passed by the House, Obama is sending up his secretaries of Energy, Transportation and Interior; the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Obama himself will be in Arcadia, Fla., to celebrate the grand opening of thenation's largest solar plant and announce $3.4 billion in stimulus grants for "smart grid" projects. White House energy and climate-change adviser Carol Browner called it the nation's "largest ever" investment in modernizing and upgrading the electrical grid to make it more efficient, cheaper for consumers and better able to tap into and transport renewable energy.
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