Barbara Boxer

Senate rules out using budget process to pass cap-and-trade

Prospects for using the Congress’s budget process to pass cap-and-trade legislation were extinguished on Wednesday night as the Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of a measure to bar that option. The amendment, sponsored by Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.), prohibits the “use of reconciliation in the Senate for climate change legislation involving a cap and trade […]

Key Democrats deal opening hand in climate debate

House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders released the much-anticipated draft of their climate and energy legislation on Tuesday, a proposal that includes emissions goals more ambitious than those proposed by the Obama White House but also leaves open many of the most contentious questions on climate policy. Sponsors Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) […]

Are emission targets ever really ‘science-based’?

Are emission targets ever really ‘science-based’? Or are we playing a dangerous game of self-deception? Last month, Senator Barbara Boxer proposed six principles for climate legislation, the first of which was: 1. Reduce emissions to levels guided by science to avoid dangerous global warming. The National Call to Action on Global Warming, announced last week […]

Expanding on Barbara Boxer's principles for climate legislation

This post is by Bill Becker, Executive Director of the Presidential Climate Action Project.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, announced earlier this month that she hopes to have a cap-and-trade bill blessed by her committee by the end of the year. Her announcement left room for criticism.

Action advocates wished Boxer had been more specific about goals for reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. The Wall Street Journal posted a piece suggesting the Senator's new principles were vague and stale.

Moreover, if we want Uncle Sam to wow the world with new-found religion on climate action and to do so in time for the U.S. to take its seat at Copenhagen in a morally upright position, then a committee vote by year's end will be too little too late. A better goal would be affirmative votes by the House and Senate well before Copenhagen, along with aggressive, progressive energy legislation and continuing bold action by the Obama Administration this spring and summer.

Still, if we want principled action, then principles are a good place to start. Boxer's are as follows:

The players: House and Senate

I’m trying to get a handle on the prospects for federal climate/energy action in the next year or two. Initially I was going to do a quick overview post on it, but the post got way (waaay) out of hand. Now it is many thousands of words and counting, so I’m going to break it […]

Will Barbara Boxer back a big increase in highway funding in the stimulus bill?

Transit advocates are irate at reports from Capitol Hill that Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, might support an increase to highway funding in the economic-stimulus bill. The news comes on the same day that Boxer unveiled a rough outline for climate legislation that she intends to push through […]

Sen. Barbara Boxer rolls out her climate policy principles, with very few details

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, on Tuesday rolled out six principles for climate legislation that she said would guide the panel’s work on a bill in the 111th Congress. She said she aimed to have cap-and-trade legislation approved by her committee by the end of the year, […]

Jeff Merkley and Tom Udall to join Senate Environment Committee

Two new senators, Oregon's Jeff Merkley and New Mexico's Tom Udall, will be joining the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, chair Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said on Wednesday.

The two attended the committee's first hearing of the year on Wednesday, though their appointments are not yet official. Adding the two senators would give Democrats a three-seat majority on the committee, after holding a one-seat lead last Congress.

Final organizational structure has not yet been worked out, however, as the outcome of the never-ending Minnesota race between Al Franken (D) and Norm Coleman (R) may determine the ratio of Democrats to Republicans on the committee. The leadership from both parties will need to come to agreement on the breakdown.

The committee lost Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who was booted from his seat in November as punishment for campaigning for Republican presidential candidate John McCain. It also lost Republicans John Warner (Va.) and Larry Craig (Idaho) to retirement. No word yet on who will replace them.

Senate Environment Committee gets rolling in 111th Congress

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said on Wednesday that she has been consulting with incoming Obama administration officials on a climate plan, though she didn't give a sense of when to expect a new bill this year.

"I will be putting out basic principles shortly," Boxer told reporters. "I wanted to have some consultation [with the incoming administration]." As for when to expect a new bill, Boxer said only that her committee will begin working on one "as soon as it makes sense."

She was also asked about what sort of green stimulus to expect in the upcoming economic package, and said that while she didn't give specifics, she foresees it including green measures. "I'm very optimistic we'll have some green jobs in this proposal, but I can't say how many."

Boxer's committee kicked off the 111th Congress on Wednesday with a briefing on "Investing in Green Technology as a Strategy for Economic Recovery," featuring New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and clean-tech investor John Doerr, a partner at legendary venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The two guests urged the committee to push for a price on carbon and massive investments in the research and development of new energy technologies.