(Host) Congressman Peter Welch has helped the Obama administration and House Democratic leaders round up votes for a major climate change bill.
The bill is still being debated in the House at this hour.
As VPR’s Ross Sneyd reports, Welch was enlisted to address his colleagues’ concerns and move the bill along.
(Sneyd) Welch is a strong supporter of the bill, which is supposed to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent in the next ten years, and by 80 percent by the next century.
But many members of Congress are leery of how that would be accomplished – primarily through a so-called cap-and-trade system.
Industry would be given limits on how much pollution they can release. They could buy and sell permission to release more pollution.
Most Republicans see that as little more than a tax. Some conservative and moderate Democrats worry that such a policy would cost jobs.
So Welch went to work to convert doubters into supporters.
(Welch) "We had dinners at my house, they were informal, you know, eating lasagna. And we’d have the blue dogs and the green dogs, so-called. And they were extremely helpful because in an informal atmosphere we started to understand each other’s concerns and the jobs concerns, frankly, I think are very, very meritorious. And we found ways to address them."
(Sneyd) Welch concedes that some jobs might be threatened. But he argues that new technology could end up promoting economic development and launching new industries.
(Welch) "We’ve got to embrace this as a job creation bill. The jobs of the future are in taking on the challenge of a new energy economy. And the irony here is it’s really a battle and a debate of hope versus fear. The fear argument is if we change, it’s going to hurt jobs. The hope argument is the acknowledgement if we set loose entrepreneurs and engineers and scientists and young people that we’re going to win this fight and in the process create jobs."
(Sneyd) There are some other items in the bill that Welch doesn’t like. He would have promoted renewable energy more aggressively. And he wouldn’t have included incentives for "clean coal" technology.
Welch sits on the committee that drafted the bill. So he was able to insert some provisions that were important to him. That includes some energy efficiency initiatives that are based on programs pioneered in Vermont.
Welch says any kind of major legislation like this is a balancing act and he’s pleased with the final product.
For VPR News, I’m Ross Sneyd.