Senate to Take Up House Climate Bill

[kpete]

Source: Wall Street Journal

* APRIL 1, 2009, 3:01 P.M. ET

Senate to Take Up House Climate Bill
By SIOBHAN HUGHES

WASHINGTON -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said Wednesday that he will take up climate-change legislation being developed in the House instead of pursuing a separate package in the Senate.

"The Energy Committee is having trouble getting a bill out of the committee -- it is taking too long," Mr. Reid said at an event sponsored by the Center for American Progress Action Fund. "The House is going to finish their bill by Memorial Day, so I think that it's to everyone's benefit that we follow what the House is doing."

The Senate's top Democrat said he met Tuesday with a group of 10 Democrat senators, including from Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, who are concerned about the effect of climate-change legislation on their states.

"We're going to have to work with them," Mr. Reid said. States such as Ohio and Indiana that depend on coal for electricity are concerned about bearing the brunt of climate legislation, since it would make traditional coal-fired electricity more expensive compared to "cleaner" fuels. California, whose lawmakers are pushing the House bill, would be less affected because the state is less coal-reliant.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123861206944979213.html

[polichick]

1. Bayh and his cohorts rear their ugly heads!