CONGRESS

New Direction on Climate Change?

Senators discuss abandoning cap and trade.

With widespread opposition in the Senate to the consensus environmentalist approach to regulating greenhouse emissions, known as cap and trade, a bipartisan group of lawmakers are looking to find an alternative that could defeat a likely filibuster. Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), John Kerry (D-MA), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have spent months planning their push for climate legislation and are now exploring a new approach that would cap carbon for some sectors of the economy and try to reduce them in different ways. "This is a different bill," Lieberman told The Washington Post. "We haven't abandoned the market-based idea, but we're willing to negotiate with colleagues who have different ideas." The new plan would isolate electric utilities, transportation, and industry and could feature a cap on power-plant emissions and a tax on motor fuel to help finance more electricity-based modes of transport.