CLOSING IN ON ENERGY/CLIMATE BILL?

Kerry Says ‘Great Deal’ of Consensus Reached on Climate Policy
Catherine Dodge and Kim Chipman (w/Simon Lomax, Laurie Asseo and Don Frederick), March 10, 2010 (Bloomberg News via BusinessWeek)

"Senator John Kerry said a bipartisan group of lawmakers achieved a ‘great deal of consensus’ on energy policy…and he’s moving ‘rapidly’ to introduce legislation…14 senators agreed action was needed to promote U.S. energy independence, create jobs in clean energy and cut pollution…[at a] meeting with President Barack Obama…

"Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, [Independent Connecticutt Senator Joseph] Lieberman and Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, are working on compromise legislation after proposals for a broad emissions- trading program drew criticism from both parties…[Also at the] meeting were Obama Cabinet members including Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Energy Secretary Steven Chu and National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers…"

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"The president didn’t specify a desired timeline for legislation, and said the group should meet again [soon, according to Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington state]…Lieberman said lawmakers plan to complete a draft of climate-change legislation this month before taking an Easter break. Republicans insisted the measure should be narrower than a House-passed bill.

"[Energy independence and climate legislation are priorities for him,] Lieberman said…Kerry said Obama made it clear there needs to be a price on carbon, the substance linked by scientists to global warming, to create jobs and make the U.S. more energy independent…"

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"Senator Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, said before the meeting that Obama should give up on legislation that sets greenhouse-gas limits and support a bill that boosts renewable electricity generation and U.S. oil and gas production…Cantwell said [that isn’t the President’s choice right now]…

"Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine said before the meeting she would encourage Obama to abandon the broader legislation passed by the House…[authorizing] a ‘cap-and-trade’ system to curb fossil-fuel emissions while creating a market for trading pollution permits and funding investment in new energy sources…"