A leading member of the US Senate, hoping to win over wavering colleagues, said he is pushing environmental reforms to create jobs and spark energy independence, with climate benefits along “for the ride.” In an interview with The Associated Press, Sen. John Kerry, a Democrat, said legislation he is drafting with Sens. Lindsey Graham, a Republican and Joe Lieberman, an independent, will differ from a House-passed bill that embraces a so-called “cap and trade” approach to reduce pollution blamed for global warming. “It will be a very different mix of a bill from where we were at the end of the House effort,” said Kerry, the Democrats' unsuccessful candidate for president in 2004. “It will be simpler, and hopefully, capable of attracting support.” By pushing for alternative sources of energy such as wind, solar and nuclear power, the bill could create more than a million jobs while reducing pollution and cleaning up the air, Kerry said in the Thursday interview. “It's primarily a jobs bill, and an energy independence bill and a pollution reduction-health-clean air bill,” Kerry said. “Climate sort of follows. It's on for the ride.” Kerry and other Senate sponsors have avoided the phrase “cap and trade” whenever possible, but Kerry bristled at the notion that the new focus is an effort to re-brand an unpopular idea. “This has nothing to do with branding. We are not trying to switch hit here,” he said. “This is a different bill. It will have a different structure.” Kerry declined to reveal details, but said the measure aims to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollution-causing greenhouse gases by about 17 percent by 2020. The bill is likely to abandon an economy-wide approach to carbon pollution in favor a plan that applies different carbon controls to different sectors of the economy.
