Washington (CNN) — Senate Democrats Thursday seized on the environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico as a reason to pass climate-change and energy legislation, but internal policy differences will not be easy to overcome and may also leave many disheartened.
Members of the Democratic caucus met behind closed doors to discuss various legislative proposals, telling reporters afterward that no single vision has emerged as the way forward. The difficulty is that any policy change needs 60 votes to be approved in the Senate.
“One of the many lessons of the BP disaster is we can’t afford to continue business as usual,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid after the meeting. Reid, of Nevada, expressed his goal of voting on one bill that addresses both the BP spill and concerns about global warming before recessing in August, adding that “stalling for political purposes” is unacceptable.
Full Story: http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/06/17/senate.dems.climate.change/index.html