A recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis of the American Power Act, the beleagured climate bill co-sponsored by John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), says that if the bill became law, it would cut the federal deficit by $19 billion by 2020. The sponsoring legislators have been searching for modifications to the bill that might gain it the 60 votes needed to pass; Republican fears about adding to the deficit have been a major impasse. “There is no more room for excuses; this must be our year to pass comprehensive climate and energy legislation and begin to send a price signal on carbon,” Kerry and Lieberman said in a joint statement. “Many of our colleagues have said they flatly oppose anything that adds a penny to the deficit, so we hope they look anew at this initiative, which reduces it.” The analysis, which had been requested by Kerry, comes a week after the senator said his bill had been abandoned as the main vehicle for moving an energy or climate package. It’s unclear whether that’s still the case. Politico reports that Democrats are considering three ideas: a popular overhaul of offshore drilling, an “energy-only” bill that would mandate an increase in renewable electricity and a cap on carbon emissions for power plants only. Some form of the bill will be debated on the Senate floor in August.
Source: Politico