Nov. 5

Democrats on the Senate environment committee this morning voted to end a three-day standoff with their Republican counterparts and pass out of committee a climate bill despite a GOP boycott that began Tuesday.

With only Democrats in attendance at this morning´s environment committee hearing, the committee voted 11-1 to move SB 1733, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, on to the full Senate. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., cast the sole dissenting vote.

Republicans had boycotted committee hearings since Tuesday, hoping to block a vote on the measure. Ranking member James Inhofe, R-Okla., and Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said the Republican committee members wanted a more detailed financial analysis of the bill before voting on it.

Custom dictates committee votes are normally delayed until at least two member of the minority party are in attendance at a committee hearing, but Boxer said she had the right to hold a vote as long as a majority of committee members were in attendance. Democrats hold 12 of the 19 seats.

Boxer said she had done her best to address Republican concerns and said the economic analysis already prepared by the EPA was "unprecedented" in scope, despite arguments to the contrary from Republicans.

"We are pleased that despite the Republican boycott, we have been able to move the bill," Boxer said.

Inhofe had urged Boxer not to vote the measure out of committee without Republican participation, saying the GOP wanted bipartisan participation once their concerns about the EPA economic analysis were addressed.

Senate environment committee member Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., took a more strident tone during his comments than Chairwoman Boxer. Lautenberg accused his Republican colleagues of "dereliction of duty" for boycotting the hearings and "copping out by not showing up."

"We have an obligation to see this through," Lautenberg said. "Apathy and evasion are not America´s strategy for dealing with climate change."

The partisan vote raises questions about whether Democrats will have difficulty earning support for the measure from some moderate Republicans who have expressed support for climate change legislation in the past.

Democrats in Congress and the Obama administration have expressed hope for significant progress on a climate bill before international talks take place in Copenhagen in December. However, five more Senate committees must still weigh in on the climate bill, and the House has passed a slightly different climate bill, making it unlikely Congress could pass a completed climate bill before the talks begin.

Contact Waste & Recycling News senior reporter Bruce Geiselman at 330-865-6172 or bgeiselman@crain.com

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