Energy Bill:CLIMATE: Senate Dems outline June floor strategy for Lieberman-Warner bill (03/13/2008)
Darren Samuelsohn, E&E Daily senior reporter
Senate Democratic leaders pledged yesterday to take up a major global warming bill in June but also threatened to pull the measure from the floor if any amendments get added that weaken the legislation.
"I'm willing to settle for the necessary, no less," Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) told reporters at a press conference on Capitol Hill. "So if it isn't a good bill, it isn't going to happen. The reason it isn't going to happen is because we think, looking ahead, we're going to have a stronger Senate, a stronger House and a stronger president on this issue. So we have the leverage right now" (Greenwire, March 12).
In an interview, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said he agreed with Boxer's strategy. "It's an honest appraisal," the Senate Democrats' top vote counter said. "If this bill goes to the floor and some groups get involved and dramatically change it and make it less beneficial, then I think we should step back and say there's no point in proceeding until we have another Congress with a more positive attitude."
Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), one of the bill's lead cosponsors, said he too would go along with the Democrats' plans, albeit reluctantly. "I'm going to be supportive of the chairman's desires," he said in an interview. "But I would hope that we're not trying to posture ourselves to get this done next year, because I think it should be done this year."
At her press conference, Boxer predicted that any weakening amendments would be defeated, but neither she nor Durbin would go the next step and spell out exactly what specific items would prompt a decision to pull the legislation. "I'm not going to give people ideas," Boxer said.
"It's like the Supreme Court definition of pornography: You'll know it when you see it," Durbin added. "We'll wait and see what's offered and at that point decide whether to go forward. But I trust [Boxer's] judgment. I think she's shown real leadership to this point."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) recently gave Boxer a green light to take up the climate legislation after Congress returns from its Memorial Day recess on June 2, Boxer said. But Boxer said she did not know how much floor time she would get -- or what specific date the debate would start.
"We didn't really go there," she said. "We'll have as much time as we need."
Boxer stressed that she did not think significant floor time would be needed because the framework itself is already in the bill from Warner and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).
If anything, Boxer said she hoped to tack on amendments that strengthen the midcentury emission targets from around 70 percent to 80 percent. She also said she would support amendments that shift the underlying bill toward distributing more of its emission credits through an auction and add more direct funding for cities to help with transportation planning and energy efficiency.
During her press conference, Boxer warned both Democratic and Republican Senate colleagues that they could pay a political price for opposing the Lieberman-Warner bill. "If we fall short of 60, the bill gets 58, we'll know who those two people are," she said. "We're going to play hardball on this."
Warner wouldn't be a player if the legislation is punted until 2009. The five-term senator retires at the end of this session of Congress, prompting questions about who will take his place as the bill's lead Republican cosponsor. "You know mister, that's above my pay grade," Warner said yesterday.
Whip counts
Boxer, Lieberman and Warner have been meeting with their Senate colleagues since early this year in a campaign to win over 60 members -- the number needed to defeat a filibuster. Those talks center around trying to diffuse about a half-dozen issues that could otherwise sink the bill, including cost containment and nuclear power (E&E Daily, Jan. 30).
Asked specifically about the nuclear issue, Boxer said that she was not worried. "I would view any type of amendment that eased the rules about safety and health in regard to nuclear, I'd view as a poison pill. We can't give up that kind of protection," she said. "But I think we're going to be OK on this. I just have a good feeling about it."
An E&E Daily analysis published in January found that 50 senators appear likely to line up in favor of carbon caps akin to the at-issue Lieberman-Warner legislation. Another 21 fence-sitters are within reach and give Boxer ample room to work (E&E Daily, Jan. 15).
Boxer yesterday sidestepped question about her whip count. "I can't give you any number," she said. "We're still in the process of meeting with people. We're going to work on this one-on-one through April. The answer is, yes, we're picking up Republicans. Yes, we are. And we're picking up Democrats. These one-on-one conversations with colleagues are just going really well."
Environmental groups have also been active in trying to win votes. Jeremy Symons, head of the National Wildlife Federation's climate team, said his group has lobbied more than 30 Senate offices, both Democrat and Republican.
"Where we focus our field work is on the swing votes, getting people from 'no' to 'yes,'" Symons said, adding that most of those offices were interested in talking about the Lieberman-Warner bill in detail.
"They're zeroed in on one or two issues within the scope of the bill," Symons said. "It's not whether or if. It's a totally different conversation with everybody. It's just amazing with people across the political spectrum."
GOP amendments
The leading Republican opponent to the Lieberman-Warner bill welcomed the Democrats' decision to disclose their preliminary floor strategy.
"It's clear from Chairman Boxer's comments today that she does not anticipate being able to move this bill this year," EPW ranking member James Inhofe (R-Okla.) said in a prepared statement.
Inhofe, who questions the scientific evidence linking man-made emissions to climate change, poked directly at Boxer's plans.
"As Chairman Boxer is aware, several amendments designed to protect the economy and to deploy low emission energy sources like nuclear are likely to pass during a floor debate," Inhofe said. "Even ardent supporters of cap-and-trade in the business community, notably Jim Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy, believe this bill is the wrong approach for America."
Andrew Wheeler, Inhofe's staff director, said only that his boss was in the early stage of preparing floor amendments. "We will start with the ones from the markup that the majority kept punting on, saying they would be addressed on the floor," he wrote in an e-mail.
During that EPW Committee markup, Republicans failed on all of their major amendments, including bids to promote the construction of new nuclear plants and expand natural gas production. They also lost with proposals to eliminate state climate laws and programs, as well as establishing a new exemption for major industries that face compliance with the Clean Air Act's New Source Review program (Click here and scroll down for a rundown of major EPW Committee amendments).
Inhofe will get help in his campaign from three major U.S. industry groups, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers and the Alliance for Energy and Economic Growth.
Those groups held a forum yesterday in Manchester, N.H., to present modeling of the climate legislation that shows significant economic costs if enacted. Further events are scheduled for March 18 in Fargo, N.D.; March 19 in Billings, Mont.; and April 21 in Columbus, Ohio. Admission is $35 per person.
"It is kind of a forum to bring people together, to educate them, to give them additional information," said Charlie Coon of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Enviro groups united?
Fifteen environmental groups joined Boxer at yesterday's press conference, including top officials from the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the League of Conservation Voters, the World Wildlife Fund and Environmental Defense.
"There are rumors circulating that environmental groups are divided," Boxer said. "That is not true. Environmental organizations are united. They want a necessary, strong bill. We are united and we're going to work to that goal."
Several of the environmental CEOs present stressed their desire for climate legislation to pass. "The longer we wait, the more expensive it will be," said Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope said of the Lieberman-Warner proposal, "It is only a first step. We need to improve it."
But two environmental groups were noticeably absent from the press conference: Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth (E&E Daily, Jan. 31).
"While we have great respect for Senator Boxer and appreciate the leadership she is showing on global warming, it is premature to suggest that there is unity behind 'America's Climate Security Act' as introduced by Senators Lieberman and Warner," said John Passacantando, executive director of Greenpeace USA. "The legislation is more a reflection of the pitfalls of political compromise than a real solution to safeguard the planet."
Friends of the Earth Action President Brent Blackwelder said his group's opposition to the legislation "is not just strategic, it is also substantive."
The Lieberman-Warner plan does not push for sharp enough emission cuts and gives away too many free cap-and-trade emission credits to industry, he said.