Kerry, Lieberman to roll out climate bill May 12

Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) will unveil their
long-awaited climate and energy bill on Wednesday, May 12.

The duo, in a joint statement Friday, stressed that the Gulf of
Mexico oil spill underscores the need for the bill.

{mosads}“We are more
encouraged today that we can secure the necessary votes to pass this
legislation this year in part because the last weeks have given everyone
with a stake in this issue a heightened understanding that as a nation,
we can no longer wait to solve this problem, which threatens our
economy, our security and our environment,” they said in the statement.

Kerry and Lieberman are pushing ahead despite the decision of co-author Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) last month to pull back from the effort.

Graham is angry that Democratic leaders plan to push immigration legislation this year, claiming it will spark a divisive political battle that will sink prospects for the climate measure. Graham said Friday that the Gulf spill — and the “uncertainty” of the immigration debate — should prompt a “pause” in the energy-bill effort.

But Kerry and Lieberman, in their statement, maintain that “there is a growing and unprecedented bipartisan coalition from the business, national security, faith and environmental communities that supports our legislation and is energized to work hard and get it passed.”

The bill’s prospects are highly uncertain. Kerry and Lieberman lack any clear GOP support aside from that of Graham, and his support is now qualified.  

In a statement Friday, Graham said, “I believe there could be more than 60 votes for this bipartisan concept in the future. But there are not nearly 60 votes today, and I do not see them materializing until we deal with the uncertainty of the immigration debate and the consequences of the oil spill.”

At the same time, environmentalists and some coastal-state Democrats are pushing Kerry and Lieberman to rethink or drop offshore drilling measures from the package.

Lieberman said Thursday that the bill still includes provisions to encourage more offshore oil and natural-gas production, but acknowledged the measure is getting a “second look” in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico disaster.

Here’s the entire Kerry-Lieberman statement:

“We appreciate Senator Graham’s statement of his continued commitment to passing comprehensive energy independence legislation. Over the past several months we have worked with Senator Graham and he has made a significant contribution to construct balanced legislation that will make our country energy independent, create jobs and curb pollution. Senator Graham has been our partner in building a broad-based coalition of support for legislation that can pass the Senate this year.
 
“Over the last three weeks, we all understand Lindsey has been busy with the immigration issue and we understand his feelings on that issue, but during this period we’ve continued working, moving forward, and talking in great detail with our Senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and with the environmental and business communities.  We’ve continued to work with the Senate leadership and the White House, and we believe we’ve made new progress on the path to 60 votes.
 
“We are more encouraged today that we can secure the necessary votes to pass this legislation this year in part because the last weeks have given everyone with a stake in this issue a heightened understanding  that as a nation, we can no longer wait to solve this problem which threatens our economy, our security and our environment. Our optimism is bolstered because there is a growing and unprecedented bi-partisan coalition from the business, national security, faith and environmental communities that supports our legislation and is energized to work hard and get it passed. We look forward to rolling-out the legislation next Wednesday and passing the legislation with the support of Senator Graham and other Republicans, Democrats and Independents this year.”