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Many congressional Democrats are defending the EPAs latest move to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions at power plants around the country despite ferocious pushback from Republicans and skepticism from industry allies.

In interviews Thursday, Democrats downplayed the proposed regulations political consequences. They also shrugged off concerns that the new policy would lead to job losses.

Those reactions sent a clear a signal that climate hawks are ready to trade such unknowns for the certainty of a rapid decarbonization of the atmosphere, a necessity for meaningfully addressing global warming.

The job of the government, and the EPA, is to protect human health and safety, said Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) on Thursday afternoon.

Coal is in many ways a threat to that, he said. And what weve done is provided incentives for the private sector to develop technologies that would address that.

The draft rules EPA rolled out Thursday morning would require new and existing full-time gas plants to capture 90 percent of their emissions by 2035.

Existing coal-fired power plants would need to hit that 90 percent target in 2030, but only if they were set to remain online in 2040; more and more coal operations are being phased out in the transition away from fossil fuels.

In a call with reporters the day before the announcement, EPA Administrator Michael Regan acknowledged some coal plants would need to close as a result of the new standards.

Fossil fuel industry representatives and their backers on Capitol Hill said the Biden administration was handing them an unworkable and unfair hand.

This is just so extreme, and all Ive asked for with the administration is a transitional period. This is not a transition, said Senate Environment and Public Works Committee ranking member Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who is pledging to lead an effort in Congress to repeal the rule when finalized.

For utilities that want to remain active once the updated emissions standards are in effect, they would need to deploy carbon capture technology or hydrogen infrastructure to meet the emissions reduction standards.

The Inflation Reduction Act provided a massive investment to incentivize the use of carbon capture and storage projects, which could help in the movement towards meeting the new EPA mandate in the years ahead.

But carbon capture technology is still relatively nascent, and its efficacy remains something of an open question. Technological advances will be needed for large-scale deployment and to guarantee desired results.

Capito argued that it remains prohibitively expensive and not sufficient at doing its intended job.

Peters, a longtime proponent of investments in the technology, countered that EPA was being acting appropriately in asking industry to embrace certain innovations if they wanted to remain active.

What can we do to make this feasible? Weve done a lot already, he said. For years, people have been saying, We can do clean coal through carbon capture. Its up to the coal industry to prove that it can do it clean. It may be relatively expensive. But at least theyll have a shot with advances in the carbon capture technology.

Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), who helped secure the expanded carbon capture tax credit in the Inflation Reduction Act known as 45Q, said the EPA proposed rulemaking would spur the necessary innovations in the coming years.

Where theres a will, theres a way, and were developing the will to get this done, Smith said.

What we see over and over again is the legacy energy companies tell us that if we push towards more innovation everything is going to go to hell in a handbasket. And then what happens is they innovate, they catch up, they figure it out. If they want to be a part of the energy future, theyre gonna have to figure this out.

Sen. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), the former chair of the now-disbanded House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, agreed that technological advances were necessary, pointing to other emissions-heavy sectors.

What Im hoping is, this really aids in the technology for industrial carbon capture because right now we really dont know how to make steel and cement and other industrial products with carbon capture, Castor explained. We dont know how to restrain their emissions. And were gonna need cement and steel so thats my hope.

The jurys still out if the technology is really mature enough to help reduce carbon pollution at power plants, she continued, but I think this does, with the incentives provided in the IRA that I think it could be the incentive to find some of the solutions we desperately need.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who has made combating the climate crisis a centerpiece of his legislative portfolio, dismissed those concerns entirely.

I visited Saskatchewan with Lindsey Graham back in 2015 to see a carbon capture facility operating successfully there at a power plant, he tweeted regarding a tour of the Canadian city he took with the Republican senator from South Carolina. This can be done.

Whitehouse also told E&E News he was unsympathetic to Republican gripes generally, that because the Republican Party is essentially the political wing of the fossil fuel industry, were gonna see fossil fuel antagonism to all these clean energy policy manifest no matter what. So we might as well get on with it.

Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) was similarly sanguine Thursday, suggesting his hope was that the proposed EPA rule would actually spur an end to gas- and coal-fired plants entirely.

I prefer a clean energy transformation, where we focus on large-scale deployment of renewables and the transmission of infrastructure to support that transmission along with utility-scale storage, said Levin, who is working on a permitting reform proposal that would deal entirely with speeding up work on clean energy projects.

I understand that as we transition to electrification and decarbonization that were going to need a legacy generation of fossil, he continued, and to the extent that we can have a cleaner fossil fuel fleet and use whatever best available technologies exist and continue to refine it, I think thats all positive.

