by Matthew Rusling
WASHINGTON, July 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama is gearing up to pass an energy bill and jetting off to a number of locations nationwide in a bid to drum up support for the legislation.
The president has also in recent days urged Congress to allocate spending for clean energy projects that would reduce the nation's double-digit jobless numbers.
But critics argue that such moves will add to the nation's mounting debt and tax future generations in exchange for only modest gains in employment amid the worst recession since the 1930s.
On Wednesday, the president and Senate Democrats pressed for passing a bill before the August Congressional recess. The legislation would be a less ambitious version of what was earlier proposed and cap carbon emissions only on power plants, rather than all industries.
The move comes at a time of sinking approval ratings on the president's handling of the economy.
A CBS News poll on Tuesday found that more than 50 percent of respondents disapproved of how Obama is handling the economy, while 40 percent expressed confidence in the president -- a five-point drop from last month.
