Senator Lieberman is the last person who should be leading negotiations on an important progressive priority. There is literally nobody I’d rather have compromising on my behalf:

“We are really working hard to get something done this year and we are prepared to compromise,” he said.

And who will he be compromising with?

He noted talks last week with White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, and a separate session with officials from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Nothing good can come of this.

Majority Leader Reid gave a speech today at a major geothermal energy conference (PDF) in New York, unexpectedly dropping a few bombshells regarding climate change legislation and Senator Murkowski’s recent efforts to gut the Clean Air Act.

On climate legislation, Senator Reid said (emphasis mine):

“We have a lot on our plate. We have to finish reforming health insurance and Wall Street, and also must help bring Americans out of unemployment. But we are not so busy that we can’t find the time to address comprehensive energy and climate legislation.

“Senators Kerry, Graham and Lieberman have taken a lead in trying to craft a framework that would get more than 60 votes. We will need at least that many for two reasons: One, because any bill that seeks to rein in global warming pollution will be fought very hard by the same companies that profit most heavily from polluting. And two, because the rules of the Senate make it easy for a determined minority to stand in the way of all the good ideas you’re hearing at this forum.

Every Senator who argues that the schedule is too tight this year for climate legislation — such as Lieberman (I-CT) — should have Senator Reid’s remarks  thrown in their face.  Tangentially, it is interesting to see the Majority Leader speaking critically of the filibuster at a time when the practice is being hammered on a near-daily basis by commentators and legislators.

On Senator Murkowski’s Dirty Air Act amendment, Senator Reid said:

“For example, next week Senator Murkowski of Alaska may offer an amendment – to a completely unrelated bill, it should be noted – that would stop the EPA from protecting Americans from global warming pollution. It’s a highly political move, and a highly hazardous one to our health and the environment.

“If this Senator succeeds, it could keep Congress from working constructively in a bipartisan manner to pass clean energy legislation this year. That’s why I will work hard to defeat this misguided amendment.

I’m glad Reid is calling Senator Murkowski out on this publicly. Perhaps he has learned from his negotiations last year with Senator Lieberman. As I’ve argued several times before, Senator Murkowski will never support meaningful action to address climate change. Senator Reid seems to have recognized this, and appears to be dealing with Senator Murkowski appropriately:

When push comes to shove the important thing is that negotiators in the Senate are able to tell the difference between Senators who are participating in the debate in good faith and those who are not.  Then they should completely ignore those who are not.

With the Majority Leader and all Democrats on the EPW Committee announcing their clear opposition, the time to move in for the kill is now.

Use the links and/or petition form below to take action:

RePower America — Protect the Clean Air Act — Write a Letter
Green For All –Tell your Senators to oppose a roll back of the Clean Air Act.
Greenpeace — Defeat the Murkowski amendment and Protect the Clean Air Act
National Wildlife Federation — Protect Your Right to Clean Air

I am not sure why this asshole is part of Senator Kerry’s efforts:

“I don’t think the Senate has an appetite for another such epic, polarized legislative war this session,” said Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), who met with Sens. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) on Wednesday to strategize on how to enlist support for a compromise climate bill they are writing.

Most of these folks were never going to seriously consider voting for a worthwhile bill in the first place. I’m glad they’ve now identified their excuse for inaction so we can stop including them in policy negotiations.

“It makes it hard to do anything because of the way this was handled,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

Graham didn’t elaborate, but he didn’t have to — the fierce partisan fights during the past few weeks have torn away at the Senate’s clubby decorum, raising temperatures, fraying nerves and creating what one Democratic senator has called a “very high” level of distrust among members.

Graham’s words carry serious weight with supporters of climate change legislation because the South Carolina Republican has emerged as a leader on the issue in the Senate, working with Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) on a bipartisan bill.

Other potentially “gettable” Republican senators also sounded discouraging notes Monday.

“Right now, I would say that cap and trade is stalled,” said Maine Sen. Susan Collins.

“Cap and trade has been delayed by the health care debate almost indefinitely,” said Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar. “The question will be how many more battles members of Congress want to take on in an election year.”

“I give it a very low chance,” said Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a potential GOP target for bill supporters. “What it comes down to is our ability to work together as a body. And right now, the indicators are not very positive for climate change.”

Following up on the Kerry-Graham-Lieberman framework I posted yesterday, I wanted to share this version, which includes a note from the three Senators to President Obama.

ClimateFrameworkFinal –

You can listen to today’s press conference here.

And here is the introduction to the framework Senators Kerry, Graham and Lieberman released today (full framework document below):

Carbon pollution is altering the earth’s climate. The impacts have already been seen and felt throughout our country and around the world. Monday’s endangerment finding by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) underscores the importance of Congressional action to address greenhouse gas emissions before the EPA moves unilaterally.

This document outlines the principles and guidelines that will shape our ongoing efforts to develop comprehensive climate change and energy independence legislation. It is a starting point, inviting our colleagues’ constructive input.

Our efforts seek to build upon the significant work already completed in Congress. Earlier this year, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed bipartisan legislation that will instruct our efforts to promote and achieve energy security. Important work to reduce carbon emissions has taken place in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which additionally informs us. We also anticipate consideration of issues related to climate change by the Senate Finance, Commerce, and Agriculture Committees.

It is critical to emphasize that this framework is a work in progress. We will continue to engage with our constituents, colleagues in the Senate, and stakeholders outside Washington in our effort to build a consensus that will lead to the passage of comprehensive climate and energy legislation. The only way to succeed is through ongoing engagement and an honest effort to put all ideas on the table.

