国际英语新闻：Obama "confident" to pass climate bill this year

WASHINGTON, June 29 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama met with a bipartisan group of senators Tuesday in the White House on climate and clean energy bill, and said he's confident they can " get something done this year."

Urging the Senate to pass energy and climate legislation this year, Obama used the hour-and-a-half meeting to tell the senators that he believes the best way to transition to a clean energy economy is with a bill that "makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy."

According to the White House, not all of the senators agreed with this approach. Obama welcomed other approaches and ideas, and said there was "strong foundation and consensus" on some key policies. He met with a group of senators led by majority leader Harry Reid and Republican Lamar Alexander.

Urging the senators to come together based on that foundation, Obama said there was agreement on the sense of urgency required to move forward with legislation.

The energy and climate bill is a big item on the domestic as well as economic agenda for Obama. A comprehensive energy and climate bill passed the House of Representatives last year, but the Senate version has yet to be passed, and commentators doubt that it will ever get passed this year, as many lawmakers face battles during the mid-term elections in November.

However, the issue is reignited by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and Obama used his first Oval Office address to the nation earlier this month to advocate for the issue.