Top Obama administration officials on Wednesday urged Congress to pass comprehensive energy and climate-change legislation to reduce U.S. oil imports and combat global warming. Administration officials also called a Democratic proposal in the House of Representatives to reduce greenhouse gases a “jobs bill” and an investment in new energy priorities, rejecting Republican criticism that it will undermine the economy by increasing energy costs for consumers. “On this Earth Day, we must state in no uncertain terms that we have a responsibility to our children and their children to curb the carbon emissions from fossil fuels that have begun to change our climate,” Energy Secretary Steven Chu told the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee. The congressional session was the second of four hearings this week to discuss draft legislation on climate change unveiled by Energy Committee Chairman Henry Waxman last month. The measure seeks to lower carbon-dioxide emissions to 20 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and more than 80 percent by 2050. The Energy Department is still reviewing Waxman's proposal, but Chu said it would advance the Obama administration's goals to strengthen the economy by developing the clean energy sector.
