Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, voiced objections to plans by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Joseph I. Lieberman, ID-Conn., to incorporate their cap-and-dividend proposal in the climate change bill the three senators were preparing, E&E News PM reported. Cantwell and Collins said their bill was more advanced than the still-unfinished proposal from the three senators.
The Cantwell-Collins bill would distribute 75 percent of the proceeds from auctioning off GHG emissions permits to consumers, and sources said the three senators planned to have the level of proceeds going to consumers eventually reach 75 percent. Sources also noted that the two proposals could be merged to enhance the possibility that a climate bill will win approval in 2010. Collins was quoted as saying: "The bill we came up with is the right approach. Rather than seeing parts of our bill cannibalized and put into another bill, I think they should take a look at coming onto our legislation."
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