The chances of global-warming legislation passing through the Senate before the end of the year are looking increasingly bleak. Onlookers had been expecting Barbara Boxer and John Kerry to introduce a comprehensive climate and energy bill on September 8, shortly after Congress returned from recess. But on Monday, the two pushed the deadline back indefinitely, saying that they expected to unveil the bill "in later September" and chalking up the delay, in part, to Kerry's hip surgery and preoccupation with health reform.

Sources on the Hill say they're now certain the Senate won't take up climate change until after the health care debate is resolved—which, realistically, won't happen until around Thanksgiving. And even if Kerry and Boxer can get their bill out by late September, the other committees that want a piece of the bill won't be able to work on it right away. For instance, Max Baucus, who chairs the Finance Committee, has said he wants to oversee the formula for allocating carbon permits under the cap-and-trade program—but he's currently busy with health reform. To date, his committee has only held one hearing on cap-and-trade, which Baucus couldn't attend because he was working on health care.

So, although Harry Reid's office still insists that the Senate will "have ample time to consider this comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation before the end of the year," there's a good chance a bill won't get finished in the Senate before the Copenhagen climate talks start on December 7. If that's the case, is there anything Congress or the White House could do to make sure the Obama administration doesn't show up at the talks empty-handed? (True, Obama could point to fact that the House has passed a climate bill, but it's unlikely that other world leaders will accept that as a down payment on Senate action.)