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Darren Samuelsohn, -- E&E News – March 26, 2010

The three senators at the center of climate and energy negotiations are aiming to unveil their bill during the week celebrating the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22.

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) joked with reporters yesterday that the trio had considered a bill introduction a week earlier, but that would coincide with Tax Day on April 15. Opponents have attacked climate proposals as a new tax, something the sponsors have purposefully sought to avoid.

"We thought it would be better to go with Earth Day, the week of the 19th," Lieberman said.

Until then, Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Lieberman will finish writing their draft proposal that sets a first-ever price for the industrial releases of greenhouse gas emissions and expands domestic production of oil, gas and nuclear power.

The three lawmakers expect to be out of Washington for much of the two-week recess that starts today, but they said their staffs will be busy on Capitol Hill writing the bill and meeting with key industry officials and environmental lobbyists to glean last-minute ideas for the proposal.

Graham yesterday outlined several specific decisions already made, including sector-specific emission limits for power plants starting in 2012, with manufacturers to follow four years later. For allowances, the senators will propose recycling all revenue generated by the sale of the utility industry's allowances back to consumers through local distribution companies.

They also will add a "price collar" to give industry certainty about compliance costs. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is taking a lead on this issue, meeting with Kerry, Graham and Lieberman, along with Tom Ferrell, the chairman, president and CEO of Richmond-based Dominion Resources Inc., and Tom Kuhn, the president of the Edison Electric Institute.

"One of the things you saw was wide swings of predictions of what this bill would cost and one thing is to try and give folks who want to make investments in alternative energy predictability and also give utilities predictability," Warner told reporters.

Lieberman said the trio also plans to include several of the suggestions offered yesterday by a collection of industry trade groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and American Petroleum Institute. This was the third meeting for the U.S. Chamber-led group, also known as the Alliance for Energy and Economic Growth.

Several of the industry officials left their 90-minute meeting with the senators offering praise for the process, even though they still are waiting to see the details.

"Candid," said Paul Schlegel, director for public policy at the American Farm Bureau Federation. "I think the senators are being genuine in their outreach to people, and that's a big deal."

"It was another extraordinary session with a direct and frank exchange of ideas between industry leaders and the senators sitting around the table, talking about specific needs that should be contained in a final legislative product," said John Shaw, senior vice president of government affairs at the Portland Cement Association.

The sponsors said they are gaining momentum for their proposal among other senators because of the industry meetings, and vice versa.

"The more of these meetings with business people, the more serious they take what we're doing," Graham said. "The business community elevates what we're trying to do."

Lieberman added, "And in turn, the interest of more senators engages more interest of the business community. This is mutually reinforcing."

The lack of any firm details before the spring recess has caused some angst on and off Capitol Hill. "We still don't have any language from Senator Kerry, so until we do, there's not a lot to say," Agriculture Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) said Wednesday after she met with top Obama administration officials, Democratic committee leaders and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

But Kerry, Graham and Lieberman all defended their decision not to release any legislative text before they were ready.

"You don't want paper before you're locked in with affected parties," Kerry said. "It's actually destructive. Counter productive. We're making enormous progress on all fronts, and we'll have paper out at the right moment."

Graham said the five-month long negotiations have helped the trio get a better understanding of the issues they are tackling. "The longer we've talked about it, the more momentum we've gotten," he said. "But that won't last forever. We need to bring this thing to a conclusion."