Posted by Matt Dempsey matt_dempsey@epw.senate.gov

Will Boxer 'Go Nuclear' on Climate Bill Today? - EPW Dems Say Yes - Reid Gives Green Light on Nuclear Option

Inhofe EPW News Roundup

Politico: Will Boxer 'go nuclear' on climate bill? - Environment and Public Works Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Ca.) plans to pursue the so-called nuclear option on the climate bill on Thursday if Republicans continue their boycott of the legislative mark-up, according to Democratic aides and lobbyists. Republicans have refused to attend the mark-up of the legislation until the Environmental Protection Agency delivers an additional analysis of the bill. Boxer would "go nuclear" by exploiting a legislative loophole to push legislation through her committee without any Republicans present.EPW Committee rules state that opening a "business meeting" requires one-third of the members of the committee, including two members of the minority party. But legislation can be approved by the committee with a simple majority of members, an exception Boxer could use to pass her bill.  "The rules are written in the Senate committee for reasons and the reasons are to make sure we can do our work," Boxer told reporters on Wednesday. "I would never do anything that went up against the rules of our committee. That would be wrong." But Boxer is also the final judge on any dispute over committee rules, a fact that would allow her to override any GOP objection. "I think it's bad judgment but they have the votes," said Ohio Republican Sen. George Voinovich, who's leading the boycott against the bill. Republicans warned on Wednesday that moving the bill though committee without Republicans present could weaken bipartisan support as the bill moves from the committee to consideration by the full Senate. "It undermines credibility of the process," said New Hampshire Republican Sen. Judd Gregg. "It's not constructive to the process to proceed without knowing what it costs."

E&ENEWS: EPW Dems Say They Are Going Nuclear - Asked if EPW Democrats plan to move the bill tomorrow, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) replied, "I believe so ... It can always change, but I believe we'll go tomorrow." EPW Democrats held a closed-door strategy session tonight to discuss "how to proceed with the understanding that the Republicans are likely not to participate, which means that we basically, the process is limited as to what you can do," Cardin said. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) left the meeting saying committee rules would preclude the Democrats from moving the bill with amendments. "Let me put it this way," Whitehouse said. "I don't know a way to take up an amendment without two Republicans present. That's been the problem. That's why we haven't been able to take up our amendments. That's why we haven't been able to take up the amendments that don't relate to the questions that they have about the analysis of the bill. So that's been our problem."

Reid gives Boxer green light for 'nuclear option' - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has given the chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works Committee the go-ahead to advance global warming legislation by Tuesday if Republicans have not ended their boycott by then, according to three sources close to the process. Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) originally wanted to push forward tomorrow with debate and votes on amendments to the 959-page climate bill.

RollCall: Inhofe Fumes Over Use of the ‘Nuclear Option' - Republicans denounced Boxer's efforts to mark up the bill. Ranking member James Inhofe (R-Okla.) dubbed the decision to conduct the markup without Republicans a "nuclear option" and charged that Boxer was "destroying the integrity of the committee system. We have committees for a reason." Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), an EPW member, accused Boxer and Democrats of attempting to force through a "Washington slush fund." "We want to participate in any clean energy bill, but we're not willing to do that until we know what it costs," Alexander said. "We're not about to begin to vote on a national energy tax that collects hundreds of billions of dollars and puts in a Washington slush fund and starts handing it out all around the country without knowing exactly the consequences of that."

Congress Daily - Swing Senators Push For Boxer To Cave On GOP Demands - Four GOP Senators who are potential supporters of cap-and-trade legislation Wednesday joined the chorus from their party in pushing Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer to give in to her panel Republicans' demands for more EPA analysis before the panel marks up a bill... While partisan rancor has so far sidetracked consideration of climate legislation in Boxer's panel, it is unclear whether that will affect the broader Senate debate."I mean, presumably, the cliché answer would be 'yes' and the real answer is 'I don't know,'" Senate Commerce Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller said. The West Virginia Democrat -- whose panel has partial jurisdiction on a bill and is a potential swing vote -- does not believe the full Senate will take up a climate bill this year because of the healthcare debate and said there are staff rumblings about putting off debate until after the 2010 midterm elections. "Maybe it makes some sense -- you don't do it in 2010 because everybody's up for election and all that kind of stuff," said Rockefeller, who added he would like to debate climate change next year.

