US Senate takes up landmark climate bill for first time

Jul 7, 2009, 15:08 GMT

Washington - The US Senate on Tuesday began what promises to be a long and divisive debate over how to tackle global warming and boost renewable energy sources in the United States.

Four top energy officials from President Barack Obama's administration kicked off the Senate debate with testimony before the chamber's environment committee, which will play a key role in crafting legislation.

The Senate hearing comes ten days after the lower House of Representatives narrowly approved its own climate and energy bill, which for the first time would force US companies to pay for pollutants that are blamed for climate change.

'The administration and Congress need to work together to spur a revolution in clean energy technologies,' Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in written testimony to the environment committee.

The climate bill passed by a wafer-thin 219-212 votes in the House. Passage will likely be even more difficult in the Senate, where a similar effort failed in the latter years of president George W Bush's administration.

Most Republicans and many Democrats from rural, agriculture-heavy and coal-producing states oppose the measure out of fear that it will harm industries in their states.

Senate committees are expected to hammer out a deal by September, but climate groups have warned the bill could lose their support if its measures are watered down much further.

The House bill would for the first time create a so-called cap- and-trade system in the United States, under which companies will be allocated pollution credits that dirtier and cleaner firms can trade with each other on the open market.