Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) on Tuesday continued his push for Senate action on a package of energy measures that omits greenhouse gas limits, appearing unmoved by plans to overhaul climate legislation.

Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) -- who are trying to draft a compromise climate bill -- are moving away from the sweeping cap-and-trade plan that has failed to gain traction in the Senate.

But Dorgan, who opposes cap-and-trade, isn't biting, at least not for the moment. He wants the Senate to take up a package of energy measures that the Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved in June. 

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Climate czar Carol Browner said the administration continued to support an “economy-wide program” for climate legislation, but added she was “encouraged” by ongoing discussions on Capitol Hill that appear to chart a different course for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

In an effort to write climate legislation that can attract the support of centrists, Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) are expected to abandon a far-reaching "cap and trade" program in favor of a more targeted market mechanism limited at first to electric utilities.

Oil companies, which would be forced to participate in cap-and-trade system set up under climate legislation pushed by the administration, would instead face a levy or a fee on their products in the measure Kerry, Graham and Lieberman are crafting.

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Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) on Tuesday praised plans that would abandon a sweeping “economy-wide” cap-and-trade program. 

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said Tuesday that his legislation to temporarily block planned EPA climate change rules will be introduced this week.

Rockefeller, an ally of coal producers, told reporters in the Capitol that his measure would prevent EPA rules that regulate greenhouse gas emissions from industrial facilities for two years.

Rockefeller has said that his plan will provide the Senate time to craft a comprehensive climate change and energy bill. EPA recently assured Rockefeller and other coal state lawmakers that it will proceed slowly with rules limiting emissions from sources such as coal plants and factories, but Rockefeller wants an even longer pause -- and wants it codified.

The main trade group for auto dealers is backing Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-Alaska) plan to thwart upcoming EPA climate change rules and attacking White House claims that her measure would harm struggling automakers.

In a letter to Murkowski on Monday, the National Automobile Dealers Association supports her resolution – which may come to the floor this month – to prevent EPA from issuing rules that limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, cars, factories and other sources.

Murkowski is fearful about the economic effects of regulating stationary sources. But her plan would also prevent EPA’s greenhouse gas standards for automobiles, which the agency plans to soon finalize in a joint package with stricter Transportation Department (DOT) mileage standards.

The Energy Department on Tuesday said it’s inviting proposals to share $100 million available for cutting-edge research into energy storage and other technologies. But the solicitation comes with a caveat: Big thinkers only. 

The money will come from DoE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy, a program aimed at supporting high-risk, high-reward research that began funding projects last year. ARPA-E is modeled off the military’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA.

DoE kicked off the inaugural ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit in Maryland this week, which is aimed at bringing together scientists, venture capitalists, big companies and others.

A last-ditch effort to expand support for climate legislation risks undermining the coalition that pushed the bill as far as it has gotten, energy lobbyists said Monday.

There appears to be little appetite in the Senate for a House-passed bill that would set up an economy-wide “cap-and-trade" approach. But it isn’t clear that a new approach will significantly change the political dynamics, and it could weaken support among electric utilities and some environmental groups for the bill.

President Obama will use a visit to Savannah Technical College in Georgia Tuesday to press a plan dubbed “HOMESTAR” that would provide quick consumer rebates for home efficiency investments.

The White House says the plan would be akin to last year’s popular “Cash for Clunkers” program that provided up to thousands of dollars for swapping guzzlers for more efficient cars.

The administration is selling this plan with the same pitch as most of its other energy initiatives: as a jobs program that helps meet energy goals like slowing oil use.

Senators trying to salvage a climate bill hope to put plenty of distance between themselves and cap-and-trade.