by David Roberts. This morning I identified five things that could affect the ultimate fate of the climate/energy bill in Congress. Some comments from Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) this morning add a bit of a twist to the proceedings. On MSNBC this morning, Schumer said that Reid is likely to advance an energy bill modeled on the one that passed through Sen. Jeff Bingaman’s (D-N.M.) Energy Committee last year. (It’s called ACELA, and it sucks .) What about the Kerry-Lieberman bill , which unlike Bingaman’s contains a cap on carbon? “Kerry has a proposal that has pretty broad support,” Schumer said. “He’s going, in my opinion, going to get a chance to offer it in the form of an amendment.” Aw, isn’t that sweet. Let’s be clear here: If there’s an energy-only bill on the floor and a cap-and-trade system is offered as an amendment, the amendment will fail . That is as close to a certainty as you get in D.C. The whole reason the energy and climate portions of the bill were packaged together in the first place is to force lawmakers to accept the stick (cap) with the carrots (incentives for nukes, etc.). If they’re allowed the opportunity to take all the good stuff with none of the bad stuff, of course they’ll take it. The question here is whether Schumer is speaking for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) or just freelancing. He’s never been a fan of the climate bill and said some things to undermine it when it rolled out back in April. Maybe he’s just being a jerk again. Anyway, if this is how the bill plays out, the cap on carbon is toast. Watch Schumer: Related Links: Dispersants: lesser evil against oil spill or Gulf poison? Is the climate bill going to pass? Top five things to watch BP capturing 10,000 barrels a day, but Gulf leak to keep going ‘til August

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Schumer says the climate bill is toast

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