Oregon Public Broadcasting

Senate debate on sweeping global warming legislation is officially underway.

The bipartisan Lieberman-Warner bill would cap harmful carbon emissions and set up a trading system for emitters to buy and sell permits.

Oregon Republican Sen. Gordon Smith, is not ready to support it ... yet.

Gordon Smith: "This bill as it looks now is an enormously expensive endeavor in terms of slowing down our economy and increasing the cost of energy."

Still, Smith says he supports doing “something” to increase energy independence, but he declined to say what that would be.

The Senate is debating a raft of amendments this week. They range from off-shore drilling to boost domestic energy production, to building new nuclear plants.

The White House has already promised a veto if the bill passes in its current form.