U.N. General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon stopped by the Capitol today to lobby Senators to get on board with comprehensive climate change legislation in advance of next month’s U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen.
The response he got from Senators mired in the debate over health care reform? Get in line, pal.
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) joined Moon with reporters after his closed-door meeting with the Senators. All three said that there was no chance a climate change bill will make it out of the Senate by Copenhagen, and slim chance it will come after that. Kerry said the bill comes after health care and financial services reform in terms of Senate priority.
“We understand the importance of us leading on this issue,” Kerry said. “I’m confident we’ll pass a law as soon as it is practicable. And when I say practicable I mean after health care and after financial reform.”
Kerry said he, Lieberman and Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) have been meeting privately to develop a “framework” for a bipartisan climate change bill. Though bills have passed through two of the relevant committees, there’s still a long way to go before there’s a vote on climate change legislation.
Senior Democratic aides say privately they doubt that a bill will be finalized before the end of the year.
The “framework” is, in theory, supposed to give the international community in Copenhagen reassurance that the United States will be a key player in a new global climate change treaty. The Senate has been struggling to draft a bill, and Kerry said the framework would make clear the Senate’s goals for climate change. But he stressed that the framework would be a draft, and not a version of a final bill.
Moon said that some kind of promise from the U.S. Senate was key to getting a comprehensive global agreement on the climate.
“No country is more important than the U.S. in resolving the issue of climate change,” he said. “I sincerely hope the Senate will take action as soon as possible.”
The Senators promised to come up with something eventually.
“I’m feeling optimistic,” Lieberman said.
Another outstanding question before the Copenhagen talks kick off centers around whether or not President Obama will make the trip to the conference. In a scrum with reporters after the press conference, Lieberman said Obama should appear at the meeting.
“I hope that he will,” Lieberman said.
Other voices joining that call include Al Gore, who told the Wall Street Journal last week that “it would make a big difference” in Cophenhagen if Obama is there.
In an interview with Reuters today, Obama said he wouldn’t rule out going to the meeting — but he wouldn’t commit to going, either. From the interview:
“If I am confident that all of the countries involved are bargaining in good faith and we are on the brink of a meaningful agreement, and my presence in Copenhagen will make a difference in tipping us over the edge, then certainly that’s something that I will do,” said Obama.
