Climate Bill Faces Tough Battle in the Senate

As Greenpeace activists fight for action on global warming in Italy during the G8 Summit, climate change legislation here in the States faces an even tougher challenge. After passing in the House last week, President Obama’s climate change bill will likely see major erosion of environmental goals by the time the Senate is through with it.

Democrats had hoped to get some GOP support for the bill, but any votes coming from the other side of the aisle – and, indeed, from some lawmakers in their own party – would likely come at the expense of several key points in the bill.

From The Washington Post:

Senators will weigh a slew of potential compromises — everything from allowing more offshore drilling for oil and natural gas to increasing funding for nuclear energy — that they think would inch the package closer to passage. But environmental activists warn that the 1,400-page House version of the bill already includes so many giveaways to corporate America that more horse-trading in the Senate could lead them to oppose the final version.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) is counting on a handful of committee chairs to complete their portion of the legislation, which would create a cap-and-trade system, requiring major greenhouse gas emitters to either reduce their emissions or buy allowances.

As of today, Reid can count on the support of about 40 to 45 senators for that basic premise, according to aides and outside activists backing the legislation. Supporters are targeting a pool of roughly two dozen lawmakers — including about 15 of Reid’s Democrats — who will determine the legislation’s fate.

Democrats from the Rust Belt states of West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Michigan are pushing for more incentives to help their depressed industries shift to alternative energy sources. The same senators also will likely want more funding for carbon capture and sequestration, a controversial and still-evolving technology described by its developers as “clean coal” but derided by many environmentalists. The technology is already slated for $10 billion in government-funded research in legislation that passed the House. A trio of Democrats from the Dakotas want more funding for wind power.

The only likely backers of the bill in the GOP are moderate Maine senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe. In order to get more GOP support, the bill would have to include funding for nuclear options.

The bill is expected to hit the Senate floor sometime in the fall. By the time they’re done with it, however, the bill will likely be so diluted and full of concessions that environmentalists will want nothing to do with it.

This could get ugly. We envision Jerry Springer-like ‘Bitch, I’ll tear out yo weave’ cat fights over various interests – which would be fun, if it weren’t for the whole ‘the world is at stake’ thing.

Link [The Washington Post]

Related Posts:

Does Waxman Victory Mean Slam Dunk for Climate Bill?
Could Senator Spector’s Party Switch Aid a Cap-and-Trade Bill?
Oil Industry Planning Town Hall Protests Against Climate Bill
Bush Vows to Veto a U.S. Climate Change Bill
Right-Wing Pundit Freak Out Over ‘Madoff-Waxman-Markey’ Bill