Obama Fails to Sway Congress on Energy Bill

Less than 24 hours after President Barack Obama spoke of the need for the United States to free itself of its oil dependence, his words failed to sway a hesitant Congress to move on comprehensive energy legislation.

Hopes for approval of cap and trade legislation before the November elections are now fading fast.

Supporters of the president’s agenda were frustrated by the lack of guidance offered by the president in his speech. They say the president had lent little urgency to an issue that has fallen down a crowded list of congressional priorities less than five months before the election.

“Some say you’ve got to bring climate change to the floor of the Senate right now. I don’t think there’s 60 votes for a climate change bill,” said Senator Byron Dorgan , a member of the Democratic leadership, referring to the votes needed to overcome Senate procedural hurdles.

In an effort to whip up support in Congress for an energy bill, Obama will meet leading Republican and Democratic senators next Tuesday, a White House aide said.

“Obama missed a chance to push strongly for a comprehensive bill in his speech, settling instead for “a bland enumeration of alternatives,” said Bill Galston of the Brookings Institution , a former adviser to President Bill Clinton .

“The president’s speech tacitly sounded the death-knell for the inclusion of serious climate change provisions in any energy bill that Congress might enact this year,” he said.

Leaders of both parties in the Senate and House of Representatives agree that after long and contentious debates on a healthcare overhaul and financial regulatory reform , Congress has little appetite for another major political battle that forces lawmakers to take difficult votes shortly before voters render verdicts on their work.

Reuters said that the legislative agenda for Congress is already jammed, as lawmakers try to complete work on the overhaul of financial regulations, confirm a new Supreme Court nominee, bolster job growth and consider possible action on immigration and taxes.

Senate Democrats will meet on Thursday to discuss their approach on energy and the environment, with Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi hoping to decide how to proceed by July 4.

Obama’s fellow Democrats are battling to retain control of Congress in November, when they face heavy election losses amid a broad wave of voter unhappiness over high unemployment and the stumbling economy.

Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana said it would be hard to pass a comprehensive energy bill this year. She also criticized on television the president for his decision to keep a six month moratorium on new drilling and exploration in the Gulf of Mexico. She said that was a disastrous decision for an area so heavily dependent on the oil industry.

Republican Senator Lamar Alexander said an energy bill would take weeks of floor debate in a Senate that is already experiencing heavy fallout from the yearlong battle over the healthcare overhaul passed in March.

“It’d be hard to get all that done,” he said. “I think we should take steps toward clean energy rather than try to do anything comprehensive.”

Signs of election-year paralysis are already evident in Congress, where neither the Senate nor House has approved a budget blueprint this year and it appears unlikely they will.

“A Congress that can’t pass a budget is going to pass the most expansive environmental legislation in decades within months of an election — what are the odds of that?” asked Steven Schier, a political analyst at Carleton College in Minnesota.

The focus in Congress will be on the Senate, where global warming legislation has languished since the House narrowly passed a bill a year ago. So far, the 60 votes needed for any legislation has not clearly emerged.

“The president now needs to lay out the specifics. What exactly are the steps we know we can take now? What kind of sacrifices can be made? How can every American help?” said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club .

Republicans criticized Obama for using the Gulf oil spill for his own political purposes.

“The White House may view this oil spill as an opportunity to push its agenda in Washington, but Americans are more concerned about what it plans to do to solve the crisis in the Gulf,” Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said.

The Americano/Agencies

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