Sens. Kerry, Lieberman and Graham -- giving the climate away.

We need real action to stop climate change and control greenhouse gases, not giveaways and incentives to Big Oil and other fossil fuel companies.  Yet that is the opposite of what some in the U.S. government are working on.

Three U.S. Senators are writing a “secret” climate bill with corporations, out of public view. On Tuesday of this week they shared that draft bill not with the American public, but with industry leaders involved with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the oil and gas industries.  They refused to let the press see it but insiders talked about it after the meeting. The senators are working with some of the biggest polluters to craft a so-called climate and energy bill, and we can’t even read it.   From eenews.net (subscription only):

“Details emerged [Tuesday] on a sweeping Senate energy and climate proposal just days after three senior Democrats huddled to discuss alternative ways to tackle the issue later this spring on the floor.

Under pressure to quickly produce a bill, [who is this pressure coming from?] Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) … shared an eight-page outline of their draft plan in a closed-door meeting with major industry groups.

According to several sources in the meeting room, the bill will call for greenhouse gas curbs across multiple economic sectors, with a target of reducing emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. Power plant emissions would be regulated in 2012, with other major industrial sources phased in starting in 2016. . . .”

This issue is discussed in the latest Climate Files podcast here.  At the end of these negotiations, which no one is a part of outside of government and industry, we may end up with an energy-only “climate-energy” bill.  Even more frustrating, the 3 senior Senators involved in this bill won’t make it public, won’t let anyone other than select senators and industry leaders read it, and refuse to discuss details of it. This is just  like the secret energy meetings held during the Bush administration, when Dick Cheney went behind closed doors with Exxon and other energy corporations to craft U.S. policy.  This is what these 3 Senators are doing, presumably with the blessings of the White House.  CALL YOUR SENATORS and tell them we want a public process on climate change that reflects what is best for Americans, not Big Coal and Big Oil.  Writing them is also very effective (see below).

On Monday, Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) met for about 45 minutes with Reid to plead their case for taking up energy legislation approved last spring by Bingaman’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee. That bill (S. 1462 includes a renewable energy standard and offshore oil drilling but no cap on greenhouse gas emissions — a centerpiece of the Kerry-Graham-Lieberman effort.

Three sources familiar with the meeting said [...]