Schumer: Dems likely to keep energy and climate bills separate

Schumer said the legislation would include a lot
to encourage use of alternative energy and nuclear power.
The proposal would also include stricter regulation of oil companies in the wake of the massive spill in the
Gulf of Mexico.

Schumer hinted that the legislation would
be based largely on an underlying energy bill authored by Sen. Jeff
Bingaman (D-N.M.), the chairman of the Energy and Natural
Resources Committee. The committee approved that bill with several GOP votes a year ago.

It would be on top of that where Sens. John Kerry
(D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) would have an opportunity to
offer their proposals to rein in climate change, Schumer explained.

The Bingaman proposal would be “the base bill upon which John Kerry will seek to add his bill,” Schumer said.

“Kerry
has a proposal that has pretty broad support,” added the senior
Democrat. “He’s going — in my opinion, going to get a chance to offer it
in the form of an amendment.”

Such a move would have the effect
of divorcing climate change components from energy legislation during
an election year in which vulnerable Democrats could be reluctant to
support legislation that might make energy more costly over time. 

“We believe we’re right on track as the leadership devises the best process to ensure passage of comprehensive climate and energy legislation and appreciate Senator Schumer’s compliment of the work that’s been done and the broad support we’ve secured,” said Whitney Smith, a spokeswoman for Kerry.

For
instance, Republicans had long hammered away at House Democrats’ votes
on a much tougher (by comparison) cap-and-trade bill last June,
deriding it as “cap-and-tax.”

Ben Geman contributed. Updated at 4:35 p.m.