WASHINGTON — Efforts to bridge the climate change divide between Republicans and Democrats are being put to the test.

Even as senators from both parties line up behind sweeping legislation that would commit hundreds of millions of dollars to reducing carbon emissions from the energy sector, competing bills in the House and pressure by special interest groups are threatening the fragile coalition.

The bipartisan bill introduced by Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Joe Manchin, D-W.V., would increase research funding for wind, solar and nuclear energy, along with carbon capture and energy storage technology, while also modernizing the power grid.

The bill was already bogging down amid partisan debate on the Senate floor Monday, and it’s unclear whether it can pass the House, where some Democrats are pushing for more aggressive action on climate change and some Republicans are questioning how much the legislation will cost.

On HoustonChronicle.com: The growth of ‘Made in China’ energy

“Can the House and Senate come together? That is the million-dollar question,” said Heather Reams, executive director of the nonprofit Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, which advocates for conservative approaches to climate change.

With scientists calling for the world to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, expanding federal funding for clean energy has become a rallying point for both parties.

Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, D-Houston, who is co-sponsoring bipartisan legislation to address climate change’s impact on roads, bridges and other infrastructure, said it was critical to move ahead on the issue in areas where the two parties agree.

“The best thing we can do is try and depoliticize this conversation and come up with a plan that isn’t going to change every Congress,” she said. “We need to talk about a practical and reasonable approach that people in my district call the dual challenge, how do we produce energy that is reliable and made in the United States, while at the same time addressing climate?”

Special interests, however, are lining up against each other to try and get key provisions removed from the Senate bill.

Last week, the American Petroleum Institute wrote a letter to Murkowski and Manchin urging them to drop language from the bill that calls for reducing “vehicle reliance on petroleum-based fuels” — in other words, more electric cars and biofuels.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Biofuel could save oil companies as more transit goes electric

Meanwhile, the environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council has criticized the Senate bill for reducing environmental reviews for LNG export facilities and encouraging the use of carbon dioxide captured from emissions to enhance oil production.

“Parts of the bill would undermine bedrock environmental laws, weaken public lands protections and ramp up dirty energy fueling climate change,” the group said in a letter to senators last week.

Republicans and Democrats, though, are showing signs they are willing to move ahead despite criticism from their respective bases. Last week, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, praised the Senate energy bill as a means toward a, “reliable, affordable, and environmentally-friendly energy supply.”

Republicans have become more vocal on the need to address climate change but favoring efforts to develop new technologies over regulations.

“Texas solidified our place as one of the country’s leaders in energy production by promoting innovation,” Cornyn said, “not by burdening our energy sector with overbearing mandates.”

Meanwhile in the House, a raft of legislation overlaps with the Senate bill. For instance, Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Houston, introduced legislation expanding funding for carbon capture for natural gas plants, while bills modernizing the U.S. power grid and pumping funding into battery research are awaiting votes on the House floor.

More: Read the latest oil and gas news from HoustonChronicle.com

But some Democrats in the House are pushing for more drastic action.

Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is pushing a bill that aims to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 through measures such as tightening vehicle fuel efficiency standards and requiring power grids to run on clean energy, such as wind and solar.

But Fletcher, a former energy attorney elected to Congress in 2018, said that just because some members are pushing “bigger picture efforts” does not necessarily mean they are not open to smaller, incremental approaches.

“Not everyone sees things the way I do coming from the energy capitol of the world,” she said. “My sense here is that people are aware of various challenges we face, and they’re looking for solutions. They are not closing their ears to other ideas.”

james.osborne@chron.com

Twitter: @osborneja