As the Waxman Markey Clean Energy Jobs Plan continues to be debated in committee, the number one energy advocate weighed in today--President Obama, who said that getting America moving with a new energy economy was "my number one priority" a few days before the election. Meeting with committee members of the Energy and Commerce committee in the White House, the President again urged quick action, and reminded members about the core design principles for an energy policy that cuts carbon emissions, limiting and lowering them over time.

Here's a snippet from a story in today's Washington Post:

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs read a synopsis of the meeting at his daily briefing this afternoon. "The President outlined core principles that should guide the energy legislation as the Committee finalizes it," Gibbs said. "The President believes that consumers and communities should be compensated if, during the transition period, there are any additional costs associated with reducing carbon emissions. He believes there should be predictability and certainty in the market, so that entrepreneurs can make major private sector investments in clean energy innovation. He also believes that regional impacts should be taken into account and addressed -- and that our trade sensitive industries need to be protected."

Those are the key ideas:

1. Give markets a clear and predictable price signal for carbon dioxide emissions that rises over time, high enough and reliable enough to drive huge innovation and massive private investment.
2. Protect and compensate consumers and communities and industries facing transition.

Patricia Lopez's story in the Sunday StarTribune shows that utilities are lobbying legislators hard to give them free CO2 permits for the coal that they burn, saying that they can use the free permits to hold down electric bills. That approach nullifies the main point of the legislation: driving clean energy investment and innovation.

It's not just clean energy advocates who say the utilities have a bad plan. Giving free permits to utilities under the guise of holding down increases in utilities bills is a flawed way to protect consumers according to consumer and low income advocacy groups such as  the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, which published a new paper on this point last week. Giving consumers rebates is the best way: we can squeeze carbon out of the economy without squeezing families. Put in a positive way, we can protect the planet while we protect the buying power of American families.

People ask Fresh Energy what we think are the most important features of a carbon capping portion of the Clean Energy Jobs Plan.  We think the President has it exactly right. That's what Fresh Energy is "for" in the climate bill.