Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire: Democratic Party (United States)

Showing posts with label Democratic Party (United States). Show all posts

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Obama: Let’s join forces on energy

President Barack Obama vowed today to find middle ground on energy issues with Republicans in the newly transformed Congress.

Although sweeping proposals to tackle global warming are too controversial to pass on Capitol Hill, Obama held out hope that Democrats and Republicans could forge consensus on some smaller plans to advance cleaner-burning natural gas, electric cars and nuclear power.
“When it comes to something like energy, what we’re probably going to have to do is say ‘here are some areas where there’s just too much disagreement . . . but let’s not wait; let’s go ahead and make progress on those things where we do agree.”
A prime candidate, Obama said, could be initiatives designed to promote the use and development of natural gas, which produces fewer carbon dioxide emissions when burned than coal.
“We’ve got, I think, broad agreement that we’ve got terrific natural gas resources in this country,” Obama said. “Are we doing everything we can to develop those?”
Similarly, he noted, Congress can do more to encourage the use and development of electric cars that aren’t reliant on liquid transportation fuels.
Nuclear power could be another area for consensus, Obama said. “There’s been discussion about how we can restart our nuclear industry as a means of reducing our dependence on foreign oil and reducing greenhouse gases,” he said. “Is that an area where we can move forward?”
Republicans in control of the House next year are sure to butt heads with the Obama administration over the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and other stationery sources. But Obama insisted that lawmakers can find a way to help move the country toward cleaner energy sources.
“Cap-and-trade was just one way of skinning the cat,” he said. “It’s not the only way. It was a means, not an end. I will be looking for other ways to solve this problem.”
Obama suggested that locking like-minded Republicans and Democrats in a conference room would do the trick.
“I think the smartest thing for us to do is to see if we can get Democrats and Republicans in a room who are serious about energy independence and are serious about keeping our air clean and our water clean and dealing with the area of greenhouse gases,” Obama said.
Policymakers can “find ways that we can solve these problems that don’t hurt the economy, that encourage the development of clean energy in this country, that in fact may give us opportunities to create entire new industries and new jobs that put us in a competitive posture around the world.”
http://fuelfix.com/txpotomac/2010/11/03/obama-lets-join-forces-on-energy-policy/

Friday, October 22, 2010

Senators Taking Seats in November Could Affect "New START" Vote from GSN Daily News

Several Democratic senators are expected to vacate their seats right after next month's midterm election, enabling their replacements to potentially ensnare an Obama administration bid to win Senate approval of a new nuclear arms control treaty with Russia before other newly elected lawmakers take their seats in January, Foreign Policy reported (see GSN, Oct. 20).
President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in April signed "New START," which requires their nations to each cut deployed strategic nuclear weapons to 1,550 warheads, down from the maximum of 2,200 allowed by 2012 under an earlier agreement. They must both also restrict their active nuclear delivery vehicles to 700, with another 100 platforms allowed in reserve.
The pact is awaiting a ratification vote in the Senate, where the 67 votes required for passage must include at least eight Republicans in this Congress. A significant number of Republicans have expressed reservations over the treaty, and anticipated party gains could raise the number of required GOP supporters to between 16 and 18 in the next Congress if the ratification process dragged into 2011, according to Foreign Policy.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called for a vote during the current Congress's "lame-duck" session between the Nov. 2 election and Christmas; however, lawmakers elected in Delaware, Illinois and West Virgina are set to take seats immediately after next month's vote, making their positions on the treaty key to its ratification prospects.
Democrat Chris Coons, now the leading Senate candidate in Delaware, has not taken a public stance on the arms pact. Republican rival Christine O'Donnell, though, pledged in an e-mail statement to "look very carefully at any treaty before the U.S. Senate."
"There is nothing wrong in principle with reducing nuclear weapons as long as it is verifiable and we ensure that we can meet all of our defense requirements. There are several concerns with New START treaty as it stands before the U.S. Senate right now," O'Donnell wrote in the statement, referring to missile defense language in the pact, Russian efforts to curb Iranian atomic activities and the Obama administration's commitment to refurbishing U.S. nuclear weapons. "Before I could vote in support of New START, each of these concerns would have to be fully addressed," she said.
Representative Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), who showed a slight lead in a recent poll, has not taken a stance on the treaty, according to a statement by his office. Kirk has worked with Democrats in the past on security matters, suggesting he could support the agreement's ratification, according to Foreign Policy. Illinois Democratic Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias in an e-mail said he would endorse the pact.
West Virginia Democrat Joseph Manchin, who polled ahead of his Republican competitor by a thin margin, would consider the positions of "our commanders and generals on the ground" in formulating his position on the treaty, according to a statement by his office. Republican candidate John Raese opposes the treaty, a spokesman said.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) probably would not allow a vote on New START to proceed unless the White House verified 67 senators were in favor of ratification, Foreign Policy reported. Such a vote was one of a number of "possible" items the Senate could take up during the lame-duck period, according to one Senate leadership staffer.
"We're taking nothing for granted and we're addressing every concern and giving every reassurance where we can," an Obama administration official said. "That's where we are" (Josh Rogin, Foreign Policy, Oct. 21).
Meanwhile, Russia yesterday denied allegations that it had negotiated an undisclosed deal with the United States linked to New START, RIA Novosti reported.
"No secret arrangements beyond the limits of what is written in the document and its appendixes exist," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said (RIA Novosti, Oct. 22).
"I can only tell you one thing: everything we had agreed on is fixed in the treaty and in the ample appendixes to this treaty. This is an open document," the Xinhua News Agency quoted him as saying (Xinhua News
http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20101022_8525.phpAgency, Oct. 21).