Ranking members on the six Senate committees with jurisdiction for the Kerry-Boxer climate change bill asked Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., to slow down work on the legislation, E&E News PM reported. The Republican senators said they were "deeply troubled by the failure to accommodate" their party's requests for concerns about the lack of information about the bill.
The senators said Boxer had failed to provide "sufficient opportunity to address the bipartisan concerns raised" about the bill, and added that "such an approach would severely damage, rather than help, the chances of enacting changes to our nation's climate and energy policies." They asked Boxer to allow "the time and resources required to" conduct sufficient analysis of the bill. Boxer had responded to Republican concerns by saying that Democrats might "move forward" on the bill without the party "in accordance with the rules of the Senate and of this committee."
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., a collaborator on the legislation, was quoted as saying: "Chairman Boxer is determined to see this Congress pass a strong climate bill for the president to sign. I'd urge everyone to come back to the table, re-engage and work together to move the process forward."
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