White House not backing down on climate

Broad cap-and-trade legislation faces large Senate hurdles, especially in the wake of Republican Scott Brown’s victory in the Massachusetts Senate race.

Also, some centrist Democrats – such as Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) – have called for the Senate to split off and pass a package of measures on energy efficiency, renewable power, and domestic production of oil and nuclear energy.

But Guzy said the administration’s policy calls for a combined approach.

“The President believes that the . . . transformation of the economy to a clean energy economy is a critical part of achieving our country’s economic recovery, so we will continue to work to address that comprehensive set of issues,” he said at a briefing hosted by the consulting company ICF International.