Ron Wyden: Friend of the Environment? Or Republicans?

Portland Mercury:

Remember Global Climate Change? Yeah, it hasn’t gone away. But you wouldn’t know that by looking at some recent moves by Senator Ron Wyden. Enviros say the Democrat, lately, has been part of the problem, not the solution. Wyden sits on the senate energy committee. He’s the next highest-ranking Democrat behind New Mexico’s Jeff Bingaman, who chairs it. Last month the committee began hearing Bingaman’s new clean energy bill. Enviros love this bill. Wyden is co-sponsoring it (and so are a lot of other Democrats). But even though he supports the chairman's bill, Wyden told Politico he has concerns about keeping energy prices low. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) — who is co-sponsoring Bingaman’s plan and is next in line to replace him as top Democrat on the panel — said he supports “the basic proposition” of the bill, but noted concerns about keeping energy prices low and giving states flexibility to meet the standard. Okay, that sounds great, it’s a recession and all, but… Let's not forget that, on numerous occasions, Wyden has shown his willingness to team up with Republicans, often to the confounded dismay of fellow Democrats. Remember that whole Medicare thing? This time the Wyden/Republican tag team effort is about clean energy. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

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