Activists from environmental watchdog Greenpeace and Oxfam protest outside the Asian Development Bank during a climate change summit on June 16, in Manila, Philippines. The activists want the lending agency to help countries take a low-carbon development path. (Photo by Jay Directo/AFP/Getty Images)
DENVER -
Colorado's junior U.S. senator offered no guarantees Saturday that a bill limiting pollution linked to global warming would emerge from the Senate in a form resembling its passage one day earlier by the House of Representatives.
"I think that anybody that predicts either the success or the failure of the bill, standing here right now, probably has a crystal ball that is a lot better than mine," said U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet.
He made his remarks while touring the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory at the Colorado School of Mines, in Golden.
"I think it's going to be a very vigorous debate, and I wouldn't be able to predict whether it will pass or not, to be honest with you," Bennet added. "You've got a bill that in the House passed by just a sliver or a margin, of seven votes. I hope, as I always do, that we can produce something in the Senate that has broad bi-partisan support."
The House vote was 219 to 212, with the Colorado Congressional delegation supporting it 4-3; U.S. Rep. John Salazar (Colorado- 3rd C.D.) crossed the aisle to vote with the state's two Republicans on the measure.
President Barack Obama had hailed House passage of the bill, which calls for the nation's first limits on pollution tied to global warming, saying it had put the U.S. on a path toward leading the way to "creating a 21st Century global economy."
Bennet said yesterday that Colorado is poised to play a prominent role in the clean-energy future that Obama sees as being not only key to a healthier environmental future, but also integral to a resurgence in the nation's economy.
"I really think Colorado i s already positioned to be the leader," said Bennet. "It doesn't mean we will be. It's going to take the kind of people I was meeting with today, and their vision, to move us forward.
"This state is uniquely positioned, because of our natural resources our fossil fuels and also our renewable energy."
The Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory is a joint venture of the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, the Colorado School of Mines, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. During his visit Saturday, Bennet was briefed on research done there to accelerate the transfer of clean-energy technologies to the market, to create new jobs and lay a foundation for Colorado's new energy economy.
Salazar, in voting against the bill, said it placed a "disproportionate burden" on people living on Colorado's Western Slope, and said he would have supported it had it included an expansion of coal and nuclear energy.
Bennet acknowledged that consideration of the bill in the Senate would require that fair consideration be given to those invested in, and dependent upon, traditional energy economics.
"One of the things we talked about this morning was how well our abundant natural gas resources would tie together with our renewable energy with the wind and sun," Bennet said.
"Those are intermittent sources of energy. Those don't run all the time. It's not always sunny. It's not always windy. And we've go the opportunity in Colorado to open up new markets for our natural gas, at the same time we're building this new energy economy."
Keith Hay, who lobbied Colorado's Congressional delegation for Environment Colorado, called House passage of the bill "an important first step," although he lamented its renewable energy standard as not being strong enough.
"By passing this bill out of the House and sending to the Senate, by taking that first step, we send a signal to the rest of the world, that America is once again returning to a leadership position in addressing climate change," said Hay.
"There are a lot of jobs that will be built in the green energy economy as a result of this. But, we'll work in the Senate to strengthen the renewable energy standard. And, thankfully, we have a champion like (U.S. Sen.) Mark Udall, to help move it."
"I think that anybody that predicts either the success or the failure of the bill, standing here right now, probably has a crystal ball that is a lot better than mine," said U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet.
He made his remarks while touring the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory at the Colorado School of Mines, in Golden.
"I think it's going to be a very vigorous debate, and I wouldn't be able to predict whether it will pass or not, to be honest with you," Bennet added. "You've got a bill that in the House passed by just a sliver or a margin, of seven votes. I hope, as I always do, that we can produce something in the Senate that has broad bi-partisan support."
The House vote was 219 to 212, with the Colorado Congressional delegation supporting it 4-3; U.S. Rep. John Salazar (Colorado- 3rd C.D.) crossed the aisle to vote with the state's two Republicans on the measure.
President Barack Obama had hailed House passage of the bill, which calls for the nation's first limits on pollution tied to global warming, saying it had put the U.S. on a path toward leading the way to "creating a 21st Century global economy."
Bennet said yesterday that Colorado is poised to play a prominent role in the clean-energy future that Obama sees as being not only key to a healthier environmental future, but also integral to a resurgence in the nation's economy.
"I really think Colorado i s already positioned to be the leader," said Bennet. "It doesn't mean we will be. It's going to take the kind of people I was meeting with today, and their vision, to move us forward.
"This state is uniquely positioned, because of our natural resources our fossil fuels and also our renewable energy."
The Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory is a joint venture of the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, the Colorado School of Mines, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. During his visit Saturday, Bennet was briefed on research done there to accelerate the transfer of clean-energy technologies to the market, to create new jobs and lay a foundation for Colorado's new energy economy.
Salazar, in voting against the bill, said it placed a "disproportionate burden" on people living on Colorado's Western Slope, and said he would have supported it had it included an expansion of coal and nuclear energy.
Bennet acknowledged that consideration of the bill in the Senate would require that fair consideration be given to those invested in, and dependent upon, traditional energy economics.
"One of the things we talked about this morning was how well our abundant natural gas resources would tie together with our renewable energy with the wind and sun," Bennet said.
"Those are intermittent sources of energy. Those don't run all the time. It's not always sunny. It's not always windy. And we've go the opportunity in Colorado to open up new markets for our natural gas, at the same time we're building this new energy economy."
Keith Hay, who lobbied Colorado's Congressional delegation for Environment Colorado, called House passage of the bill "an important first step," although he lamented its renewable energy standard as not being strong enough.
"By passing this bill out of the House and sending to the Senate, by taking that first step, we send a signal to the rest of the world, that America is once again returning to a leadership position in addressing climate change," said Hay.
"There are a lot of jobs that will be built in the green energy economy as a result of this. But, we'll work in the Senate to strengthen the renewable energy standard. And, thankfully, we have a champion like (U.S. Sen.) Mark Udall, to help move it."
