Although Congress just got break from a week off for the 4th of July Holiday, there is only a limited number of days before – don't you know – they're going on vacation again.  It's called the August break, but it's serious for those who are looking at the U.S. Senate to finally propose a bill that would "marry" in some fashion the bill that the Nancy Pelosi led House passed on climate change/energy over a year ago.

In the aftermath of the gigantic oil spill in the Gulf (in which there has been yet another setback in BP's efforts to quell the disaster), there were high hopes that the Senate energy bill could at least be a beginning of looking at ways to begin the journey of looking and exploring alternative energy sources other than oil and coal.

But the New York Times reports this morning that President Obama and Senate Democrats are looking at ways of "scaling back"an energy bill that will put limits on carbon pollution by power plants but not by other industries.

And in their bid to acquire at least a handful of Republicans to get the 60 votes required, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid vows that it's "not all green stuff, you know, Sierra Club stuff."  Read this Times excerpt:

Mr. Reid outlined four main elements: responding to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, promoting greater energy efficiency, developing more clean-energy production and curbing power plant emissions.

He said he was prepared to incorporate a plan championed by T. Boone Pickens, the oil and gas executive, to sharply expand the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel in large vehicle fleets. The proposal, supported by Senators, Orrin Hatch,  Republican of Utah, and Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, would provide tax breaks for natural-gas-powered vehicles and fueling stations.

“This legislation, it’s not all green stuff — you know, Sierra Club stuff,” Mr. Reid said. “We’re importing 70 percent of the oil that we use. We have a need to change the paradigm in America. And that is, we need to have a move to renewable energy.”

This article appears in Jul 15-21, 2010.