White House quietly lobbies Senate as climate bill stalls

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By Christina Bellantoni

Climate-change legislation has stalled on Capitol Hill, but the White House's unofficial "Green Cabinet" is quietly trying to revive the effort by lobbying dozens of senators.

President Obama has dispatched Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson to Capitol Hill. White House aides said that they and other executive branch staffers, such as climate-change czar Carol Browner, have met with "dozens" of senators.

They are working to assure key senators - ranging from Senate Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico Democrat, to John Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat - that a climate-change bill is viewed as a "priority" by the administration, Capitol Hill sources said.

Mr. Kerry hosted several top Obama officials at his home this spring, and he and Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Sen. Barbara Boxer, California Democrat, hold a weekly meeting that White House officials have frequented.

Majority Leader Harry Reid signaled that he thinks the bill won't see the floor until next year, but the private message from the leadership is firm, Senate aides said: Get the bills out of committee as soon as possible.

Similar to the health reform battle, the plan is working its way through multiple committees - five on the Senate side before a plan is meshed with the House bill, which narrowly passed in June by a 219-212 vote. The Energy Committee is the only Senate panel that's passed a version so far.

A White House aide said the "Green Cabinet" is asking senators to support a comprehensive plan - though some vulnerable lawmakers would prefer that the bill be split into more politically tenable pieces - and is asking them to share ideas for what to include in the legislation.

As those meetings take place behind closed doors, some senators are striking deals on individual bits such as coal and nuclear issues, sources on Capitol Hill and in environmental groups say.

But that's not enough for some groups that say timing is of the essence.

Kert Davies, research director at Greenpeace, faulted Mr. Obama for not providing clear markers and said he worries time is running out before the major climate summit in Copenhagen in December.