legislation
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Industry groups lobby against climate legislation
If you want to get some sense of what Lieberman-Warner — or any piece of climate legislation — is in for when it hits the floor of the Senate, have a look at what its opponents are saying. Below are three letters to the Senate Environment Committee, from the Chamber of Commerce, the National Mining […]
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Reid will have to decide whether to trim back the bill to get it through
As expected, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid held a cloture vote this morning, trying to force a vote on the energy bill. It failed 53-42. There isn’t much time left this session. Reid has two choices: one, he could follow Pelosi’s bold lead, keep the entire package together, and force Republicans to actually filibuster it […]
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Back under debate in the Senate, the farm bill lurches ahead
The farm bill has been languishing in the Senate for weeks, buried under the weight of hundreds of specious, unrelated amendments. But the chamber reached a deal Thursday; each party agreed to float only 20 amendments. That means the bill is back on track. Majority leader Harry Reid vowed the Senate would hammer out a […]
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A quick, easy-to-follow introduction to the basics of cap-and-trade legislation
Holmes Hummel, a Stanford PhD and Congressional Science Fellow for Rep. Jay Inslee, has put together two PowerPoint presentations, one brief, one longer. She says: "These overview pieces are for The Curious & Concerned, a growing number of people who understand the importance of a federal climate policy but are confused by the framework of […]
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Edwards reacts
John Edwards is the first leading candidate to respond to the advance of the Lieberman-Warner bill:
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The 15 minute House vote on the Energy Bill …
… just started. Update shortly. UPDATE: It passed! The bill now goes to the Senate. Reid says he’ll hold a cloture vote on Saturday. The big question is whether Reid can get the bill through with the RPS and the tax provisions intact. It would be quite a feat if he did. UPDATE 2: Here […]
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House floor debate on federal Energy Bill
Forget live blogging. Watch it live on your computer via C-span.org.
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Medical device case could impact global warming debate
In last week's negotiations over the energy bill, one of the most significant victories for proponents of getting serious about global warming came when Speaker Nancy Pelosi stood up to yet another attempt to short-circuit efforts by over a dozen states to demand cleaner cars.
The issue on which Pelosi convinced Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) and other auto industry allies to back down, known in legal circles as "preemption," has emerged as a lightning rod in global warming politics. The focus on preemption has only intensified in the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling this April in Mass v. EPA, recent developments in the states, and the current confused state of Supreme Court preemption law.
Things could get better or worse depending how the Court disposes of a case that was argued on Tuesday. On its face, Riegel v. Medtronic, about liability for faulty medical devices, doesn't have anything to do with global warming. It could, however, be a turning point in preemption doctrine, and thus have a significant long-range impact on the global warming/federalism/politics mix.
The Legal and Political Landscape
My boss, Doug Kendall, noted the dynamic at stake back in May, in a Knight Ridder op-ed assessing the potential impact of Mass v. EPA:
