The Senate today will vote on a Republican measure limiting the president’s authority to set national monuments and a Democratic proposal to set national energy efficiency standards, as the chamber tries to finish work on a bipartisan energy package by week’s end.
Senators will vote this afternoon on an amendment by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) to sunset national monument designations after three years unless Congress and the monument’s home state enact legislation to make them permanent.
A second amendment by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) to the broad energy legislation (S. 2012) would create a national energy efficiency resource standard.
Both amendments will have to surpass a 60-vote threshold for approval — a bar that Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said backers are unlikely to meet.
“We will see how the votes go out, but I think you’ve noted the obvious — that there is some controversy associated with both of them,” she told E&E Daily last night.
However, Murkowski noted that both amendments represent priorities of both parties and reflect her push with ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) to maintain the bipartisan spirit that carried S. 2012 through committee last summer on an 18-4 vote.
“What we’re trying to do is put together a process that is viewed as fair by both sides,” she said. “So if you’ve got a tough one on the D side, maybe you pair it with a tough one on the R side.”
Read Full Article => ENERGY POLICY: Senate to vote on monuments, efficiency standard — Tuesday, February 2, 2016 — www.eenews.net