Sen. Michael Bennet and the Democratic Party as a whole should not be afraid to shy away from bipartisanship in order to pass a strong comprehensive clean energy jobs bill, local environmental activists said yesterday.
Activists from 1Sky, Clean Energy Action and several other environmental groups staged a “Beat the Heat Summer Recess Party” in front of Bennet’s office yesterday afternoon. The event marked the first day of Bennet’s summer recess, and the activists said the recess party “was an appropriate way to remind him of the importance of millions of new clean energy jobs to American’s economy and future.”
“It seems to me that he’s been a little too cautious, as the Democrats have been in general,” said activist Dane Cobble. “It’s disappointing; they seem to all be very concerned with bipartisanship. What they should be concerned with is doing the right thing. If they do that, I think the American people will be very happy.”
Bennet touring state
For his part, Bennet spokesman Michael Amodeo said the Colorado Democratic senator is using some of his summer recess to travel around Colorado to talk with Coloradans about the state’s leadership role in the new energy economy — a term coined by Gov. Bill Ritter to describe Colorado’s position in the production and manufacturing of clean modern energy technologies.
“He believes that, done right, a climate and energy bill would spark robust growth in Colorado’s economy and create good, high-paying jobs as we transition to cleaner energy sources like natural gas, wind and solar,” said a statement from Amodeo. “Michael is working to make sure that any energy policy coming out of Washington works for Coloradans and their families.”
After the House passed climate legislation in June, several committees in the U.S. Senate have held hearings dedicated to a clean energy jobs bill. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has set a deadline of Sept. 28 for all committees to set their final drafts of the bill.
Micah Parkin of 1Sky, a national collaborative effort that’s fighting to address global warming at the grassroots’ level, said the Senate needs to pass the strongest climate control bill possible.
The “Waxman-Markey climate-control bill” that the U.S. House passed in June was a good start, but the piece of legislation needs some significant improvements, according to the activists.
Parkin and Roger Singer of the Colorado Sierra Club said they were disappointed that some of the oldest coal plants — which are among the worse admitters of greenhouse gases — would be grandfathered in under the House climate-control bill.
“We want this bill to succeed,” said Singer. “While the House cleared the first hurdle, the Senate can now improve this clean energy jobs bill.”
