CBO boosts climate bill

Senate backers of a long-shot bid to pass legislation with greenhouse gas caps got some fresh help Wednesday when the Congressional Budget Office reported that one high-profile proposal would help curb the federal deficit by about $19 billion over the next decade.

The CBO analysis of the American Power Act, championed by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) found that government revenues would grow by about $751 billion from 2011 to 2020 if the bill became law. By contrast, the legislation would create direct spending of $732 billion over the same 10-year period.


Authors of the proposal called the CBO report a “powerful message” ahead of a floor debate next month. They are still searching for a formulation that will draw 60 votes.

“There is no more room for excuses; this must be our year to pass comprehensive climate and energy legislation and begin to send a price signal on carbon,” Kerry and Lieberman said in a joint statement. “Many of our colleagues have said they flatly oppose anything that adds a penny to the deficit, so we hope they look anew at this initiative, which reduces it.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s staff is still considering incorporating some elements of the Kerry-Lieberman bill as they craft legislation for this month’s floor debate. But Kerry conceded last week that his bill as a whole has been abandoned as the main vehicle for moving an energy or climate package.

Instead, Democratic staffers say they are now looking at three ideas: a popular overhaul of offshore drilling, an “energy-only” bill that would mandate an increase in renewable electricity and, as a long-shot add-on, a cap on carbon emissions from power plants only.

Reid spokesman Jim Manley told POLITICO on Tuesday that key staffers are putting together “different options” on energy and climate during this week’s congressional recess, with the expectation of running them by the Democratic Caucus next week when senators return to Washington. The goal, Manley added, was to find a bill that President Barack Obama can help move through the Senate.

Environmental groups have also conceded they lack momentum for the full Kerry-Lieberman proposal that emerged last month after nearly a year of closed-door negotiations.

“I don’t believe the Kerry-Lieberman bill as a whole is going to get voted on,” Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, told reporters last week.

Still, several conservation groups are now leaning on Obama to step up his efforts to pass a climate bill with a cap on power plant emissions during the dwindling amount of time before the midterm elections.

“The Senate needs your help to end this paralysis,” leaders from nine major groups, including EDF, the Alliance for Climate Protection, Natural Resources Defense Council and Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote Obama last Friday. “With the window of opportunity quickly closing, nothing less than your direct personal involvement, and that of senior administration officials, can secure America's clean energy future.”

Coral Davenport contributed to this report. 

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