With only days to go before Majority Leader Harry Reid unveils his forthcoming energy legislation, the Senate’s lead climate change negotiator acknowledged today that he’s shy of the 60 votes he’d need to overcome a filibuster if it includes provisions meant to mitigate global warming.
“Are we there? No,” said Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) in response to a question from TPMDC this afternoon. “We don’t have the 60 votes yet. I know that. But we’re close, enough to be able to fight for it, and we’ll see where we wind up.”
Kerry has never claimed otherwise, and has always suggested that building a 60-plus vote coalition for climate legislation would be a tough climb. But his acknowledgment comes as other key Democratic members and chairmen are trying to prevent any plan to cap and price global warming pollution from coming to the floor without 60 votes in the bag. Just today, Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), chair of the Democratic Policy Committee, publicly cast doubt on whether that’s possible.
“My expectation is that there are not 60 votes, and the best approach is to bring the energy bill from the energy committee to the floor,” Dorgan said, in response to a question from TPMDC.
Kerry and his supporters have received a helping hand in recent days from pressure groups, and even President Obama, who, after a long silence, has advocated that any energy bill in the Senate include provisions to address climate change. But for weeks now, top Senate aides have cast serious doubt on whether or not a climate bill can succeed, suggesting that Reid’s unlikely to include a carbon cap and price in his bill.
Republicans, meanwhile, are already reverting to a standard line on climate legislation, warning that Democrats are about to propose a “national energy tax,” and advocating for investments in nuclear energy and carbon capture. But they’re mostly mum on how to pay for those.
“There are a variety of bills on electric cars and trucks,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) at the GOP’s weekly press event today, in response to a question from TPMDC. “It would have to be paid for before it’s passed.”
Alexander did suggest upping spending on clean energy research and development by slashing subsidies to oil and wind companies.
