A non-partisan bill currently being drafted by Democratic, Republican, and Independent senators aims to reconcile the proposed House and Senate climate bills. The emerging Kerry-Graham-Lieberman bill aims for a 17% cut in US GHG emissions over 2005 levels by 2020, which mirrors the reduction in the House’s Waxman-Markey bill as well as the pledge delivered by President Obama at the Copenhagen climate conference. It is lower than the Senate bill’s reduction of 20%, however, because the senators believe a weaker target will be necessary to achieve the 60% majority vote required to pass this bill through the senate.

While details about the bill’s provisions are scarce, it is believed to include the cap-and-trade component passed through the senate environment committee, as well as the energy component passed through the senate energy committee. These are critical facets of any climate change bill, and since they’ve already been run through committees, their inclusion in the Kerry-Graham-Lieberman bill should facilitate its passage.

Reaction to this new draft bill will likely be mixed. But since the bill isn’t expected to be tabled until early spring, there is plenty of time to see how the finer points will unfold. With the US Environmental Protection Agency’s ruling and regulatory threats fresh in the minds of Washington’s politicians and environmental advocates, it is possible that the bill could morph into something quite different before the snow thaws (early).

By Jeff Beyer, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)