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  • Where’s the Science Committee?

    E&E ran a story yesterday on House committee maneuvering in the debate over Waxman-Markey. Some committees plan to waive jurisdiction, some plan to kick up dust (especially Agriculture’s Collin Peterson). On Science, there was only this: House Science and Technology Chairman Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) said yesterday he plans to complete work on the Waxman-Markey legislation’s […]

  • Climate change legislation, beyond party and faction

    Despite passage of the Waxman-Markey climate bill out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, this year’s effort to pass climate change legislation could easily succumb to the same kind of partisan political games and failed leadership that killed the Lieberman-Warner bill last year. Much of the blame for this troubling prospect rests with Republican […]

  • A climate-news poem for the week of May 18

    This week’s entry too short? Spend some time with last week’s rhymes. Two brave warriors Stand triumphant with their bill Battle’s just begun  Waxman and Markey have a long way to go.  

  • AFL-CIO’s John Sweeney endorses approach of Waxman-Markey climate and clean energy bill

    For those who know the history, the relationship between the environmental movement and the labor movement has been cool, at best, for a long time. But the two groups have been talking to each other much more in recent years and have come to a better understanding of how to work together.  The environmental movement […]

  • House committee approves landmark (bipartisan!) clean energy and climate bill

    NOTE:  Unexpectedly, Rep. Bono Mack (R-CA) voted “yes” — and the bill passed 33-25!  She later said, “While I still have significant concerns about this bill, particularly with regard to its cost and its failure to recognize innovative technologies like advanced nuclear energy, I believe this is the right direction for our district, for our […]

  • Smokey Joe Barton (R-TX) throws in the towel to the Dems

    “You should have a tremendous celebration tonight for your effort on this bill.” House Energy and Commerce Committee ranking minority member Joe Barton (R-TX) said that to Jay Inslee (D-WA) at a little after 7 PM EST. Barton also said to Inslee, “you have been an indefatigable proponent of the bill.”

  • In landmark vote, House committee approves climate bill

    After months of grueling hearings and deliberations, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill by a vote of 33-25 on Thursday evening. It’s a landmark occasion, the first time a serious climate bill has made it this far in the House. The bill would cut greenhouse-gas emissions about 17 […]

  • Defending coal in climate legislation

    We saw how years of accumulated habit, chummy political relationships, and a regulatory model that all-but mandates big central power plants have left coal utilities betting their futures almost entirely on “clean coal.” They’ve told their legislators that it’s the only way to go low-carbon in the South and Midwest. Their legislators, who have long […]

  • The Climate Post: The House at the center of the world

    Lately, every week is the most consequential in the history of climate change. This week was no exception. A House of Representatives committee slogged through its potentially game-changing climate bill. The White House struck a deal with auto manufacturers and California to raise fuel efficiency – and consequently reduce carbon emissions. Uneven signals from China […]