Lieberman: Liberals won’t oppose a ‘utility-only’ climate bill

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) predicted Thursday that liberal senators would not abandon a narrow climate bill that curbs greenhouse gases from electric power plants only, rather than imposing emissions caps on a broad swath of polluting industries.

Lieberman and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) are struggling to win support for climate change provisions as Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) prepares to bring energy legislation to the floor later this month.

The duo are working with Reid’s office on a power plant-focused plan after failing to gain political traction for their earlier climate bill, which also covered manufacturing, oil refining, transportation and other sectors.

“There are definitely members of our caucus who are not happy with the utility-only part. They really feel that we should do more, and of course I agree with them,” Lieberman said Thursday in the Capitol.

“But I believe that most of the people on the left in the Democratic caucus will support our bill as a significant step forward even though they would like to have more,” he added.

A limited bill would be a disappointment for environmentalists and liberal lawmakers who had hoped that President Obama’s election — combined with Democratic control of Congress — would bring victory on a bill that mandates steep emissions cuts across the economy.

Lieberman said, however, that some liberals will balk at an energy bill with no emissions curbs, which would be debated if legislation with even narrow emissions caps remains shy of 60 votes.

“Whether they support an energy-only bill without the utility part, I don’t know, I think some of them really don’t want to,” he said.

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