LAWMAKERS PUSH CLEAR SKIES ALTERNATIVES DESPITE DOUBTFUL SUPPORT

Bipartisan opponents of the Bush administration's Clear Skies legislation are pushing alternatives to the bill in the House and Senate in an effort to continue a debate on multi-pollutant legislation, despite a widespread belief among congressional sources, activists and the utility industry that neither of the alternative bills on the table will get a hearing. The Clean Smokestacks Act of 2005, introduced in the House last week by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), would create cap-and-trade systems...