AEI

Sen. Max Baucus, who has worried fellow Democrats with his concerns about the costs and depth of emissions cuts in the Senate climate bill, said today that he is committed to passing "meaningful, balanced climate change legislation."

Last week, the Montana senator was the only Democrat to vote against the climate bill in the Environment and Public Works Committee.

Today, Baucus opened a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, which he chairs, by saying:

"I want our children and grandchildren to be able to enjoy the outdoors the way that we can today. So I’m going to work to pass climate‐change legislation that is both meaningful and that can muster enough votes to become law.

"Today we’ll hear predictions — some optimistic, some otherwise — about the effects that climate legislation will have on American jobs and the American economy. We need to consider these predictions. But we also need to consider the consequences of failing to act."

What Baucus's comments will mean for the climate bill remains to be seen.