CLIMATE: Reid says cap-and-trade bill may wait till 2010 (09/15/2009)
Noelle Straub, E&E reporter
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) today said the Senate may not act on comprehensive energy and climate change legislation until next year, given the chamber’s busy fall schedule.
Speaking to reporters about the possibility of taking up the bill this fall, Reid said the Senate must first finish work on health care and regulatory reform.
“So, you know, we are going to have a busy, busy time the rest of this year,” Reid said. “And, of course, nothing terminates at the end of this year. We still have next year to complete things if we have to.”
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) acknowledged the current focus on health care but said he is hopeful climate will remain part of the packed agenda this year. Asked whether he and Reid are discussing the climate and energy bill amid the current health care push, Durbin said, “It’s all health care, all the time. I shouldn’t say all the time, because we have a list of about a dozen things we have to do, and that is one of the elements that we want to finish before the end of the year.”
Reid also downplayed but did not rule out the possibility that Democrats could decide to move the energy piece separately from the climate change portion.
“That was an initial discussion that we had many, many months ago,” Reid said. “We’ve focused on what the House has done, and that is do it all in one package. But we have — that’s a bridge that’s still a long ways away.”
Senior reporter Ben Geman contributed.
