The bill will either not pass or pass with so many midnight manager's amendments that it is hardly worth taking the time to dig into the behemoth right this second....From Reuters:
The plan by Democratic Senator John Kerry and independent Senator Joseph Lieberman to reduce U.S. carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming is not the subject of any committee hearings; it's not being debated on the Senate floor; it's not even been formally introduced.
At a weekly luncheon that Democratic senators hold on Tuesdays to talk politics and policy, the nearly 1,000-page draft proposal was barely mentioned, according to senators who attended this week's closed-door meeting, the first since its unveiling.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters that during the week of June 14, he hoped to gather all 57 Senate Democrats and two independents "where we will just talk about nothing but energy."
By then, the Environmental Protection Agency and Energy Information Administration could be done, or nearing completion, of an economic analysis of the Kerry-Lieberman bill. The two senators hope the studies will boost prospects if they show minimal negative impact on the U.S. economy from gradually shifting U.S. energy sources from fossil fuels like coal and oil to wind, solar and biomass.
2010 PROSPECTS SLIM?
In the meantime, many senators are questioning whether a climate change/energy development bill will see the light of day in the Senate this year.
"My feeling is it's not going to be coming up this year, but if it does I will dig into it at great depth," Senator Carl Levin told Reuters....MORE
