Democrats play hard ball in climate bill battle

The already ferocious Senate battle over the proposed Boxer-Kerry climate bill intensified further yesterday when Democrats defied a Republican boycott to pass the draft legislation through the Environment and Public Works Committee.

Republican Senators on the committee had boycotted committee meetings to work on the bill, arguing that a full Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) analysis of the legislation's potential economic impact was needed before they could properly debate it.

But committee chair Barbara Boxer yesterday defied the boycott, authorising a vote on the bill that saw it pass through the committee unchanged.

However, the bold move could backfire on the Democrats after Republicans, including a number of moderate Senators whose support will be required in a full Senate vote for the bill to pass, responded angrily to the move.

Four moderate Republicans had written to the EPA on Wednesday signalling that they would not be able to vote for the legislation without a more detailed economic analysis of its impacts.

The move also threatened to alienate a number of Democrat senators who have expressed concern over the legislation. Max Baucus, a Democrat from Montana, and the one Senator to vote against the bill making the final split 11-1, issued a statement saying he was concerned about the scale of the 20 per cent emission reduction target included in the legislation. Although he added that he would continue to "work to get climate change legislation that can get 60 votes, get through the US Senate and signed into law".

In addition, there were reports that Boxer had defied the advice of Senate majority leader Harry Reid, who earlier this week attempted to appease Republicans by ordering the EPA to undertake a full analysis of the bill.

However, Boxer was unapologetic about the decision, insisting that the Republicans were guilty of unnecessary stalling tactics.

"The committee and Senate rules that have been in place during Republican and Democratic majorities are there to be used when the majority feels it is in the best interest of their states and of the nation to act," she said in a statement, adding that the EPA has already undertaken an economic analysis of the Waxman-Markey bill passed by the House of Representatives, which is largely similar to the bill being considered by the Senate.

That analysis, as well as a preliminary EPA assessment of the Boxer-Kerry bill, said that the legislation would have a negligible impact on the US economy and would not prove to be the "job killer" predicted by Republicans.