Energy Bill Moving Forward, But Environmental Provisions Must be Fixed

WASHINGTON – The Senate is moving toward conferencing with the House on a major energy bill, after Energy and Natural Resources Committee ranking member Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) secured an agreement to remove provisions that were likely to draw a presidential veto.

Marc Boom, associate director of government affairs at the Natural Resources Defense Council, issued this statement in response:

“Sen. Cantwell deserves credit for sidelining the most egregious House provisions, such as one that would have reversed needed progress on energy efficiency and had the potential to increase energy consumption in our buildings. Now it’s up to members of the conference committee to deliver a bill that helps us build a clean energy economy. A key to that is fixing provisions undermining environmental protections, such as a Senate measure encouraging the burning of trees to make electricity. That’s unacceptable and flies in the face of the science. Forests aren’t fuels."

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The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 2 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City; Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Chicago; Bozeman, Montana; and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.