NEXT UP

Dems to Begin Energy Bill Push

Seek cap on carbon emissions.

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."