Q & A: On the Hot Seat

Related Content

Energy and Environment Policy Briefing

• Overview: Congress Works Toward Energy Compromise

What are the prospects for passing comprehensive energy legislation in Congress this year and what will the bill likely contain?

• Bingaman: Energy Bill to Tackle Key Issues
• Murkowski: Outlook for Passing Legislation Is Positive

Is it possible to reconcile the need for economic development in industrial areas with the need to protect the planet?

• Brown: Clean Energy Can Bolster Industry

What will the climate change debate in the House be like this year?

• Upton: Energy Policies Must Preserve the Economy

What is the state of our national parks and how do the health of our national parks affect the climate change debate?

• Grijalva: Parks Undergoing Climate Change
• Bishop: Existing Parks Must Be Enjoyable, Maintained

What do your experiences working in the energy industry tell you about where the debate on energy policy should be headed?

• McNerney: We Need New Energy Technologies
• Teague: Energy Plan Must Push Variety of Technologies

Print

E-Mail

Reprints

Text Size

Latest News

• Democrats Confident as Marathon Saturday Session Begins
• Democrats Leaving No GOP Health Care Critique Unchallenged
• Obama Reports on Asia Trip as GOP Hits Health Bill Effort
• Despite Ailing Mother, Baucus Will Return for Saturday Vote
• White House Strongly Backs Reid’s Health Reform Bill

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) arrived in the House in 1977, the same year Jimmy Carter became president. Carter was determined to enact strong energy legislation, and even as a junior Member, Markey was a key Congressional partner.

Now with Barack Obama in the White House and committed to enacting energy reform and climate change legislation, Markey, from his perch as chairman of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, is once again a major player in the debate. With Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), he has introduced a sweeping bill on climate change that House leaders hope to move quickly.

Markey spoke last week with Roll Call Executive Editor Morton M. Kondracke about the legislation and the evolution of the debates over energy and the environment in Congress through the years.

ROLL CALL EXECUTIVE EDITOR MORTON M. KONDRACKE: Let’s go to the [climate change] bill. The schedule, as I understood it, was that you’re hoping for a vote in the House by Memorial Day.

REP. ED MARKEY: I don’t know. The Speaker announced her intention to have a vote on the House floor before we break for the August recess.

ROLL CALL: Before August recess. OK.

MARKEY: [Energy and Commerce Chairman] Henry Waxman [D-Calif.] and I have announced our intention to complete consideration of the bill by Memorial Day in the Energy and Commerce Committee.

ROLL CALL: What is the schedule between now and Memorial Day?

MARKEY: [This] week we are going to commence an intensive series of hearings, beginning with the secretary of Energy and the secretary of Transportation. So it will be Steven Chu, Ray LaHood and Lisa Jackson, the administrator of the EPA, and we will proceed day by day, having these comprehensive hearings on the legislation that we are now considering for markup.

ROLL CALL: This is your subcommittee or the full committee?

MARKEY: That’s the subcommittee. Well, again, Henry and I are working together on this. Part of it might be full committee, part of it might be subcommittee, but we’re working hand in glove to just construct the best strategy for all of the hearings. It’s still to be determined, but we might have six hearings in one week. It’s still to be determined.

ROLL CALL: The Senate voted specifically that cap-and-trade was not going to be part of reconciliation. Do you need it to be part of reconciliation to get it passed?

MARKEY: No, we are going to put the legislation through the regular process.

ROLL CALL: What do you rate the chances in the Senate?

MARKEY: I think the chances in the Senate will very much be guided by the action in the House. We’re working to create formulas to deal with the impact the legislation would have upon trade-exposed energy- intensive industries. We are working to create a formula to deal with the impact on electricity ratepayers so that they are protected, and we are working on other parts of the legislation that ultimately, if formulas can be constructed, will enhance the likelihood that the legislation could pass in the Senate as well.

ROLL CALL: The president said recently that he wanted it this year, but he said he was willing to have a gradual phase-in of cap-and-trade, in order to help it pass. Does that mean that they’re talking about extending the dates? What are they talking about?