Senate climate drama to unfold in three acts

A long-simmering battle over Environmental Protection Agency climate regulations will come to a head next week in the Senate.

The Senate will vote next week on three amendments to small-business legislation that would limit EPA’s climate authority, a Senate Democratic leadership aide said Friday.

The aide said lawmakers will first vote on an amendment by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) that would exempt agriculture from EPA climate regulations and codify EPA’s “tailoring” rule, which exempts smaller emitters from the regulations.

The vote on the amendment will give cover to vulnerable Democrats who are getting pressure at home to limit EPA’s authority.

Leadership will meet Monday to determine the floor schedule for the bill, including when and in what order votes on two other climate amendments will occur.

The first, offered by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), would permanently block the agency from regulating greenhouse gas emissions.

The amendment is based on legislation offered by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.). Inhofe’s bill has 43 co-sponsors, including Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).

The bill has passed a House committee earlier this month and is expected to come up for a vote on the House floor in the coming weeks.

A second amendment, offered by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), would delay EPA’s climate regulations by two years.

Votes on the amendments could come as early as Tuesday, the aide said.

Interest groups scrambled this week to put pressure on lawmakers ahead of the vote.

The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, for example, has been running radio ads in several states in an attempt to pressure centrist Democrats to vote for the McConnell amendment.