CLEAR SKIES CRITICS DOUBT TWO-WEEK MARKUP DELAY WILL PROMPT DEAL

Democrats and other critics of the Bush administration's Clear Skies utility pollution legislation say they are pessimistic that Senate Republicans' decision to delay an environment committee markup for two weeks will result in a broad compromise, and are instead calling for more open-ended discussions. These critics say the two weeks allotted for the talks does not provide enough time to address carbon dioxide (CO2) and other complex issues, in part because lawmakers will not be able to meet face-to-face during...