Indeed, many environmentalists view Regans announcement Thursday as a largely designed to force industry to adapt if not through adopting new technologies to cut down on emissions, then through phasing out fossil fuels entirely.

Many Republicans and Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) have this interpretation of the proposed rulemaking.

This will shut down every coal fired power plant in my state and throw thousands of people out of jobs, said Capito. Theyre answering a call of a political agenda.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a senior member of ENR, agreed, adding that the White House was heading down a treacherous path.

You cant even have a discussion and a dialogue because theyre not willing to dial it back at all, she said of the Biden administrations aggressive climate agenda. Its not about accommodating Republicans. Its like, recognizing that as country, were all in a different place here. And were not. And thats whats making it hard right now.

See more here:
Democrats defend the unknown in EPA power plan - E&E News

Although Norcross said he would do whatever he asks me to do if Sweeney runs for governor, he also acknowledged the locus of political power rests north of Interstate 95 where a handful of other potential candidates for governor live and, presumably, would lock up support from leaders of Democratic-rich areas. Sweeney would be expected to secure party backing south of that dividing line, a large swath of the state Norcross has commanded but is far less populated and increasingly running red.

Other possible candidates who would be competing for Democratic Party support to secure the organizational line giving them preferred ballot positioning in each county include Reps. Josh Gottheimer of Bergen County and Mikie Sherrill of Essex County. Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop announced his candidacy last month, gaining the support of Hudson County chair Anthony Vainieri. Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin of Middlesex County and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka are also widely seen as possible candidates.

Hes got to get a line up north, said one South Jersey Democratic leader who, like others who spoke to POLITICO, was granted anonymity to talk candidly about Sweeneys prospects.

At this point, Sweeneys best chances in the north would be in Bergen or Hudson if Gottheimer or Fulop flame out, this person said. Irrespective of those two things happening, it is going to be tough.

Sweeney and Norcross, a friend since childhood, formed an effective and long-running political alliance that saw Sweeney lead the Senate for a record 12 years. But the stunning defeat of Sweeney and his two Assembly running mates in 2021 was catastrophic to the South Jersey political apparatus, Norcross said. It has raised questions ever since whether Sweeney could mount a successful gubernatorial run.

Sweeney declined to comment in detail on his future plans, but has said hes considering running for governor just as he did seven years ago.

Many different scenarios could play out between now and 2025, and alliances are always subject to change. And Sweeney could benefit from a fracturing of North Jersey Democrats, giving him an opportunity to run as an alternative to progressives such as Fulop.

New Jersey is a moderate state, Sweeney said in an interview Monday. I dont think the states going to get more progressive.

But as Murphys sudden ascendance from long shot to front-runner showed in late 2016, it is a faction of party bosses who wield great influence in who becomes the gubernatorial nominee.

Sweeney and Fulop were both expected to duel for the nomination in the 2017 primary, but they each dropped out before officially declaring. Fulop shelved his plans and endorsed Murphy, who soon gained the endorsements of county leaders in North and Central Jersey, prompting Sweeneys exit.

The 2025 race would be no different, Democrats say.

If there wasnt a path in 2017, what circumstances create a path now? a Democratic consultant said.

This time around, a few Democratic leaders are seen as key voices in the next primary: Middlesex County chair Kevin McCabe and his close ally Gary Taffet; Senate President Nick Scutari, who is also chair of Union County Democrats; and Sen. Vin Gopal, an influential voice in the states fifth-most populous county, Monmouth.

They decide who the next nominee is going to be, said one Democrat close to high-level deliberations about 2025. The one person it cant be is Sweeney, because of George [Norcross].

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Sweeney's 2025 path narrows with Norcross 'in the backseat ... - POLITICO

With more Americans expressing their disapproval of President Joe Biden in recent months, according to the latest polling analysis, why arent the Democrats lining up to challenge him?

Its a question that appears to be on the minds of many observers and punditsand voters, tooamid polling that shows most Americans dont want Biden to run again. Bidens low favorability, coupled with his advanced ageanother point of concern for manymight have been enough to make the case for an intra-party presidential challenge.

But it appears the Democrats are committed to a second Biden presidencyan indication that they might be looking to play it safe and maximize their chance of defeating a resurgent Donald Trump, who remains a popular pick among conservative voters, says Costas Panagopoulos, head of Northeasterns political science department.

Its very risky for a party to challenge its own leader, Panagopoulos says. It has the potential to do lots of damage, especially when its an intra-party challenge to an incumbent president, who should presumably carry the banner forward for the party.

