"We cannot afford missing the objectives in climate protection," Merkel said at a joint session of Congress. "The world will look to us, to the Europeans and to the Americans."

But Republicans shunned the Environment and Public Works Committee meeting to protest committee Chairwoman Sen. Barbara Boxer's refusal to order a full new analysis of the legislation, preventing votes on amendments.

Boxer, D-Calif., and other committee Democrats argue that the Environmental Protection Agency's existing analysis, based on a similar bill passed by the House of Representatives in June, is sufficient.

Republicans rejected that logic. "I don't recall finding meaningful solutions with incomplete information and stark partisanship," said Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, who explained his party's objections before departing, leaving the hearing room devoid of Republican senators.

But the fight over the analysis is just one manifestation of the serious divisions underlying climate change legislation.

"All of it has become a bit of a sideshow," said Frank Maisano, an energy specialist at lobbying and PR firm Bracewell & Giuliani. The analysis fight is "the biggest manufactured issue to distract from the real issues so far."

Most Democrats and some Republicans want to take action to reduce emissions of gases that cause climate change. But negotiating the specifics of that action proves challenging.

Among the Democrats, there are coal-state and conservative senators such as Montana's Max Baucus and West Virginia's Jay Rockefeller who worry that legislation could harm their states' economies.

As a result, Democrats will likely need some Republicans in order to pass a bill in the Senate at large, said Daniel J. Weiss, a senior fellow at the left-leaning Center for American Progress Action Fund.

But "the Republicans are trying to create paralysis through their demands for analysis," Weiss said. "It's a stalling tactic."

He argued that most of the Republicans had opposed the bill before it was introduced and said that only a few, such as Voinovich and South Carolina's Lindsey Graham, might be persuaded to support a broader bill.

Voinovich requested "just decency" and insisted his request for more analysis is "not a ruse."

But outside the United States, there is a growing frustration with a perceived American inaction on climate change legislation.

When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in September that climate change legislation would likely have to wait for next year, John Bruton, the European Union's ambassador to the United States, publicly expressed his displeasure.

"Is the U.S. Senate really expecting all the other countries to make a serious effort on climate change at the Copenhagen Conference (in December) in the absence of a clear commitment from the United States?" he said.

Boxer has indicated that she would consider using committee and Senate rules to advance the legislation to the Senate floor if Republicans continue their boycott, but she portrayed that as a last ditch option. "We're just going to wait until they come," she said.

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(c) 2009, Tribune Co.

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