Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said Wednesday that she plans to drop a “very comprehensive” energy blueprint next week — though it is unlikely to include proposals on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Murkowski, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, said she has consulted the committee’s GOP members for the document. She will not present it in legislative language, saying the plan is a “foundation” with items that lawmakers could cherry-pick for individual bills.
“It’s time to get this out, it’s time for the discussion to begin,” Murkowski said in a pen-and-pad briefing with reporters. “It’s pretty much the full meal deal.”
Murkowski said the bill would include ideas on how to produce more and use less energy, as well as upgrade electrical transmission, among other concepts.
What it likely won’t include is a proposal to curb greenhouse gas emissions, as she said Republicans would oppose efforts that would increase energy prices.
She added that President Obama’s inaugural comments on climate and the resulting discourse on the issue caught her by surprise.
