White House Clean Energy Summit

President Obama is hosting a 'White House Clean Energy Summit (6/29/2010) to bring together a bipartisan group of Senate energy leaders to the White House to craft comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation.

Heather Zichal, Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change, hosted a live chat on WhiteHouse.gov to take your questions on energy and climate change legislation. The session laste 24 minutes. The White House Facebook chat was bombarded with questions and comments long after Ms. Zichal signed off. There were some complaints about the shortness of the session.

President Obama is continuing with his recommendation to put a price on greenhouse gases. Kerry and Lieberman released a climate bill last month that capped greenhouse gases from power plants, transportation and trade-sensitive manufacturers but it is doubtful that it can get 60 Senate votes.

Republican Senators Lamar Alexander, Susan Collins, Judd Gregg, Richard Lugar, Lisa Murkowski, Olympia Snowe and George Voinovich attended the White House meeting. The want "a national energy tax off the table in the middle of a recession.” They want reduce American dependence on oil from hostile countries.

There was a partisan National Clean Energy Summit in August 2009 too that brought together public and private sector thought leaders. It was hosted by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Politico, 6/29/2010)