SLEW OF PROBLEMS COMPLICATE REPUBLICAN EFFORTS TO PASS CLEAR SKIES

On the eve of a rescheduled markup, Senate Republican backers of the Bush administration's Clear Skies bill are facing several new hurdles that are likely to complicate their efforts to break an impasse in the environment committee and pass the bill. Chief among them is likely EPA issuance of its clean air interstate rule (CAIR) and mercury rule for power plants, scheduled for March 15, which Democrats and environmentalists say could set a "baseline" for future regulatory requirements stricter than...