President Obama Seeks Compromise With Key Senators On Climate Bill

President Obama used the White House as a backdrop to press a select group of key senators to come up with a compromise on climate legislation, Dow Jones Newswires reported. One change may be the way cap-and-trade will be involved: The term is dead, said Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, ID-Conn., but the concept is not: "We don't use that term any more. We will have pollution reduction targets."

During the closed-door meeting, President Obama was said to have "expressed his strong support for a bipartisan effort to establish clean energy incentives that will create jobs and reduce our dependence on foreign oil," a White House aide said, according to Reuters. The senators "agreed to continue the dialogue about a path forward for comprehensive energy legislation."

Lawmakers now are confronted with having to move quickly in an election year where the partisan sands on Capitol Hill are likely to shift the balance of power in both Houses –- although which way remains uncertain. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, was quoted by Dow Jones as saying: "It wasn't a discussion of specifics for a bill; rather, it was a discussion to talk about different approaches."

Noted the newswire: "The White House is offering a number of bargaining chips in its effort to win support. Last month, Obama proposed tripling funding to guarantee loans to the nuclear industry. The administration also has a bargaining chip in its power to open—or keep closed—new areas on the Outer Continental Shelf for oil and natural-gas exploration by energy companies."

The Washington Post reported that attendees included Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Carol Browner, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and NEC Directory Larry Summers, and Sens. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Judd Gregg, R-N.H., George S. LeMieux, R-Fla., Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., Richard Lugar, R-Ind., Barbara A. Boxer, D-Calif., John F. Kerry, D-Mass., Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and John D. "Jay" Rockefeller, D-W.Va.

- Related story also appeared in the Los Angeles Times Greenspace blog, March 9.