Obama May Put Renewable-Energy Plan Ahead of Climate Package

Bloomberg.com: Worldwide

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- President-elect Barack Obama may pursue legislation early next year to speed a transition to an economy fueled by renewable energy sources and delay a fight on climate change until the economy improves.

With unemployment at a five-year high, an early effort to create jobs by encouraging electricity production from solar and wind will get top priority, energy lobbyists and analysts said. A more far-reaching effort on a climate-change bill may be delayed until late next year or 2010.

``He will put forward an energy bill ahead of a climate bill,'' said Kateri Callahan, president of the Alliance to Save Energy, an energy advocacy group in Washington that represents 3M Co., Areva SA and Dow Chemical Co. ``That bill will stimulate the economy toward development and use of energy efficiency and clean energy sources and technology.''
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Obama has ``found a formula that he's been pitching to the American people that I think would get a lot of traction in Congress, which is to get unemployed manual labor allocated to installing solar panels,'' said Friedman Billings analyst Book.

The transition to a low-carbon economy will yield many opportunities to create jobs, said Senator Jeff Bingaman, a New Mexico Democrat who chairs the Senate energy committee.
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``Barack Obama could well put off a costly and regressive surcharge until later in 2009 or 2010, leaving Congress to shoulder the burden,'' Book said. ``On the day that he is elected, cap and trade will fall to No. 10 on his list of top 10 priorities and won't come back until the economy does.''