Senate Democrats and President Draw Energy Road Map
President Obama has invited select Democratic senators to join him for lunch at the White House on Wednesday to talk about energy legislation as he and Senate Democrats resolve to make a strong push to pass a bill before the August recess, according to an official briefed on the situation.
The White House also added to Mr. Obama’s schedule on Wednesday an afternoon meeting with former President Bill Clinton and business leaders to discuss job creation and ways to make new investments in clean energy.
The lunch comes a day after Mr. Obama hosted Senate Democratic leaders at the White House to figure out a legislative strategy for the next few weeks and on the same day he will meet with House Democratic leaders to do the same. With midterm elections looming, this may be the last, best opportunity to pass major legislation before voters head to polling booths in November.
The White House indicated Tuesday that it expects Congress to pass new financial regulations, extended unemployment benefits and small business incentives before leaving on summer break. But with oil still leaking in the Gulf of Mexico, the energy plan remains perhaps the biggest uncertainty. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, announced Tuesday that he will send a four-part package to the floor the week of July 26.
Mr. Reid said the legislation would include a response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, promote more energy efficiency, develop more clean energy production and try to curb greenhouse gases from power plants. Senators John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, are seeking to build support for a bill that would impose limits on emissions only on the electric utility industry, rather than the economy as a whole.
Among the senators coming for lunch on Wednesday are the Democrats Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Robert P. Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Claire McCaskill of Missouri. The lunch is to make up for an earlier one that had to be canceled.
The Democrats are trying to lure enough Republicans to overcome a filibuster and believe if they keep the utility industry emission cap narrow enough they might be able to win the support of Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, and perhaps also Susan Collins of Maine and Scott Brown of Massachusetts.
-Peter Baker