CQ: Becoming a Sideshow - The panel - with jurisdiction over about 70 percent to 80 percent of a climate change bill - would be the natural central arena for assembling a bill. Instead, this week's Boxer-Inhofe disputes appear to have relegated it to a sideshow. Another bipartisan group of senators has been negotiating behind closed doors with White House officials to craft a separate, broader climate bill designed to draw significant support from Republicans and moderate Democrats. Those senators - Democrat John Kerry of Massachusetts, independent Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut and Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina - told reporters Wednesday that they are making progress in their behind-the-scenes efforts. They said they were working to put together language from the six different Senate committees with jurisdiction over some piece of the climate legislation, which Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., would eventually merge in an effort to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. While the bill before the Environment panel might once have been the main vehicle for that effort, Kerry - its nominal sponsor - is among those now saying it is more likely to be just one piece of a final legislative product.

Time to "Rescue" Climate Bill? Three senators with differing political views are working behind the scenes to rescue troubled climate legislation...The announcement came as the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee for a second day delayed voting on any changes to a climate and energy bill introduced in late September by Kerry and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., because no Republicans showed up... Kerry, Graham and Lieberman stressed Wednesday that their "dual track" for climate legislation would not usurp Boxer's efforts, or the work of five other committees that have jurisdiction over energy and climate policy...Left unanswered was how long the new process would take. Kerry said he would not be bound by a specific time frame. But with a month left until 192 nations gather in Copenhagen to hammer out a new international treaty to slow global warming, the Obama administration and Democrats are under pressure to show movement on a climate bill.

Tulsa World: Republicans want an analysis of the measure's effects before they will agree to a vote. Inhofe, the ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said he believes that the "dual track'' option demonstrates how much supporters of the climate change bill before the panel are losing. "They are in a very awkward situation,'' he said. It is unclear how that situation will play out. Sen. Barbara Boxer, the committee's chairwoman, has scheduled another session Thursday. Inhofe and Boxer, D-Calif., actually held hands earlier Wednesday while talking about their long friendship, but even that unusual gesture did not get them past a two-day impasse on the bill. "Let the record show we are holding hands,'' Boxer said as she continued to appeal to Inhofe and his fellow Republicans to end their boycott. Inhofe echoed her comments about their friendship but made it clear that Republicans will be ready to act on the measure only after a complete analysis of it has been conducted. Republicans believe that the Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to do such an analysis, which would take weeks. Inhofe also warned that any attempt to move the bill without Republican participation would jeopardize the committee's future work on other important issues such as transportation.

Politico: "Kerry acknowledged that the term ‘cap and trade' has become politically problematic." Climate bill supporters are looking to Sens. John Kerry, Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman as the great, green hope for getting legislation through the Senate. But a tide of bad news, turf fights and delays on the health care bill makes the proposal a difficult sell, even for a bipartisan trio with a combined nearly 60 years of legislative experience. "They're out front at a time that doesn't work for the rest of us because some of us are still completely engrossed in health care," said West Virginia Democratic Sen. John Rockefeller...Kerry acknowledged that the term "cap and trade" has become politically problematic. "The bill that I submitted with Sen. Boxer [that] went to her committee doesn't mention cap and trade, and there's a reason.

Argus Leader: Thune blasts climate bill - Sen. John Thune said Wednesday a climate change bill working its way through the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is bad for South Dakota. The South Dakota Republican, a vocal critic of energy legislation backed by Democrats, told reporters in a conference call Wednesday that the Senate "cap-and-trade" legislation would be even worse than a House climate change measure because it would be more aggressive in capping carbon emissions.That would hurt South Dakota in the form of higher electricity costs for energy-intensive agricultural operations and because the state relies heavily on carbon-producing coal for its electricity. "Embarking on this path right now with the economy as fragile as it is could do great harm," Thune said. "We ought to be doing everything we can to reduce emissions and go to carbon-free energy sources, but I think there are ways we can do that with incentives rather than with this heavy-handed, top-down mandate which puts these crushing new energy costs on the American economy and American families when they're struggling to get back on their feet."