Here is the full document:

Framework_FINAL –

Yet another supposedly moderate Republican comes out as a big no on clean energy legislation:

Lugar said he welcomed the opportunity to discuss global warming, but he emphasized that his constituents are more focused on the economy and did not see the bill authored by Kerry and Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) as politically viable.

“I don’t see any climate bill on the table right now that I can support,” said Lugar, one of the half-dozen Republicans that Democrats are courting on the issue. “We really have to start from scratch again.”

I don’t think we’ll need Lugar to achieve cloture, so I seriously hope we don’t ’start from scratch again.’ If Lugar doesn’t support the extremely generous framework Kerry, Graham and Lieberman are developing, he won’t support anything. On this issue at least, Lugar is yet another moderate in name only.

Friends of the Earth:

“It is extremely disconcerting to hear scientists speak about the level of action needed to prevent radical and dangerous climate destabilization, and then to see how far short even one of the most environmentally friendly committees in Congress has fallen.

“While the bill reported out of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee today is in some ways better than the bill that passed the House in June—for example, it protects some important Clean Air Act provisions (others are still eliminated)—it remains a woefully disproportionate response to the tremendous economic, security and public health threats posed by global warming.

“The bill’s backbone is a poorly regulated carbon trading scheme that entrusts the Wall Street bankers who brought us the current economic crisis with the responsibility to solve global warming. The bill showers polluting corporations with billions of dollars, but doesn’t require them to reduce pollution fast enough to avoid devastating climate change impacts. And it contains massive carbon offset loopholes that would allow U.S. polluters to keep polluting by paying for often-non-existent pollution reductions overseas. Other loopholes, such as excluding pollution from bioenergy, also undermine the bill’s intent.

“These flaws are unacceptable, and they are the result of a defective political system in which polluting corporations, Wall Street traders, and their lobbyists continue to exert far too much influence. Too many senators are siding with special interests instead of advocating solutions that are in the public interest. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who today voted ‘no’ while making the absurdly contradictory claims that he wants to fight climate change but that this bill is too strong, is one such senator.

“Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) now appear to be moving forward with an attempt to produce an even weaker bill—one friendlier to the oil, coal and nuclear industries. Senators who wish to be responsible shepherds of their constituents’ tax dollars, as well as stewards of our planet, should reject such giveaways.

“Most Republicans are more closely aligned with Senator James Inhofe (R-Ok.) than Senator Graham. Inhofe is still in denial about basic aspects of climate science. Instead of participating in the legislative process, he threw temper tantrums and boycotted this week’s hearings. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) deserves credit for not yielding to his and other Republicans’ stall tactics.

“The lack of aggressive action by Congress falls far short of the global community’s expectations. People around the world are hoping for U.S. leadership in addressing the climate crisis, but the approach represented by this bill is so weak it could cause international climate negotiations to disintegrate.

“Congress has a tremendous opportunity to strengthen our economy, create millions of green jobs, and stabilize our climate, but that opportunity is being squandered. This must change. In the meantime, the Obama administration must be aggressive and immediately use its legal mandate under the Clean Air Act to crack down on polluters, and forward-thinking state and local officials must also continue advancing their own solutions.”

Senator Boxer:

“A Majority of the EPW Committee voted to send the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act – S. 1733 — to the floor of the Senate today in full accordance with longstanding Committee and Senate Rules.  We did it for three reasons.

• S. 1733 addresses a crucial issue of our time and advancing the bill is a necessary step on the road to garnering the 60 votes we need for a comprehensive bill that will be melded together from various Committees and Senators from different regions of the country.  This bill is already being worked on by Senators Kerry, Lieberman, Graham and others.

• We found, after questioning the EPA extensively, that the Republicans’ demand for another EPA analysis now would be duplicative and a waste of taxpayer dollars. The absence of the Republicans during the EPA’s presentation was a clear message that their criticism of the EPA analysis was not a substantive one.  Indeed, the EPA said their economic analysis was “unprecedented” in scope and was never done for any other energy or climate bill at this stage of the process.
  

• The Committee and Senate rules that have been in place during Republican and Democratic majorities are there to be used when the Majority feels it is in the best interest of their states and of the nation to act.  A majority of the Committee believes that S. 1733, and the efforts that will be built upon it, will move us away from foreign oil imports that cost Americans one billion dollars a day, it will protect our children from pollution, create millions of clean energy jobs, and stimulate billions of dollars of private investment.

We are pleased that despite the Republican boycott, we have been able to move the bill.”

Talking Points Memo:

A major climate change bill passed out of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee amid a Republican boycott this morning, setting the stage for other panels to amend the legislation. The final vote was 11-1. Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)–whose Senate Finance Committee probably have its own crack at the bill–was the lone hold out. No Republicans showed up to vote.

Here is the statement from Clean Energy Works:

“We’re pleased that Senator Boxer stood up to the Big Oil-backed boycott. Big Oil has already doled out more than $3 million to the minority members of the committee and, given Big Oil’s billions in profits last quarter, we look forward to seeing whether they get a ‘performance bonus’ after this morning’s no-show. We’re spending a $1 billion a day on foreign and it’s time to stand up to Big Oil to pass a bill that means more jobs, less pollution, and greater security.

“As Senator Graham’s efforts show, there is bipartisan agreement to move forward, despite the attempts of a backward looking minority to stymie action in a key committee. Today’s vote and yesterday’s announcement of a dual track by Senators Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman demonstrates that the Senate is gaining momentum in its push to enact comphrensive clean energy and climate legislation that will put America back in control of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet.”