Dems to Begin Energy Bill Push

Sensing the time might be right to capitalize on public outrage over BP, Senate Democrats will begin their long-awaited push for new energy legislation this week. At the top of their list will be a carbon cap to be applied to utility companies, as they hope to avoid the broad disputes over cap-and-trade. Though the House passed a climate change bill almost a year ago, the Senate has shown little interest in doing the same. But President Obama will meet with a bipartisan group of senators Tuesday to urge them to move quickly. "We are prepared and ready to move forward on a new energy strategy that the American people desperately want but for which there's been insufficient political will," he said recently. "It is time for us to move to a clean-energy future."