Will the Senate Tackle Climate Change Via Amendments?

It looks as if the Senate will address climate change in a roundabout way, rather than bringing an all-in-one energy reform and climate change bill to the floor, CongressDaily's Darren Goode and Amy Harder report.

Senate Democratic Caucus Vice Chairman Charles Schumer of New York told MSNBC that the likely strategy is to try to attach a carbon pricing and energy production strategy from Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., to an energy plan approved with bipartisan support last year by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

"Kerry has a proposal that has pretty broad support," Schumer said. "He's going ... to get a chance to offer it in the form of an amendment."

In other words, the part of energy reform that is most controversial with coal-state senators--the meat of greenhouse gas reduction, as it's been discussed over the past several years--will be offered in the form of amendment to a smaller energy bill.

The Kerry-Lieberman-Graham bill stalled after Graham departed that coalition, so this could be the best option Democrats have left. As Goode notes, this will allow some Democrats to vote against the carbon pricing system, which will help them at home.