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at least two key Senate committees, Finance and Agriculture, have not yet worked on their portions of a bill.

Until then, a compromise bill will not be drafted, he said.

Analysts say growing public skepticism on the issue is explained in part by the recession and job losses.

"Up until a couple of years ago when people felt relatively wealthy and secure, they were willing to consider climate change as a problem we should address. But now that they feel more poor and vulnerable they are skeptical," said Cal Jillson, a professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

There are other uniquely American cultural traits that drive views on the issue, such as an enduring love affair with big vehicles which has been dented though hardly crushed by last year's record-high gas prices.

One in four U.S. adults is also an evangelical Christian and, while secular Europeans may find this odd, many really do believe that biblical prophecy foretells the planet's end.

"If you are an evangelical Christian in the American vein then you believe it is our responsibility to look after the planet but it will be ultimately destroyed no matter what we do," said Bart Barber, a Southern Baptist Convention preacher in the small north Texas town of Farmersville.

(Additional reporting by Tim Gaynor in Phoenix and Richard Cowan in Washington; Editing by Paul Simao)