Senate climate bill debate delayed

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. Senate debate on a sweeping climate change bill will be delayed until the spring, the chamber's Democratic leaders said.

Ahead of considering climate change legislation are bills that would reform the U.S. healthcare system, overhaul financial markets and stimulate job creation, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Legislation that, among other things, would cap emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases linked to climate change will be taken up "some time in the spring," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said Tuesday after a caucus meeting.

The postponement was "just a matter of reality, they can't get anything done at this time," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who previously supported climate legislation, but said he couldn't support the current Senate proposal as written because of its language on nuclear energy.

White House spokesman Ben LaBolt said President Barack Obama was working with lawmakers to move as quickly as possible on the legislation, a key domestic priority.

"This is an economic opportunity for the nation that will create millions of clean energy jobs while reducing our dangerous dependence on foreign oil, and it's an opportunity that other countries like China and India are racing to take advantage of," LaBolt told the Journal in an e-mail.

The newspaper said the administration plans to proceed with having the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declare greenhouse gases a danger to public health. Such a declaration would trigger potential regulations that could affect a large portion of the economy, the Journal said.