With Republican Senator Lindsey Graham off the new American Power Act, just presented by Senators Kerry and Lieberman, and the need for 60 supporters to make it filibuster-proof, it’s hard to say whether it will pass.

The bill is not particularly satisfying for environmentalists or energy companies.  Pledges to fund clean coal technology and natural gas show governmental support for something very far from renewable energy sources. Support for offshore oil and gas drilling is featured despite the recent disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, although a draft of the bill calls for impact studies before leasing (hopefully along the lines of the more stringent Environmental Impact Study under NEPA, instead of the lax Environmental Assessment). However, support for voluntary renewable energy markets and research into electric transportation, as well as commitments to improving efficiency and expanding nuclear energy, are promising steps.

The American Power Act also features cap and trade for CO2e emissions, which include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and nitrogen trifluoride, and will be regulated by the EPA. However, there is a cap and floor for the price of CO2e. This will definitely affect trading and markets.

The bill states steep emissions reduction goals with a 2005 baseline: 17% by 2020 and 83% by 2050. As Andrew Revkin of the New York Times states, this long term goal “is in the realm of fantasy baseball so is not worth pondering.”

Read a section-by-section summary here, or the entire bill here.