Indeed, history has shown that intra-party challenges to an incumbent president often lead to messy outcomes for the party in question. Ted Kennedys challenge to Jimmy Carter in 1980 did lasting damage to the Democratic Party that culminated in Carters landslide defeat to Ronald Reagan. On the Republican side, intra-party challenges to Gerald Ford in 1976 (Reagan), and to George H. W. Bush in 1992 (Pat Buchanan), resulted in similar outcomes.

The lessons that emerged from those historical examples may well serve the Democrats in the present momentthat even amid low favorability, challenges from within an incumbent presidents own party are fools errands, Panagopoulos says.

In each of those instances, the consensus is that [those intra-party challenges] may have hurt the incumbent[s] and played some role in the fact that they were not re-elected, he says.

The lack of Democratic challengers in 2024 and the resurgence of Trump may also signal a real leadership vacuum in both parties for future leaders, Panagopoulos says. In which case, there could be a real opportunity for some ambitious politicians, who want to raise their national visibility, to start to attract some attention by launching presidential bids. Even if said contenders fall short in 2024, the newfound popularity could set themselves up to be at the head of the pack in a future race. Ron DeSantis expected presidential bid might typify this line of thinking.

But, for aspiring Democrats, such a move risks party fracture on the order of Kennedy-Carter, Panagopoulos says. Of course, for the Dems it would come with the very significant risk of trying to topple a sitting president, he says.

Moreover, Panagopoulos says that measures of presidential popularity should be tempered by the culture of polarization at present, which runs deeper than any one personany one president.

The degree to which [intra-party challenge] is a liability may be changing in an era of polarized politics, where we shouldnt reasonably expect ones popularity to go much higher than Bidens is at present, Panagopoulos says.

There are also examples of [presidents] doing quite well with low favorability ratings overall, because their intra-party popularity is so high, he continues, citing Trump and George W. Bushwho also had limited favorability prior to an upswing in popularity following 9/11as examples.

But Bidens age has become a real sticking point for many voters (the president would be 86 by the end of a second term). The question of how old is too old, fraught though it may be, applies to other prominent Democrats with presidential resumes, including U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vermont, whose previous bids for high office during 2016 and 2020 earned him considerable support among the more liberal side of the base. Concerns about Trumps advanced ageas well as the ages of several senior U.S. lawmakerscontinue to echo as well.

Theres still plenty of time for Biden, whose campaign for re-election is already underway, to reverse course, should the polling suggest that it would be better for another Democrat to take the reins, Panagopoulos says. It also depends, he says, on who emerges at the top of the Republican ticket.

Ultimately, Panagopoulos says, those decisions will come down to several fundamental factors.

A lot still hinges on the economy and what the economy will look like next spring and summer, as well as Bidens favorability, Panagopoulos says. Weve got quite a long way to go before those fundamentals are settled in the psyche of the electorate.

Tanner Stening is a Northeastern Global News reporter. Email him at t.stening@northeastern.edu. Follow him on Twitter @tstening90.

Original post:
Why Aren't Any Democrats Challenging Biden in the 2024 Election? - Northeastern University

Senate Republicans and Democrats held the first formal meeting since the start of a Republican lead quorum-denying walkout that has lasted eight days.

Both parties remained tight-lipped Wednesday about what happened during that meeting. Both released a written statement saying only, "We met, we had a conversation, we are planning on additional conversations.

Senate President Rob Wagner's (D-Lake Oswego) Communications office noted that Wagner was present at the meeting along with Senator Tim Knopp (R-Bend), Senate Majority Leader Kate Lieber (D-Portland), House Speaker, Dan Rayfield (D-Corvallis), House Minority Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson (R-Prineville) and House Majority Leader Julie Fahey (D-Eugene).

Senate Republicans initially claimed the walkout, which happened just as the chamber was set to vote on a controversial reproductive rights measure, was over what they claim to be a violation of a Senate Rule on Bill readability.

They stuck to that claim till Sunday, May 7 at which point Knopp was quoted by local media outlets saying Republicans wanted Democrats to kill 20 bills before ending the walkout. He confirmed those claims to KATU on May 8 but denied any inconsistency in the Republicans' stance.

Lieber has said the party is willing to entertain a "wish list" but not a "kill list."

When asked by KATU reporter Christina Giardinelli what that might look like seeing as how a slew of Republican-led bills never got a committee hearing, she stated some bills are still alive.

"More importantly there is a budget that is still alive," she said.

