Yesterday’s Senate hearings on the Gulf oil spill appropriately set the stage for today’s introduction of the American Power Act, the climate and energy bill draft produced by Senators John Kerry, Joe Lieberman, and Lindsey Graham, who ultimately pulled his support of the draft in a dramatic turn of events in late April.

After months of negotiations with industry and oil company execs, rumors, leaks, press statements, news reports, and general media hoopla surrounding this bill and its drafting process, Senators Kerry and Lieberman finally unveiled the bill sans Graham.

Just minutes ago, the entire bill hit the internet, along with a handful of summaries and section-by-section synopses of the bill.

We’ll be combing through those 1,000 or so pages to determine what exactly hangs in the balance.

In the meantime, while it’s encouraging to see the Senate finally moving climate and clean energy legislation, it’s already clear that the Senate needs to strengthen a few key areas of the bill. Earthjustice senior legislative representative Sarah Saylor outlines these much-needed fixes concisely and clearly in her statement today.

Overall, putting a price on carbon and a federal limit on carbon emissions is a good start, but we still need the Senate to do more. In the days, weeks and months ahead, we’ll be calling upon the Senate to strengthen this bill at every step along the way, especially in the areas above—and of course, stay tuned to unEARTHED as we keep you informed of the unfolding details.