Well, this was unexpected, but excellent news. After all the Republicans boycotted the committee, complaining that a new CBO report needed to be made, it seemed that the bill would be stalled in the Environmental and Public Works committee for an additional 5 weeks. As RLMiller reported two days ago, Reid had "caved" to their demands. And yet, we have this development today. Below the fold is the news and what may have changed.
The Boston Globe reports:
The Senate environment committee this morning passed a sweeping climate change bill co-sponsored by Senator John F. Kerry.
The vote came without any Republican support -- in fact, no GOP senators were present because they were boycotting the proceedings until a fuller economic analysis of the legislation.
The panel did not consider any amendments to the bill, which will now be merged with bills being written in other Senate committees, the Associated Press reports.
And more from Mother Jones writer Kate Sheppard, who live-tweeted the hearing:
Well, that was a lot of #CEJAPA drama.
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Boxer says they will work with Reid's office to get committee amendments into final bill.
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#CEJAPA passed out of Epw, 10-1. Baucus voted no, and Carper and Rs were not here.
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Baucus says he's voting against it, because he wants changes, but still thinks legislation should progress.
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EPW is going to report out w/o amendments.
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Yeah, don't get me on Baucus, but I digress.
So, what is going on? Well, Al Gore was on Rachel Maddow last night and in the video (where he defended Joe Lieberman), he hinted that something was up. He said there was more going on behind the scenes than most people realize.
Also, the wild card was an unexpected press conference yesterday held by John Kerry, Lindsay Graham, and Joe Lieberman. As Kate Sheppard reported:
Is There a Tri-Partisan Path Forward for a Climate Bill?
With debate of a climate bill at a stand-still in the Environment and Public Works Committee, a bipartisan group of Senators on Wednesday announced that they're working on an alternative path to passing a bill.
John Kerry (D-Mass.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said they are meeting with fellow senators and with administration officials to work out a proposal on climate and energy legislation that they will hand over to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that incorporates the components of legislation being crafted within the various committees of jurisdiction along with work with senators outside those committees.
...
What is important is both the public appearance by Graham and the emergence of Lieberman as the third wingman. In his remarks, Graham seemed to distance himself from Republicans on the Environment and Public Works Committee that have thus far boycotted markup of the Kerry-Boxer bill. "My hope is that participation is seen as positive," said Graham. "If you can't participate in solving the problem, then why are you up here?"
...
Lieberman has been working with other senators on his own, particularly on the nuclear power issue, but this is his first public entry into the debate this year. Of course, Lieberman's recent statements on health care have made him not the most popular legislator among Democrats, but he has a long history on climate legislation, dating back to the first climate bill in 2003, the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act. "He's been a great leader on climate in years past," said Jeremy Symons, senior vice president of conservation and education at the National Wildlife Federation. "He has all sorts of ability to bring people together. He's a great addition to the power team."
Okay, admittedly, with this praise for Lieberman, I felt the same way as David Roberts of Grist.org:
I'd almost rather let the world burn than let Lieberman worm his way back into the spotlight.
Ha! But as the old poet from the Pentagon once said years ago, you fight with the Senators you have, not the Senators you wish you had!
So is this dual track Kerry/Graham/Lieberman tri-partite alliance the key to why Al Gore is so hopeful a climate change bill will pass? We can only speculate. Nevertheless, it is good to see the bill is not going to be held hostage by Inhofe in the EPW committee. Only five more committes to go ....