LA Times: Passing a major energy bill seemed virtually impossible a few weeks ago, but Democrats, bolstered by public anger over the gulf oil spill, are pushing for legislation with renewed hope of success. A new energy bill could be shorn of its most controversial feature — the costly and complex “cap-and-trade” system, which would set a declining limit on emissions from power plants and factories and force emitters to buy permits for the release of heat-trapping gases. But even …