Months after the House of Representatives passed its historic global warming legislation, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is finally poised to begin moving its own bill. But first, three days of non-stop testimony from dozens of experts representing the Obama administration, academics, environmental groups and business representatives.

Today was reserved for Senator John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat who partnered up with California Democrat and committee chairwoman Barbara Boxer, to write the bill, as well as a suite of administration officials led by Energy Secretary Steven Chu and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.

Despite a steady stream of testimony underscoring the many benefits that could flow from 900-plus page bill, the debate seems to be stuck on basic questions about whether protecting the climate by deploying clean energy will bankrupt the nation. As the New York Times points out, even Democrats who come from energy producing states have reservations.

Chu tried to address the question by pointing out that China “has already made its choice” and is now spending $9 billion per month on clean energy. He went on to talk about how the United States has lost its lead in clean energy manufacturing and must now make up for lost time if it wants to remain competitive.

“When the starting gun sounded on the clean energy race, the United States stumbled,” he said in his written testimony, available here. “But I remain confident that we can make up the ground.”

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Chu’s decision to lead with China is no coincidence. Although most of the world has now been convinced that China is indeed moving aggressively on clean energy technology (even as it deploys coal-fired power plants at an admittedly breathtaking pace), lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been slow to catch on. And given that climate protection itself only goes so far politically, many of these lawmakers are reluctant to sign on to an expensive commitments if they believe that China is going to do its own things, import US jobs and run up emissions anyway.

Discussing the issue during a panel discussion in Washington this week, China scholar Ken Lieberthal of the Brookings Institution said there is a “dangerous disconnect” between what many Senators think about China and what China is actually doing. “Frankly, I don’t know how to get through to them” he said. “It is very convenient for them to not educate themselves on this, and it is profoundly disturbing.”

This question is at the heart of the gulf between rich and poor nations, and is only one of many issues that will need to be worked out in the coming months. Democrats won’t have a hard time getting it out of the environment committee, but the path forward to the full Senate remains up in the air. Given the scale of the debate and the ever-shrinking calendar, most expect the Senate debate will bleed well into next year. And at that point, the main goal will be to get it done in the first six months, before Washington gears up for election season.