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Democrats Say Reid Grapples With Energy Bill Deadline (Update1)
2010-07-21 19:46:30.884 GMT
(Updates with comment from lobbyist in ninth paragraph.)
By Lisa Lerer and Simon Lomax
July 21 (Bloomberg) -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is
struggling to meet a self-imposed deadline for passing energy
legislation, his fellow Democrats say, and they expressed doubt
the measure could be approved before
Congress takes its month-long August recess.
Reid previously said he was close to announcing the bill's
details and aimed to open Senate debate on the measure next
week. During Senate Democrats' weekly luncheon yesterday on
Capitol Hill, though, lawmakers said Reid told them the bill
remained far from finished.
"Frankly, I'm having trouble with this one," Senator
Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut independent who caucuses with
the Democrats, quoted Reid as saying.
Reid didn't confirm the comment to reporters after the
lunch and was noncommittal about the measure's timing. He said
he would make a decision about that "in the near
future," and that he plans to meet with Senate Democrats
tomorrow for talks on the matter.
"We're really not quite where I can determine what I think
is best for the caucus" in terms of proceeding on the bill, he
said.
The bill Reid is drafting is a stripped-down version of
legislation that passed the House last year and stalled in the
Senate. President Barack Obama continues to press Congress to
pass an energy bill that, among other provisions, addresses
issues raised by the BP Plc oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. As
the November elections approach, though, the prospects for
passing major legislation through Congress typically decrease.
Lieberman Plan
Lieberman, co-author of a plan to cap carbon dioxide
emissions from power plants that may be included in Reid's bill,
said Democrats should consider delaying a vote on the
legislation rather than "force ourselves to be constrained by
an artificial schedule."
Lieberman said he met yesterday with board members of the
Edison Electric Institute, a Washington-based group that
represents American Electric Power Co., Southern Co.
and other utility companies, and they "pleaded for more time"
to negotiate the measure's details.
The institute has spent almost two years advocating for a
cap-and-trade system that would limit their carbon dioxide
emissions while allowing them to buy and sell a declining number
of pollution rights. Utility executives said Reid's bill was
unlikely to include such an emissions cap, in part because time
was running out for Congress to deal with that issue in this
session, said a lobbyist familiar with the discussions.
Reid's Plan
Last week, Reid told reporters he had assembled a "rough
draft" of a bill that would address offshore oil and gas
drilling, "clean energy" production, fuel savings and energy-
related tax incentives.
Reid said the bill may also require cuts in carbon dioxide
and other pollution from power plants. Much of the package draws
from legislation already approved by Senate
committees.
Yesterday, Reid told reporters he's still trying to find
"two or three" Republicans who would agree to back such a
bill. Their support is necessary to overcome the prospect of the
Republican Senate leadership stalling action on the measure.
Some Republicans have said they were unhappy with Reid's
plan to move the legislation through the Senate before the
August recess.
"He's waiting until we have like two or three days to
tackle a subject that usually takes seven or eight weeks," said
Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican.
'Lively Discussion'
The timing question also remains unsettled among Democrats,
who are "still having a debate and lively discussion" on what
the bill should include, Senator Tom Udall, a New Mexico
Democrat, said in an interview.
Whether to require cuts in greenhouse gas emissions
that scientists have linked to climate change remains a sticking
point among Democrats. Lieberman and Senator John Kerry, a
Massachusetts Democrat, are pressing Reid to add their plan for
such cuts to the legislation.
Kerry and Lieberman's plan would scale back earlier
cap-and-trade systems that would cover most of the U.S. economy.
Their proposal would apply to the power plants that produce
roughly one-third of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
'Tough Sell'
Some Democrats, including West Virginia's Jay Rockefeller,
Iowa's Tom Harkin and Arkansas' Mark Pryor, doubt a cap-and-
trade plan can pass. The proposal is a "pretty tough sell,"
Senator Evan Bayh, an Indiana Democrat, told reporters.
Such a plan "would weigh on some states heavier than
others" due to different levels of coal-fired electricity in
different regions, Bayh said. Indiana generates more than 90
percent of its electricity from coal, according to
Energy Information Administration data. In Lieberman's
Connecticut, coal fuels less than 5 percent of electricity
generation.
Lieberman, who has said he would like to see debate on an
energy bill continue into September, said lawmakers should
consider dealing with the question of carbon dioxide limits
between November's election and the January swearing-in of new
members of Congress.
"I know there's a certain awkwardness in a lame-duck
session, but these are big and important issues," he said.
For Related News and Information:
Top power stories:PTOP <GO>
Energy legislation: TNI NRG CNG <GO>
--Editors: Don Frederick, Laurie Asseo.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Lisa Lerer in Washington at +1-202-624-1966 or
llerer@bloomberg.net;
Simon Lomax in Washington at +1-202-654-4305 or
slomax@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Mark Silva at + 1-202-654-4315 or msilva34@bloomberg.net
