Key environmentalists ok with delay on climate bill until fall



A key green group would be ok if the Senate waits until this fall to debate reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The view of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change — part of a small band of environmental groups and utility companies that have been negotiating a first-time carbon-pricing plan for power plants — may resemble a growing consensus among green activists.
 


“With a little more time it might be possible to get broader support from the utility sector,” said Manik Roy, the Pew Center’s vice president of federal government outreach. “The problem is we don’t have a proposal on the table and until we do, it’s hard for the power sector companies to know what they’re responding to.”
 


Roy suggested one possibility could be having the Senate take up legislation responding to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill before the summer recess and pick up the rest of the energy and climate debate when senators return in September. “Obviously, there’s a real eagerness in the Senate to take action on the oil spill,” he said.


Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) — who are leading the effort to enact a utility-focused climate plan — have also said more time to work out a deal may be welcome.


“I think we’re right now more of the prisoners of timing than we are of substance; I’m convinced of that,” Kerry said Wednesday. “I’m not adverse to taking longer to help persuade people if that’s what we need to do.”
 


He cited upcoming EPA greenhouse gas regulations next year affecting power plants as a reason for why discussions will continue this year regardless of whether a climate plan is taken up this summer. “This issue is not going to go away,” he said.
 


Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (R-Nev.) is set this week to determine the course of action on energy and climate policy, including what, if anything, would be brought up this summer and whether it would include a utility-focused climate change plan.
 
The heads of Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund and the Natural Resources Defense Council are speaking to Reid this afternoon about a possible strategy.

Senate Democrats will discuss the topic at a policy lunch on Thursday. Kerry also said there may be other meetings Thursday — including with White House officials — that would be key in determining the path forward.
 


Kerry said President Obama is not expected be personally involved in these meetings.


There are potentially pitfalls for acting either this summer or later on climate legislation.

The legislative calendar is already packed between now and the August break — suggesting there may not be enough time to debate a major energy and climate package.



But there are a series of spending bills that also may be taken up starting in September in an effort to finish them off before the November election. There is also little precedent for taking up major legislation during a lame-duck session.

Kerry declined to speculate on the pros and cons of the timing of a debate. “There’s no point in speculating about the advantages and disadvantages for something that may never be on the table; it’s just a waste of time,” he said.


One problem commonly cited is that election-year politics will worsen as the election draws closer.

There is an argument, though, that none of the swing votes on climate legislation are up for reelection this year. “For the swing members, wouldn’t it be better to resolve this now, rather than in their election cycle?” said one source closely following the talks. 

But there are those expected to be friendly toward climate legislation — including Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) — that may fear a vote on such a complicated and controversial issue may make their reelection campaigns that much tougher.