Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Senate Democrats won committee approval today of a “cap-and-trade” bill to reduce U.S. greenhouse gases over the objection of Republicans, who say the legislation is being rushed.

Eleven of the 12 Democrats on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee backed the measure. Senator Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, voted against the bill. None of the seven Republicans on the committee were present for the vote.

“We’re hearing the call to get moving on this,” said Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat and cosponsor of the bill.

The legislation had been tied up in the committee for two days by the Republicans, led by Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, who said the bill’s impact on the economy hadn’t been adequately studied. They boycotted most of the panel’s meetings this week to try to prevent a vote until the Environmental Protection Agency reviews the bill further.

Boxer said the Republican call for more study was a stalling tactic. The Senate cap-and-trade proposal draws heavily from legislation that passed the House in June, and the EPA’s studies of that measure were good enough for the committee to vote, she said.

Deeper Cuts

While the House bill aims to cut emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, the Senate measure calls for a deeper cut of 20 percent. The panel’s Democrats, who outnumber the Republicans 12-7, said voting without any Republican present is allowed under the environment committee’s rules.

Under cap and trade, the federal government would issue a limited number of pollution permits, each carrying the right to emit one metric ton of carbon dioxide.

Power plants, refineries and other regulated industrial companies would have to acquire enough permits to cover their emissions. Firms could buy and sell the permits before they are surrendered to the EPA to enforce emission targets.

Inhofe said Boxer’s decision to move ahead over Republican objections was a “nuclear option” that breaks “the rules and long-standing precedent” of the environment committee.

Baucus said the Republican boycott had prevented the cap- and-trade bill from being amended and he couldn’t support a plan to cut greenhouse gases 20 percent by 2020. The target should be changed to a 17 percent cut with a “trigger” to toughen the target to 20 percent “if other countries play by the same rules.”

Baucus Plan

Baucus said he will work outside the committee to develop “meaningful, balanced climate change legislation” that can win the 60 votes that are typically required in the Senate to pass major legislation.

Senator Tom Carper, a Delaware Democrat who missed the vote, later said he supported the bill and committee Democrats changed the final tally to 11-1 from 10-1.

Committee action on the cap-and-trade bill without Republican participation was necessary because “the Senate can’t be paralyzed,” Boxer said. Republicans rejected the chance to publicly question an EPA official during this week’s committee meetings about the predicted economic impacts of the Senate cap-and-trade proposal, she said.

The environment panel’s legislation will later be combined with the work of at least five other committees into a comprehensive bill by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, she said. The EPA will complete a full study on the new bill before it is debated in the full Senate, Boxer said.

‘Death Knell’

Today’s vote is the “death knell” for the committee- approved cap-and-trade bill because Republicans outside the panel had also asked for a slower pace, Inhofe said in an e- mailed statement.

In letters to Boxer and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson this week, Inhofe and nine Republicans said the environment committee vote should have been delayed until the agency provided more economic studies to the panel. Two of those Republicans, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, voted for a cap-and-trade bill in the Senate last year.

A third Republican who urged the committee to wait, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said yesterday he is willing to support “well-crafted” legislation that, among other things, boosts support for nuclear power, increases offshore oil and gas production and speeds the developing of carbon capture technology for coal-fired power plants.

Bipartisan Alternative

Graham joined yesterday with Senator John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Senator Joseph Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, in pledging to work toward climate-change legislation that can win broad support.

“If environmental policy is not good business policy, you’ll never get 60 votes,” Graham told reporters, referring to the number of votes typically required to pass major legislation in the Senate.

There are currently 58 Democrats in the Senate and two independents who caucus with them. Republican votes may be needed to pass climate legislation because some Democrats, including Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, have said they are opposed to cap-and-trade.

Some other Democrats, like Baucus and Senator Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, are concerned that cap-and-trade legislation will hurt coal-dependent states and won’t support the measure in its current form.

Boxer said she was “not worried” that today’s action could weaken the chances of Republican support for the new climate-change bill from Reid. The measure will include “the best” provisions from a number of other committees to broaden political support for the legislation, she said.

“I believe most senators want to get to the place where they can vote for a bill,” Boxer said.

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To contact the reporter on this story: Simon Lomax in Washington at slomax@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 5, 2009 14:17 EST