White House Meeting Next Week May Determine Fate of Energy/climate Bill

[ProSense]

Source: New York Times

The climate bill remained in the Senate's version of limbo yesterday after Democrats emerged from closed-door negotiations without any clear consensus on what version of the legislation -- or blend of the different options -- they should rally behind.

The all-hands-on deck meeting of the Senate Democrats was designed to help illuminate the way forward for what should be included in the package of climate and energy legislation Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) plans to bring to the floor next month, but members attempting to thrash out what the bill should like did not get any closer to refining the final recipe for the bill.

At the caucus meeting all eyes were on a handful of senators who armed themselves with videos and posters of smoke stacks to help sell three competing versions of climate and energy legislation, but their presentations failed to curry immediate favor for a unified way forward.

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Senate Democrats heard from Sen. Jeff Bingaman (N.M.) whose bill creates a national renewable energy standard but does not place a mandatory cap on greenhouse gases, Sen. Maria Cantwell (Wash.) who favors a "cap and dividend" approach, Sens. John Kerry (Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), whose legislation would put a price on carbon, and Sen. Barbara Boxer (Calif.), who emphasized the economic importance of moving forward with legislation now.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/06/18/18climatewire-white-house-meeting-next-week-may-determine-14991.html

[ProSense]

1. Tom Toles cartoon: