The Hill reports that some Congressional Democrats are thinking that cap and trade legislation might be best considered in 2010:

The House may not vote on a climate change bill this year, according to a high-ranking Democratic leader.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) told The Hill on Monday that leaders could opt not to bring a climate measure to the floor if the bill has little chance of passing the Senate.

Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), had previously indicated they would pass a climate bill through the House by the August congressional recess.

The competing allegiances of Van Hollen — charged with leading Democrats into what is arguably their most challenging election cycle since 1994 and serving as a policy hand to Pelosi — were on display during his interview with The Hill.

Van Hollen, 50, became the highest-ranking House Democrat to say that even if an agreement is reached, the House may not vote on a cap-and-trade bill if the bill appears to have little hope of clearing the upper chamber.

“The first thing we need to do is see whether we can come together around a consensus position in the committees in the House, and that’s what we’re working on. And then, of course, if we were able to arrive at that, the question is whether you would take it to the floor, or do you wait to see if anything develops on the Senate side,” Van Hollen said.

“The chances of doing cap-and-trade in the Senate are much more difficult. We recognize that,” he added.

For a Democratic Caucus that has made the enactment of climate change legislation one of its highest priorities — Pelosi has called climate change the issue of her generation — the admission from a Democratic leader that the House may not vote on a long-awaited but controversial cap-and-trade bill this year is significant.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) suggests that the goal for legislation to pass has slipped as well:

Pelosi has also been stressing that the consensus-building work is well under way, and that negotiations should not be mistaken for the lack of an agreement.

“We couldn’t pass a bill, nor would it be appropriate to pass a bill … that was a penalty to some states,” Pelosi said last Wednesday at an event commemorating the 39th Earth Day.

“That’s why, as we go forward with this, it’s a consensus-building [process],” she continued. “As we always do in our caucus, we build consensus, hopefully in a bipartisan way, as we go forward with energy.”

At the same time, the Speaker laid down a marker that, at least rhetorically, was different from previous commitments to pass Waxman’s bill through the House this year.

“It is my commitment that by the time we observe the 40th Earth Day next year, that we’ll have made substantial progress toward energy independence, toward reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and reversing the climate crisis.”

I’ll go out on a limb here and predict that there will be little stomach among Democrats for a bruising debate over cap-and-trade 6 months before a mid-term election. Republicans, on the other hand, probably welcome the new schedule.