The Senate is expected to pass the House’s health care reconciliation fix this week — and after the upper chamber’s members return from spring recess, they can finally turn their attention to other major legislation. But environmental advocates have feared that with a jobs bills, financial regulation and possibly immigration reform on the table, comprehensive climate legislation could get pushed back until it’s too late.<\/p>\n
Today, 22 Democratic senators signed a letter urging action on a climate bill this year. And while the support of less than half the Democratic caucus wouldn’t ordinarily be noteworthy, what’s interesting here is the makeup of the letter’s signatories: They’re almost all moderates or representatives of states with significant industrial or fossil fuel interests. Take a look at the list (via Dave Roberts<\/a>):<\/span><\/p>\n Not exactly jam-packed with coastal liberals. As Roberts points out, Casey, Begich, Tester, Stabenow and Cantwell are all arguably fence-sitters on the issue — and a number of others have expressed reservations about carbon-capping legislation.<\/p>\n\n