A bipartisan Senate coalition has arisen to halt the nomination of President Obama’s pick to be the country’s top energy regulator. Now with no hope of getting support from the Senate Environment and Public Works committee, the Obama administration is considering other candidates.
Democrats and Republicans have banded together over concerns that Ron Binz, Obama’s choice to head the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, will use his position as a platform to push renewable energy use and anti-fossil fuel policies.
Bloomberg reported on Thursday that a spokesman for Sen. Tim Scott said the South Carolina Republican “is now a ‘no’ vote on the nomination.”
Scott is the last Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to announce his opposition to Binz’s nomination. This along with a “no” vote from West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin means Binz doesn’t have enough support to get the committee to recommend him for a Senate vote.
Reports have circulated that the White House is considering other candidates to head up FERC.
“The committee is aware other candidates are being considered for FERC,” a spokesman for Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, chairman of the EPW committee, told E&E News.
However, a FERC spokeswoman told Politico that it’s “not true” that Binz had dropped out of the running. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could also attempt to push Binz through the Senate for a vote without committee support.
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