Senate Democrats pulled the plug on climate legislation Thursday, pushing the issue off into an uncertain future ahead of midterm elections where President Barack Obama's party is girding for a drubbing.Rather than a long-awaited measure capping greenhouse gases -- or even a more limited bill directed only at electric utilities -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will move forward next week on a bipartisan energy-only bill that responds to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and contains other more popular energy items.
"It's easy to count to 60," Reid said. "I could do it by the time I was in eighth grade. My point is this, we know where we are. We know we don't have the votes [for a bill capping emissions]. This is a step forward."
"He's anxious to get something done before we leave in August," Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) said of Reid. "Given the time constraints, this probably a realistic judgment on his part."
"We don't have the 60 votes," said Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). "So Sen. Reid's a pragmatist. So rather than take us to a situation where we don't have the votes, rather than do half measures, let's wait until we can get it done and get it right. So I think it's a smart decision."
The bill headed to the floor will not include a carbon cap or a renewable electricity standard, Bingaman said. Instead, it has low-hanging-fruit provisions dealing with the oil spill, Home Star energy efficiency upgrades, incentives for the conversion of trucking fleet to natural gas and the Land and Water Conservation Fund.