Waxman-Mackey Climate Bill Passes Committee!

This is the first piece of legislation I've followed closely and thanks so some diligent folks on Twitter (#climatebill) I was able to see each amendment get voted on. Wow! This is going to continue to be a hugely contested bill and but is definitely a step in the right direction.

Steven Pearlstein at the Washington Post summed it up the best:

The Waxman-Markey bill may be the best bill that the political system can produce, and surely it is far preferable to doing nothing. But now that we know what a climate-change bill looks like when it is jury-rigged to accommodate all the special interests, maybe Americans will be willing to reconsider one of the cleaner, simpler approaches -- a carbon tax with all the revenue rebated to households, for example, or a cap-and-trade system that generates enough revenue to erase the national debt, or even a tough new regulatory regime requiring businesses to produce more fuel-efficient cars, buildings and appliances.

It's not too late to change our minds.

Key Republican Formally Endorses Waxman Climate Bill

Chairman Henry A. Waxman and Subcommittee Chairman Edward J. Markey introduced "H.R. 2454, The American Clean Energy and Security Act." The Energy and Commerce Committee will begin markup of the bill on Monday, May 18, 2009, at 1:00 p.m., and will complete consideration before the Memorial Day recess.

From Roll-Call.com:

Boucher Endorses Climate Change Compromise

By Steven T. Dennis
Roll Call Staff
May 14, 2009, 4:23 p.m.

Key moderate Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) formally threw his support Thursday behind the compromise climate change bill he negotiated with House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Energy and Environment Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-Mass.).

“I intend to vote yes and I intend to urge all other committee members to do the same,” Boucher said at a press conference.

Boucher said he still wants changes in the measure to reduce the overall carbon reduction targets, but would work with Waxman and Markey at next week’s markup to protect it from Republican amendments until the legislation gets to the floor.

Boucher said he would prefer a 14 percent carbon emissions reduction by 2020 instead of the 17 percent compromise he struck with Waxman and also wanted a slower phaseout of free allocations given to electric utilities to mitigate any increase in rates for consumers.

But Waxman and Markey exulted at the agreement.

Markey said the deal “defies conventional wisdom that was pronouncing this bill dead for weeks and months.”

“It’s a legislative Susan Boyle. Everyone underestimated it until it started to sing,” he said.

Waxman said that some negotiations were continuing, including on the issue of oil refineries, and that bill text would be released either late Thursday or Friday.