Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn., and John F. Kerry, D-Mass., said they may turn to utility-only GHG emissions limits in the effort to pass their climate change legislation, ClimateWire reported. Lieberman said the option was "not my first choice, but it's important that we get started in what we're trying to do." Kerry said the strategy might achieve the primary goal of "pricing carbon" by providing a solution to the challenge of obtaining a 60-vote filibuster-proof majority. Democrats expressed some support for the strategy.
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., was quoted as saying: "I don't expect that we will get much Republican support for legislation beyond the energy bill." Bloomberg reported that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., emphasized the central role of the White House in helping "us get something done." Kerry said "the president is fully committed. He's fully engaged. He intends to try to move votes himself and he understands the seriousness of this effort."
EEI spokesman Jim Owen was quoted as saying of utility-only legislation: "We have been concentrating on economywide, so this is a game-changer with so many moving parts in the middle of a very fluid legislative situation overall."
- Related stories also appeared in CNN.com, Dow Jones Newswire, Financial Times, and Reuters.
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