The climate may be right for a global warming bill
Interest is growing in Congress, but the first measure to advance since Democrats took control has hit some roadblocks.
WASHINGTON — Scores of climate change bills are stacking up in the legislative queue. Numerous hearings, the most recent on the polar bear, are highlighting the issue. And some regulation-averse corporate executives have even called on Congress to step in.
But despite the dramatic shift in the Capitol in favor of doing something to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, global warming legislation remains a long shot for this year.
Proponents always knew it would be tough to get a bill with mandatory limits through a narrowly divided Congress and past President Bush. But the first bill to advance since Democrats won an effective majority in 2006 has run into unexpected roadblocks.
Some environmentalists are complaining that it isn't strong enough, and they worry that it may even be watered down. They want to wait to take up a bill after the November election, when Democrats might capture more seats in Congress, as well as the White House.
Many business groups are no more enthusiastic, saying the bill would drive up costs and make it harder for them to compete globally at a time of anxiety about the economy.
And if the criticism from both sides isn't enough, this is of course an election year -- a time when partisan tensions heighten in Congress, making it difficult to pass anything controversial.
Still, congressional leaders are determined to press ahead.
"We must pass the strongest bill we can," said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, "but we must remember that the perfect cannot be the enemy of the very good."
Those hoping to pass the bill point out that just a year ago it was unimaginable that environmentalists would win a decades-long fight for tougher fuel economy standards. After the auto industry relented, the measure passed and Bush signed it.
Environmentalists hope that scenario will be repeated with global warming.
"You now have a big chunk of industry saying, 'Let's just get this done,' " said Manik Roy, director of congressional affairs for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.
The Senate has moved faster than the House. Boxer's committee has approved a bill by Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John W. Warner (R-Va.) that would cap greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, factories, oil refineries and other polluters.
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