In Senate Shuffle, Landrieu Takes Over Energy & Natural Resources Committee

With Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) confirmed as the next US ambassador to China, there’s about to be a reshuffling of leadership in the Senate Energy & Natural Resources committee – a key committee for the renewable energy and environmental community.

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), who replaces Baucus as Chair of the  Senate Finance Committee, says a top priority will be extending the slew of energy efficiency and renewable energy tax credits that were allowed to expire at the end of last year. 

And who will take Wyden’s place as Chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee? One of the few remaining "blue-dog" Democrats – Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA). 

Landrieu is known for her bias toward the oil and gas industry – a fact of life for her constituents in Louisiana. She will be joined by Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), the top Republican on the committee who also tends to stand with fossil fuel interests.

A few key votes gives you an idea of Landrieu’s stance:

• She voted to approve the Keystone XL pipeline
• She was one of 4 Democrats who voted to permanently strip the EPA of its authority to limit greenhouse gas emissions and veto the agency’s scientific finding that climate change threatens public health and welfare.
• She was one of 4 Democrats to vote against eliminating fossil fuel subsidies
• She was one of 6 Democrats who urged Obama to give up on getting a cap-and-trade bill through the Senate in 2009

These views contrast sharply with the Democratic Platform (but hey, a Republican who believes in Creationism heads the House Science Committee!).

Climate champion Senator Whitehouse (D-RI), however, believes Landrieu could play a calming role between the vociferously opposing views between Democrats and Republicans on the committee. Her center-right views could even dampen the rights’ attachment to outright denial of climate change, he says.

Landrieu takes what some would call a middle path sometimes. As part of the "Gang of 10" who attempted to forge a compromise on energy legislation in 2009, Landrieu favored extending renewable energy tax credits and reducing tax breaks for oil companies in exchange for opening more areas offshore to drilling.

And she favored legislation to create a national clean energy investment bank in 2008 and currently believes the tax code should be changed to allow Master Limited Partnerships for renewable energy.

"The concern I have," says Whitehouse, "is that the fossil fuel industry has gotten into such a reckless, selfish and bullying posture politically that you can’t actually have discussions about things with them. … So it actually may prove to our benefit that somebody like Mary can come in and broker what is now, I think, a very dangerous position – frankly, for the coal and oil industry,"
Nick Juliano of E&E reports.

Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) takes over leadership of the Small Business Committee in Landrieu’s place, and Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) is expected to head the Indian Affairs Committee when Cantwell leaves that position.

During his farewell address, Baucus mentioned climate change, saying "we’re all together" on this, indicating that it would be an emphasis in his ambassadorship to China. He described the appreciation and love of wilderness he feels as a Montana native, sadly acknowledging that natural resources are being depleted.

Unfortunately, Baucus was the Senator that introduced fast-track legislation for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.