A bit more about the defeat Thursday afternoon of Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-Alaska) resolution to block EPA climate change rules ...

No Republicans broke ranks and joined the large majority of Democrats to vote against it (although six Democrats voted with Republicans for Murkwowski's failed plan). But a snap analysis by the consulting firm ClearView Energy Partners says the unified GOP vote isn’t necessarily a bad sign for climate legislation that may come to the floor this year.

Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) are pushing for a vote on their climate bill called the “American Power Act.”

From the note ClearView circulated after the vote:

No Republicans voted against the resolution. This does not mean, however, that that all 41 Republicans will vote against a climate bill that could deliver substantial economic benefits to their states. Although American Power Act architect Lindsey Graham (R-SC) remains opposed to the legislation he helped craft, we reiterate that, with (a) a pro-drilling, pro-safety compromise that provides political “containment” of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill; and (b) explicit support by coal state Democrats, Senator Graham and other green-leaning Republicans may find themselves with the opportunity to negotiate even greater provisions on behalf of their constituents in return for offering the decisive votes in support of passage (60 Senate votes would be required). 

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Under pressure from federal officials, oil giant BP agreed Thursday to speed up the process and change how individuals and businesses affected by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are paid. 

This afternoon, BP announced it will pay an additional $25 million to three of four states affected by the oil spill — Florida, Mississippi and Alabama. 

Mississippi and Alabama have each received $65 million so far — today's grant is in addition to a $25 million grant on May 5 and a $15 million tourism grant May 17.

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House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) is pressing the Interior Department for information about federal offshore drilling regulators who have worked for the oil-and-gas industry in the past.

The request, in a June 8 letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, is part of a wider committee probe of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and offshore drilling policy.

Rahall’s letter asks for the number of current Minerals Management Service inspectors that have previously worked for the oil industry — including a list of companies they worked for and what their jobs were.

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A GOP senator who is backing Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-Alaska) plan to block EPA greenhouse gas rules predicted the measure will be defeated on the Senate floor Thursday.

Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) said it lacks votes even as he spoke in favor of the plan, which is slated for a vote Thursday afternoon.

“At the end of the day, we all know how this is going to come out. There is going to be 55 votes, give or take a couple, to defeat Senator Murkowski’s resolution, and it is going to be on a generally party-line basis. And at the end, the administration will claim a great and glorious victory again,” he said on the Senate floor.

“But it won’t be a great and glorious victory for the American people. It will be a defeat for the American people,” Risch added.

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The Gulf oil spill is a worse disaster than Hurricane Katrina, a Louisiana congressman said Thursday. 

Rep. Charlie Melancon (D), who represents part of the state's Gulf Coast, told Fox News the uncertainty about the future makes the BP oil spill more difficult to deal with than the 2005 hurricane that flattened entire sections of New Orleans. 

“This disaster is even worse than Katrina could ever be because of the uncertainty of the future, the uncertainty of the marshes and the wetlands and the Gulf itself," he said. "With the Saints victory [in the Super Bowl] you could feel that excitement and people were kind of getting hope back and then this happens, and all of a sudden it’s like they’ve fallen in this slump and it concerns me."

President Barack Obama has called the oil spill the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. The leaking oil has affected wildlife in the Gulf and has dealt a huge blow to oil and gas workers as well as the commercial fishing business, two of the most important industries in the Gulf region. 

Katrina destroyed New Orleans and large swaths of property in Louisiana and its neighboring states. Nearly 2,000 people were recorded dead and property damage totaled about $81 billion. 

Eleven workers were killed and 17 were injured aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig due to the explosion that caused the spill more than 50 days ago. Up to 100,000 barrels are estimated to be spilling into the Gulf every day from the damaged pipe a mile underwater. 

But Rep. Gene Taylor (D), who represents Mississippi's Gulf Coast, has said that the spill is not close to being as bad as Katrina. 

"What I want people to know is this isn’t Katrina. This is not Armageddon," he said on a radio appearance last month. He repeated his claim on C-SPAN Thursday morning.  

Melancon said he was concerned for those affected. "I’m also really concerned with the mental health of the people in south Louisiana; the fishermen, the people in these communities that are impacted.”

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) ramped up pressure on Thursday for the Obama administration to shorten and lift its moratorium on offshore drilling.

Landrieu, whose home state has bore the brunt of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill close to the Louisiana coast, said that the administration's six-month ban on drilling could only exacerbate the economic damage to the region from the spill.

"This is a conundrum for us — a very difficult situation," Landrieu said during an appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America."

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Over on our main page, my colleague Alexander Bolton uncovers the Democratic leadership's strategy to defeat Sen. Lisa Murkowski's (R-Alaska) bid to kill EPA climate change rules.

Fewer Americans want more offshore rigs in the wake of the BP oil spill

From the Washington Post: “Just a quarter of Americans back expanding offshore drilling in the wake of the BP oil spill, and most fault federal regulators for the environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.”

“Before the spill, the Obama administration lifted the moratorium on drilling in U.S. coastal waters as a way to address the country's energy needs. But most Americans now want fewer offshore wells (31 percent) or the amount kept at current levels (41 percent). Perhaps as a consequence of the spill, public support for oil and gas drilling in general is also significantly lower than it was a year ago,” the story continues.

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