This Week on the Hill
Congress returns from the July 4th holiday this week and will begin the process of wrapping up business for the upcoming August recess and Presidential campaign season. While the Climate Security Act met its demise in June, there is still plenty of deliberating on energy in the Committees on both sides of the Capitol.
The highest profile hearing will likely take place in the Energy and Air Quality subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday at 10 AM where a hearing on the Carbon Capture and Storage Early Deployment Act will be held {webcast}. The witness list has not been released at this time.
Chairman Boucher recently introduced H.R. 6258, a bill which would accelerate the development and early deployment of carbon capture and storage systems to utilities. Some environmental groups have expressed their opposition to the bill, but the legislation has gained an important mix of Republican (including ranking member Barton) and Democratic co-sponsors. With Chairman Boucher still promising to produce a bill this year, it is likely that H.R. 6258 will serve as a marker for how coal state Democrats can find agreement with a hard cap on carbon.
Tags: CCS