The Phoenix Sun

While the Earth Burns

Score 1 for the Party of ‘No.’

The losers this time, however, aren’t just Democrats or President Obama. By maintaining a united front against a climate bill with teeth — or even a single tooth — the GOP has prevailed over future generations. In one sense, the GOP has achieved a paradoxical victory: they’ve won a party-line, non-partisan battle. Paying the price for the GOP-enforced inaction on climate and energy policy will be Republicans and Democrats, Independents and Tea- Partiers, liberals and conservatives. Natural disasters don’t give a hoot about partisan politics.

Little has changed in the 104 years since Ambrose Bierce penned his definition of the Senate: “A body of elderly gentlemen charged with high duties and misdemeanors.“

On second thought, perhaps the last word does need to be updated. To “felonies.”

The Solar Energy Industries Association released the following statement this afternoon, in response to the Senate climate bill, the American Power Act:

While we’re still analyzing the 987-page bill, we’re pleased with the effort to place a price on carbon, an essential step in stopping global warming and stimulating greater deployment of renewable energy sources like solar. But to really make a difference, we need to ensure that any revenue from this legislation is targeted directly at deploying renewable energy like solar – an energy source that 92 percent of the Americans say they want greater use of, now.

We also believe that for any climate legislation to succeed, it must embrace one of solar’s key strengths – its diverse applications. Distributed generation solar, like photovoltaics and solar water heating, as well as utility-scale solar power are both crucial to fighting climate change and should be rewarded for generating clean energy. These proven technologies have been working for decades and serve as one of the reliable ways to address global warming.

Lastly, we hope to see protection for the voluntary renewables market. Under previous climate bills, no effort on the parts of homeowners and businesses to generate their own carbon-free energy was recognized in lowering the ‘cap.’ We hope that this major issue has been addressed and individuals have been empowered to have a real impact on the amount of pollution released into our environment.

Senators Kerry and Lieberman deserve a great deal of credit for pushing ahead with these vitally important issues. We should not pass up this opportunity to move America’s clean energy economy forward. A well-structured bill that deploys more renewable energy will create stable, well-paying jobs, help achieve energy security, and fight global warming. We look forward to working with Congress and the Obama Administration to get the right policies passed into law.

Not exactly a full-throated endorsement of a bill that makes major concessions to the nuclear power, coal and oil industries. Clearly, though, SEIA understands both the political realities that necessitate some compromise and the giant step the bill makes by placing a price on carbon.

Oh, yes, and the need to “work with Congress…to get the right policies passed…” [My emphasis]

Update: Full American Power Act bill is now available (click here).

The Senate climate change bill — aka, The American Power Act of 2010 — has landed. Or at least a 21-page draft outline of the bill has. Solar, wind and other sources of renewable energy are hardly mentioned in the bill. Nuclear power is the clear favorite here. In fact, the bill starts with Subtitle A: nuclear power, comprised of three major parts and sixteen sections. The topics cover new funding for the nuclear industry, ways to make licensing and permitting new plants quicker and easier, and more tax breaks for the industry.

You’ll find renewable energy sources lumped together and then combined with energy efficiency — at Subtitle D. Even with all of these industries cobbled together, Subtitle D doesn’t merit separate parts and is dealt with in four short sections with little substance to them. You won’t even find the words wind, solar or bio-fuel anywhere in the 21 pages.

Still, it’s hard to extrapolate from an outline to a full-fledged bill, let alone to an enacted law. Read the document above and see where you think it’s heading.

More:

[An internal summary of the summary of the bill was transcribed by the good folks at the Wonk Room.]

A “pen and pad” background briefing by congressional staff for reporters is now underway.

The climate bill’s formal “unveiling” is scheduled for a 1:30 PM (EDT) press conference today.