A U.S. Senate compromise bill, offered by Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman and Democratic Senator John Kerry, would cut greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent by 2020. The legislation faces a challenge for passage in the Senate this year, having garnered no Republican sponsors.
The legislation also provides incentives for offshore drilling, but in light of the recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill, includes protection for states that do not want drilling off their shore. Incentives for an expansion of nuclear power generation are also included.
The bill aims to support promises President Obama made to world leaders in December that the U.S. would finally be determined to concentrate on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
As the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection prepares to issue 5,000 Marcellus Shale gas drilling permits this year, only one Democratic gubernatorial candidate in the May 18, 2010 Pennsylvania primary is calling for a moratorium on issuing new permits in a state that strongly supports gas drilling. Former Congressman Joe Hoeffel says the natural gas industry should deal with concerns about wastewater contamination before DEP issues additional permits. Gas drilling is a “pretty serious challenge” to the drinking water supply in communities, he says.
At the same time liberal Upstate New York Rep. Maurice Hinchey, 71, championed strict control over gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale, his wife lobbied for a Texas-based landmen association whose members represent gas drillers securing leases from New York property owners. Hinchey claimed that he was unaware of his wife’s lobbying on behalf of the landmen.
