Tag Archives: legislation

As I’ve said before, I’m a big Roger Cooper fan. After seeing Roger’s interview with Clean Skies, my opinion hasn’t changed. Recently there’s been news going around that the natural gas industry hasn’t fared that well in the current climate legislation.

That’s really not the case.

Or at least that’s not the case when it comes to the part of the natural gas industry that AGA represents. AGA represents natural gas distribution utilities. To really understand what that means, check out Dave’s post on “Who is the American Gas Association.”

As Roger points out, AGA has had a detailed advocacy plan in place for years leading up to the current environment. The goals in that plan were largely accomplished in the latest legislation. Natural gas utility customers are not covered under cap and trade until 2016, four years after program begins. During that time natural gas will be getting 9 percent of allowances until 2025, which will mean hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars to our customers.

Roger does a great job of explaining this during the interview and his last line is classic. He even gets a chuckle from Susan McGinnis, his interviewer.

Susan: “In general you would say the natural gas industry does not come out a loser…”

Roger: “How can we be a loser, we’re a nearly perfect fuel.”

There’s more great information in the interview so you should watch it yourself.  It’s a little over four minutes and embedded at the beginning of this post. You can also watch Roger’s interview on Clean Skies or on the AGA YouTube channel.

Yesterday the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade climate change bill, H.R. 2454, “the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009″, by a vote of 33-25.

AGA noted the important step the House Energy and Commerce Committee took last night in reporting this climate change legislation and is looking forward to working with Congress as it considers this issue throughout the summer.

It is important to AGA that Congress pass legislation that will strive to improve our environment and energy security, while also encouraging the increased use of clean, abundant, domestic natural gas. As the cleanest fossil fuel, emitting only one carbon atom when burned, natural gas can play a major part in quickly reducing carbon emissions.

Since the House Energy and Commerce Committee action was covered extensively in the media, there are quite a few stories in the news today. Here are a few articles that I came across this morning:

The Washington Post reported the committee markup this week as, “a week of late-night debates that cemented the shift of climate change from rhetorical jousting to a subject of serious, if messy, Washington policymaking. ”

Here’s a story where the New York Times discusses the supporters and opponents of the cap-and-trade legislation. While some eagerly supported the bill, others were concerned that it was a burdensome tax on business that would drive companies and jobs overseas while doing little to address climate change.

The Wall Street Journal says that the Waxman-Markey legislation, “still faces significant hurdles, particularly in the Senate, where a similar proposal failed last year. But the committee’s action gives the measure a major boost in both chambers of Congress, because the panel is among the largest and most ideologically and geographically diverse in Congress, with members from Rust Belt, oil patch, farm and coastal states.”

After the Memorial Day congressional recess, several other House and Senate committees will address various aspects of the bill so the debate on this issue will likely continue throughout this summer.

What do you think about the Waxman-Markey legislation?