By Timothy Gardner and Christopher Doering
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With time running out on the congressional calendar, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Tuesday he was still grappling for consensus among Democrats to forge a new climate and energy bill.
"We're really not at the point where I can determine what is best for the caucus," Reid told reporters when asked whether he would have a bill ready next week for the full Senate to debate.
Reid is trying to produce a bill from pieces of other legislation that could include reforming offshore drilling, boosting alternative energy, and perhaps a scaled-back cap on emissions blamed for global warming.
He said Senate Democrats will hold a caucus meeting on Thursday to discuss energy legislation. Many had expected Reid to introduce a bill on Tuesday.
President Barack Obama, who has pledged to cut U.S. emissions by about 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, wants to sign a climate bill before the end of the year.
If the United States passes a bill with climate provisions it could help spur international negotiations on global warming as the world faces what scientists say could be the hottest year on record.
But debate on energy and climate has grown more complicated since BP Plc's oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico as drilling reform may take precedent over carbon caps.
Less than three weeks are left before the Senate is slated to break for the August recess. Lawmakers also will be preoccupied with the November elections where many analysts expect Democrats to lose some seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The House has already passed a comprehensive climate bill and any Senate bill would have to be reconciled with that before reaching Obama's desk for signing.
POWER GROUP NEEDS TIME
One of the ideas that will be discussed on Thursday is to first focus on capping emissions from utilities. Senators John Kerry, a Democrat, and Joe Lieberman, an independent, have crafted a draft bill that would take that approach.
The duo met with the power industry group the Edison Electric Institute earlier on Tuesday to discuss the bill. EEI told them they need more time to work with their members around the country to focus on a utility-only bill, Lieberman said.
Reid said the meeting also will include a head count of who would support the bill. He said the Democrats were looking for up to three Republicans to reach the necessary 60 votes on the bill.
Senator Olympia Snowe, a Republican from Maine, has said she might support a climate bill that caps utilities first. Her state is one of 10 in the U.S. Northeast that have capped carbon dioxide from power plants for two years.
But Snowe said on Tuesday it was overly ambitious to think that an energy and climate bill could be accomplished before the start of August.
"I don't think anybody knows at this point, frankly, whether or not it will be considered and what will be included," she said.
(Additional reporting by Charles Abbott, Editing by Vicki Allen)