U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, the third-ranking Republican and senior senator from Tennessee, has not been reserved in demonstrating support for a nationwide, one-size-fits-all low carbon full standard (LCFS).
As recently as July, “[Sen. Alexander] called for a low-carbon fuel standard, which he argues would not raise the price of gasoline.”
And earlier that month, according to a Grist.org report, “Alexander wants Congress to put in place a ‘low-carbon fuel standard,’ which he said would ‘not deliberately raise the price of gasoline.’”
In June, the senator said that “A low-carbon fuel standard I think makes a lot of sense for our country in dealing with carbon.”
But the nature of his support for this job-killing legislation appears to have shifted — thanks in large part to an uproar of mounting opposition from within his own state. In fact, according to today’s Knoxville News Sentinel, Senator Alexander “basically is undecided on the proposed [LCFS] policy.” The Tennessean and the Nashville Post picked this article up, too.
Under the headline “Letter inspires Alexander to rethink stance on fuel standards,” Tom Humphrey reports this:
Sen. Lamar Alexander says a letter from state Rep. Susan Lynn inspired a “good conversation” between the two over his stance on low-carbon fuel standards.
In her letter earlier this month, Lynn, R-Mount Juliet, said the proposal could be “categorized as a misguided effort to improve the environment.”
Alexander has been quoted as saying the low-carbon fuel standard “makes a lot of sense.”
The letter from state Rep. Susan Lynn to the senator referenced in the Knoxville News Sentinel article was highlighted by the Wall Street Journal last week. In a post by Keith Johnson under the headline “Tennessee Pols to Lamar Alexander: Forget About Low-Carbon Fuel Standards,” the Journal reported this, which was quickly picked up by The Tennessean and the Nashville Post:
[Tennessee] State Rep. Susan Lynn fired off a letter last Friday chiding Sen. Alexander for even flirting with [an LCFS]; Sen. Alexander has repeatedly said that such a standard could help the environment without raising energy prices. “At its core, a [low carbon fuel standard] would initiate a direct ban on the importation of some of our most secure and affordable sources of energy,” she wrote. “It would necessarily expand America’s already dangerous dependence on foreign, unstable energy from suppliers half-a-world away…”
Other Tennessee news outlets have been closely following this development, as well. The Chattanooga Times Free Press’s Matt Wilson reported this over the weekend:
In an Oct. 2 letter to the senator, state Rep. Susan Lynn, R-Mount Juliet, asked Sen. Alexander to oppose a “low-carbon fuel standard,” despite the senator’s assertions that such a standard “makes a lot of sense for our country.” The standard would reduce carbon emissions from motor fuels.
Rep. Lynn said the standard “would reduce the availability of the fuel by limiting the amount and type of oil we’re able to access from some of our closest, most trusted allies in the hemisphere.”
As the Senate continues to move forward with climate change legislation, Tennesseans and American consumers alike are relying on Sen. Alexander to do the right thing and fight to oppose low carbon fuel standard mandate that will cut off supplies of affordable and reliable energy and will deepen our dependence on unstable region’s of the world to keep our economy moving.
Thankfully, signs are starting to point in the direction of the idea that he’s begun to hear that message.
