Lieberman attacks possibility of climate bill as amendment

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) on Tuesday attacked the notion that climate legislation he authored with Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) would surface as an amendment to an energy bill on the Senate floor rather than being included from the get-go.

Lieberman told reporters in the Capitol that “I sure would” oppose such a strategy.

“If you force us to put it on as an amendment, it is like we are a step-child instead of a child. Excuse me for that because I have some step-children who I love,” Lieberman said.

“It is like we are not the main event, we are kind of a side show,” he said. “We have to be at the center of the arena.”

His comments come a day after Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) floated the amendment approach and then backed off it, saying there has been no decision. 

Schumer's comment Monday morning dismayed environmentalists, who fear that winning a vote on a global warming amendment is tougher than corralling 60 votes for a broad package that already includes greenhouse gas limits.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday that Senate energy and climate strategy has not yet been set. Lieberman said he has conveyed his views to Democratic leaders.

Reid hopes to bring an energy package to the Senate floor in July. This week’s controversy over floor strategy comes ahead of a Thursday meeting between Reid and the heads of committees that oversee energy and climate.

Reid is also planning a wider Democratic caucus meeting next week to discuss energy. “And until that's completed, there's no decisions made,” Reid said Tuesday afternoon. "Any of the press reports that you saw yesterday, there's not a word that I said. It's all other people talking."

Lieberman spoke to reporters after meeting with Kerry and several other Democrats and environmentalists in the Capitol to discuss climate and energy. He said it would be “wrong substantively” to cleave energy and greenhouse gas measures.

“Only if you do them together — if you do energy independence and climate change together — will you unleash this torrent of new investment and new job creation,” he said.