White House says it’s confident that Senate will pass comprehensive energy legislation

October 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama's top aide on climate change acknowledged that legislation requiring major reductions in global-warming emissions is unlikely to pass Congress before December's Copenhagen summit on climate change. Carol Browner, director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy, said Friday in Washington that completion of the legislative process before Obama attends the Copenhagen meeting "is not going to happen", The New York Times reported early Saturday on its website.

October 2nd, 2009 Obama adviser says no climate change law this yearWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's top energy adviser says there is no way Congress will be able to pass a bill on climate change this year. "That's not going to happen," the adviser, Carol Browner, said Friday.

September 16th, 2009 White House: Senate health bill a 'building block'WASHINGTON — The White House says a health care reform bill from a key Senate committee is "an important building block" in getting closer to comprehensive health care reform. Sen. Max Baucus released the long-awaited version of the bill from his Senate Finance committee Wednesday.

September 10th, 2009 Top US official: Climate bill urgently neededWASHINGTON — With negotiations on a new international climate treaty proving difficult, the Obama administration's chief climate negotiator on Thursday called on the Senate to act as soon as possible and pass legislation to control the gases blamed for global warming. Todd Stern, the State Department's special envoy for climate change, told a House panel that it was critical for the Senate to pass legislation to give the U.S.

August 19th, 2009 Bipartisan health talks to continue by phoneWASHINGTON — A key Democratic committee chairman involved in talks on a compromise health care plan said Wednesday they are on track to reach agreement. A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he'd prefer a bipartisan deal but "patience is not unlimited." Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said his group of three Democrats and three Republicans "is on track to reach a bipartisan agreement on comprehensive health care reform" that can pass a divided Senate.

August 3rd, 2009 LaHood confident Senate will rescue car programWASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is predicting the Senate will pass legislation adding $2 billion to save a financially strapped "clash-for-clunkers" car-buying program. LaHood said Monday that the program has been "wildly popular" and argued that it is good for the economy as well as the environment.

July 7th, 2009 Obama officials urge Senate to act on climateWASHINGTON — Saying global warming poses unprecedented threats to Americans' way of life, four of President Barack Obama's top environmental and energy officials urged the Senate on Tuesday to pass legislation to reduce the pollution linked to the planet's rising temperature. The heads of the Energy Department, Agriculture Department, Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency told a Senate panel it should pass a bill similar to one the House narrowly cleared late last month.

July 2nd, 2009 Obama confident in recovery despite jobs reportWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Thursday that he remains confident the economy will turn around in the short term and the nation will prosper in the long term despite another dose of bad unemployment news. "And I'm absolutely confident that we can, at this period of difficulty, prove, once again, what this nation can achieve when challenged," Obama said in the Rose Garden after a meeting with executives from energy companies.

June 29th, 2009 White House announces new lighting standardsWASHINGTON — Aiming to keep the focus on climate change legislation, President Barack Obama put a plug in for administration efforts to make lamps and lighting equipment use less energy. "I know light bulbs may not seem sexy, but this simple action holds enormous promise because 7 percent of all the energy consumed in America is used to light our homes and businesses," the president said, standing alongside Energy Secretary Steven Chu at the White House.

June 27th, 2009 Obama: Energy bill is bold stepWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is calling House passage of an energy bill "a bold and necessary step.' And he says it holds promise for creating new industries and millions of new jobs. Obama says that the bill will reduce America's dependence on foreign oil and decrease the release of pollutants that lead to global warming.

June 27th, 2009 After House passage, climate bill faces more heatWASHINGTON — Sweeping legislation to curb the pollution linked to global warming and create a new energy-efficient economy is headed to an uncertain future in the Senate after squeaking through the House. The vote was a big win for President Barack Obama, who hailed House passage as a "historic action." "It's a bold and necessary step that holds the promise of creating new industries and millions of new jobs, decreasing our dangerous dependence on foreign oil and strictly limiting the release of pollutants that threaten the health of families and communities and the planet itself," Obama said in a statement.

June 25th, 2009 Obama: Now is time to pass climate change billWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is pressing again for passage of legislation that would confront the problem of global warming head-on. Speaking in the Rose Garden of the White House, Obama said Washington must not miss the opportunity to work on cleaning the air and at the same time creating new "green" energy jobs.

June 23rd, 2009 Obama pushes for energy measureWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is calling on members of the House to pass legislation that he says will "spark a clean energy transformation" and reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil. Obama told reporters at a Tuesday midday news conference that the legislation will also deal with the problem of pollution that causes global warming.

June 10th, 2009 House Republicans offer alternative energy billWASHINGTON — House Republicans are calling for a hundred new nuclear power plants to be built in the next two decades as part of legislation they say is a better alternative than one championed by Democrats. The legislation unveiled by the GOP Wednesday would increase production of oil and gas offshore, fast-track refinery construction and establish a trust fund using oil and gas royalties to invest in renewable energy.

April 23rd, 2009 Democrats want speedy health care debateWASHINGTON — Democrats controlling the House went on record again Wednesday in favor of advancing health care legislation while allowing only limited debate, which would minimize the ability of Republicans to wrest concessions on one of President Barack Obama's top domestic priorities. By a 227-196 vote, the House affirmed Democrats' plans to move health care legislation under rules that block Republicans in the Senate from being able to slow — or even stop — it from proceeding.