Senate climate bill would end Obama 'clean coal' research

The Obama administration did not respond to a request for comment on the legislation, which isn't expected to pass Congress. Boxer has vowed to push the legislation through her committee this coming spring, however, in a move intended to force a renewed debate on climate change.

The elimination of the office was proposed by Sanders last year in the End Polluter Welfare Act bill, said his spokesman Mike Briggs. That bill would have terminated direct spending and tax provisions for fossil fuels. It did not advance beyond the introduction stage.