TPM: Schumer: Dems to Aim Low on Climate and Energy [View All]

[flpoljunkie]

In the latest blow to the prospects of the Senate passing climate and energy legislation, the third ranking Democrat suggested today that Dems will start small, instead of bringing a comprehensive bill to the floor.

Appearing on MSNBC this morning, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) confirmed that Majority Leader Harry Reid will move an energy-only bill next month, based on a template authored by Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, and predicted that Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) will have a chance to offer their much farther-reaching climate change legislation as an amendment to the base package.

"Kerry has a proposal that has pretty broad support," Schumer said. "He's going, in my opinion, going to get a chance to offer it in the form of an amendment."

That procedural avenue would make the chances of rounding up 60 votes for carbon pricing more difficult, but is of a piece with the noises coming out of Reid's own office. Keying off the oil spill in a letter delivered last week, Reid asked several committee chairmen to offer up ideas in time for him to put together an energy bill in July--this despite the fact that the Kerry-Lieberman bill is already drafted, and has been at the center of the energy debate in the Senate for months.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/06/schumer-dems-to-aim-low-on-climate-and-energy.php?ref=fpa