John Broder has a good piece in today’s NYT on the unveiling of the Kerry-Lieberman climate and energy bill (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/science/earth/13climate.html?ref=todayspaper).  Multiple other media sources cover as well, and many of them have decried the likely, forecasted failure of the Senate to seriously debate the measure this session.  Yet all is not lost.  There is a path forward.  What is set out below is what we wish Senate Majority Leader Reid and Minority Leader McConnell would do next.  What follows is an imagined, hoped-for, statement on the Senate floor by Majority Leader Reid.

Majority Leader Reid:  “Mr. President, the Minority Leader and I have reached the following agreement for the disposition of the Bingaman-Murkowski energy bill currently pending on the Senate calendar, with an amendment to be offered by our colleagues Senators Kerry and Lieberman, similar to the bill they introduced on May 12th.

“First, we have asked the chairs and ranking members of the following committees to each hold several substantive legislative hearings on the Kerry-Lieberman bill during the remainder of this month and the next:  Commerce, Science and Transportation; Energy and Natural Resources; Environment and Public Works; and Finance.  We of course would be pleased if other committees held similar hearings during the course of the next two months, but these committees must and will do so.

“At those hearings, a broad range of witnesses will testify about the untenable dependence on foreign oil of the United States, as well as the potential domestic and global consequences of unchecked greenhouse gas emissions.  Witnesses from the corporate, academic, interest group, and public sectors will discuss how the Bingaman-Murkowski bill, amended by something similar to the Kerry-Lieberman legislation, will or will not address those twin threats of energy insecurity and climate change.  Witnesses will also include economists, both inside and outside of government, who can accurately describe the positive and negative economic effects of the legislation.

“Throughout the hearings, the committees will seek concrete suggestions for improving both the base Bingaman-Murkowski bill and the proposed Kerry-Lieberman amendment.  As the hearings conclude, staff and members will devote the remainder of July and the August recess to modifying the legislation in line with recommendations they have received.

“Then, when the Senate returns in September, we will devote three weeks to full debate and amendment of the legislation.  Senator McConnell and I have agreed to jointly oppose any filibuster attempts on both the motion to proceed to the Bingaman-Murkowski bill and on individual amendments, including the Kerry-Lieberman amendment.  At the conclusion of the amendment process, however, Senator McConnell has retained the right to join in a filibuster if he so chooses.  I hope that he will not, and that full debate and an open amendment process will satisfy him and his colleagues that the Senate must then be allowed to exercise its will through a vote of the majority, but I respect his rights under the rules of the Senate and appreciate his cooperation in reaching this agreement.”

Is that an impossible scenario?  No.  Is it likely?  Not yet.  But there is time this year to deal with our energy insecurity and begin to address climate change.  It is truly up to the leadership of Senators Reid and McConnell.

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