WASHINGTON – A Senate energy bill that failed to make it through the last Congress will be the starting point for talks in this Congress, top Senate staffers on the Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee say.
Speaking at the Energy & Environmental Symposium sponsored by the Faegre Baker Daniels consulting firm, Colin Hayes, ENR majority staff director, and the committee?s minority staff director, Angela Becker-Dippmann, sounded optimistic about the chances for agreement.
Both ENR Chairman Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and ranking minority member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., ?are still absolutely committed to finding common ground on as many issues and fixes for as many problems as they possibly can,? Hayes said. ?We are fortunate in that we have two years? worth of trust that has been built between Chairman Murkowski and ranking member Cantwell.?
Becker-Dippmann added that although ?there?s plenty our bosses don?t agree on,? the focus should be on ?the core set of policies where there?s room for improvement and agreement.?
For example, while her boss would like to consider putting a price on carbon generation, she said that?s not in the cards. ?Why don?t we move forward on some things we agree on?? she asked rhetorically.
Such issues include cybersecurity for the electricity grid and the energy sector?s need for skilled workers. ?We?ve all seen the demographic challenges the energy industry is about to face, as well as the need to update the skill sets and curricula for the 1.5 million jobs that are going to be appearing in the energy sector between now and 2030,? she said.
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