Nine Senate Democrats -- including key fence-sitters, mainly from the Midwest -- today gave the three senators putting together a climate and energy deal a blueprint for their possible support.

The Democrats -- led by Ohio's Sherrod Brown -- avoid getting very specific in how they want the bill to keep U.S. manufacturing jobs from shifting to nations like China that may not impose the same level of greenhouse gas emissions reduction standards as those called for under the evolving Senate bill.

But they do ask for a "significant" phase-in for manufacturers to be covered under a cap-and-trade program "if the funding for rebates to energy-intensive and trade-exposed industries is inadequate." During this period, these industries need to receive rebates that can be used to purchase greenhouse gas emissions credits. "It is critical that a sufficient number of allowances are set aside for EITE industries in order to provide the kind of certainty that will lead to investment in U.S. facilities," they wrote.

They also ask bill authors John Kerry, D-Mass.; Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; and Joe Lieberman, I/D-Conn., for "an automatically triggered" border tax on "imports from countries that do not have in place comparable greenhouse gas emissions reduction requirements to those adopted by the United States." The border adjustment would be compliant with the World Trade Organization, they wrote.

Federal laws also should pre-empt state laws, they say. "Federal uniformity is necessary to prevent inconsistencies in regulation, preserve overall efficiency, and ensure harmonization of policies," according to the letter.

The missive was also signed by Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan; Arlen Specter and Robert Casey of Pennsylvania; Claire McCaskill of Missouri; Evan Bayh of Indiana; Robert Byrd of West Virginia; and Mark Warner of Virginia.

"We've talked about all of these issues, none of this is new," Brown said. "All of it's been explored with" Kerry, Graham and Lieberman, he said. "They've been very open to the ideas in the letter, so I'm very optimistic there will be a major, major manufacturing component to this."

The importance of the letter, though, was to bring together those nine and maybe a handful of others later, said Brown. These include some of the senators more skeptical of the overall effort to do a carbon pricing and energy production bill this year, including Bayh and McCaskill.

It appears Kerry, Graham and Lieberman will wait until the week after Earth Day to unveil their proposal. Sources said the new goal is April 26.

Kerry said today, "We will have a firm date for you next week; absolutely firm."

The nine Democrats in their letter also ask for financial help in shifting to a greener manufacturing sector. This includes a new manufacturing revolving loan fund, expanding an advanced energy manufacturing tax credit and tax incentives for capital investments in efficiency and green energy technology.

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