The architects behind the proposed U.S. Senate climate legislation are working overtime to round up support for a slimmed-down version of  the bill that would curb emissions from only the electric utility sector.

Bill authors John Kerry and Joe Lieberman had previously conceded that they would be willing to scale back their goal of an economywide price on carbon. They are under much pressure to do so, as support for the bill  in unlikely to be enough to pass it and as other plans gaining traction focus more on addressing the BP oil spill, energy efficiency, clean energy production and efforts to slash emissions from power plants.

Lieberman recently told the press he still thinks that the broader climate bill he and Kerry co-authored remains the best option, but he is willing to compromise on the utility-only effort amid a heated political climate and a dwindling timeline for floor action before the November elections.

“If we can get that, that would be a significant step forward,” he said. “It doesn’t break our dependence on foreign oil as much. It doesn’t cut pollution as much. It doesn’t create as many jobs. But it does some of all of that, and that’s what we need.”