Pacific University Political Science Professor Jim Moore said based on past walkouts the negotiations are not likely to lead to a compromise.

"When we have seen these in the past, and remember this (walkouts) has been happening for four years there has only been one time when kind of a clear bargain was struck and Republicans got votes on four bills and Democrats then said okay you can get the vote on the bills but we get to do these three things as well," he said.

However, one thing playing out in Democrat's favor this session is voter-approved Ballot Measure 113 which bars lawmakers with 10 or more unexcused absences from running for reelection. Republicans have vowed to challenge the measure's constitutionality if it gets to that.

Four Republicans have racked up eight unexcused absences so far, six have racked up five, two have zero unexcused absences with one being excused for medical reasons since before the walkout, and one has three unexcused absences. The four Senators with eight absences are set to reach 10 by Friday, Moore says this could speed up the negotiation process. He said he expects a decision will be made by the end of the week.

He said that may look like both parties agreeing to come to the table just to pass the budget with other bills either dying or perhaps being revived last minute.

Read more:
Democrats, Republicans tight lipped after first meeting over walkout - KPIC News

Logan County Democrats and their guests socialize before the meal at the Call to Action Dinner April 29, 2023. (Sara Waite/Journal-Advocate)

Some special guests attended the Logan County Democrats Call to Action Dinner at Jake Uhrig VFW Post #3541 on April 29.

In addition to the keynote speaker, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, the event also welcomed a team of officers from the state party, including newly elected state chair Shad Murib.

Murib noted that he, first vice chair Indira Duggirala and vice chair of party operations Jarrod Munger, had spent the day on the Eastern Plains, with stops in Fort Morgan, Sedgwick and Yuma prior to their visit to Sterling.

Its extremely important for the state party to be involved in rural politics, Murib said, adding that for too long, the party had focused solely on the Front Range.

He vowed to help build programs that have you in mind and to coordinate efforts in elections at every level.

Were going to find ways to succeed and send a message to (Congressional District 4 representative) Ken Buck, he said.

To that end, the guest list also included two Democrat candidates vying for Bucks seat in 2024: Ike McCorkle and John Padora. Both candidates briefly introduced themselves and spoke about their reasons for running.

After enjoying dinner, Griswold stepped up to the podium and spoke about the right to vote, which she called the foundational freedom that allows us to have a society where Americans can live the lives that they want.

Where you can hopefully achieve your American dream, whatever that means work hard, create what you want for your life. Where you can love who you love. Where you can have control over your body. Where you can decide when to have kids for yourself.

She recalled coming to Logan County as a young, first-time candidate for a fundraiser, and her impression that it is a place where people across the political spectrum can come together to find solutions, and thats what democracy really is all about.

She noted her efforts during her first term to pass the largest democracy reform package in the nation.

We added more access, we added more security, we passed automatic voter registration, we increased drop boxes by over 65 percent. We passed parolee re-enfranchisement, and started to shine light on the dark money that I really think corrodes our democracy and our politics, she said. And all of those improvements continue. Last year, I worked with the county clerks and the clerks association to pass protection for election workers against doxxing, threats and retaliation.

Griswold said that while democracy has been under attack from extremists and election deniers who have filed hundreds of bills over the last several years to suppress voting rights, she remains optimistic about the future.

Although we see the effects of extremism on womens bodies, on the questions of marriage equality, on the attack on democracy itself, why Im so optimistic is that theres good people like you guys, Republicans, Democrats and unaffiliateds, who are coming together across the nation to defeat it, she said.

She suspects the effects of extremism will continue over the next few years, but Im so confident that Americans will continue to come together to reject it, and well get through this phase in American history, she said.

Griswold said shes honored to serve as Secretary of State.

Its a wonderful honor every single day to think about how are we making the right to vote more accessible to every single Coloradans, and its an honor to fight for all of our fundamental freedoms as Secretary of State, she said.

While she noted that she was the first Democrat to win the Secretary of State seat in 60 years, her speech had a non-partisan tilt.

What were up against, it isnt our Republican neighbors. It is not that, she said. Republicans and Democrats and unaffiliateds, its ok if we have different policy thoughts; thats how this country is set up. We have different policy disagreements, but we come together, we cast our ballots, when the elections are over we come together as Americans. So as we look to the next two years, next four years, remember to be kind to our neighbors. Remember that if someone disagrees with you, it doesnt mean theyre a bad person, and remember that fundamentally, were all Americans working hopefully to preserve this great country we have.

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Griswold decries attacks on voting rights at Logan County Democrats Call to Action Dinner - Journal Advocate