“This is the kind of thing I’d embrace,” said Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, who is expected to become the Senate Democratic leader after the current leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, retires next year. “A plan that looks something like this is going to be high on the next Congress’s agenda.”

Senate Democrats timed the release of the bill to coincide with a push this week at the United Nations General Assembly toward reaching a sweeping climate accord this fall at a summit meeting in Paris. They hope to indicate to world leaders that despite Republican opposition to the plan, they stand ready to back Mr. Obama’s policies.

The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, has opened an all-fronts campaign to block the president’s climate initiatives. Mr. McConnell has sought to undercut Mr. Obama’s efforts to enact tough new regulations on greenhouse gas pollution and his bid to forge the global climate change pact in Paris.

“Our international partners should proceed with caution before entering into a binding, unattainable deal,” Mr. McConnell said in a statement.

Pope Francis, in speeches to the United Nations and to Congress this week, is expected to urge both bodies to push forward on efforts to reach a deal in Paris that would require every country to commit to policies to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. On Thursday and Friday, Mr. Obama will meet with President Xi Jinping of China at the White House, and they are expected to discuss their joint efforts to cut emissions.