Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., Sen. Lindsey Graham , R-S.C., and Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman , I-Conn., are working together on climate legislation. However, the bill is no longer referred to as “cap and trade” legislation. The bill’s chief author, Kerry, is now referring to his plan as “reduction and refund,” according to insiders.
As noted in the HillCo Client News Flash of March 9th, the Senate Climate legislation will be a sector by sector approach to three sectors primarily responsible for carbon dioxide emissions: utilities, transportation and industry. Specifically, the plan would no longer rely on an economy-wide cap-and-trade model.
Although initial thoughts were that the bill would be released this month, it is now expected the bill will be unveiled sometime next month.