Climate Bill Passes in House of Representatives

In a vote that was almost too close to call, the House of Representatives passed 219-212 what is being hailed as a landmark bill, the "Climate Bill," for clean energy on June 26, 2009. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi touted jobs when her turn came at the podium before the House vote.

The close vote in the House of Representatives would enact such things as attaching a cost to greenhouse gas emissions and legislates that "15% of the nation's electricity come from renewable sources such as wind and solar power by 2020" (Wall Street Journal). But there is much more to the 1200 page Climate Bill, which may be the bill's largest stumbling block.

The Climate Bill represents one leg of President Obama's presidential candidacy and his agenda since taking office in January 2009. He lobbied strongly for passage of the legislation as representatives debated its merits. During the president's weekly radio and Internet address, it was to the issue of the importance of this legislation for the future and to encourage senators and all Americans alike not to fear the changes the bill would enact.

As the bill, formally titled "American Clean Energy and Security Act," is currently written, greenhouse gas emissions in the United States would be mandated to be reduced "17 percent from the 2005 levels by 2020 and 83 percent by mid-century" (Associated Press). This, among many other measures in the bill, would, as Representative Henry Waxman asserts, "make our nation the world leader in clean energy jobs and technology" (Associated Press).

Interestingly, those on both sides of the bill agree that if the legislation passes as it is currently written, would raise the costs of energy. It is on the topic of how much those energy costs would translate into being for the average consumer that the sides differ.

President Obama asserts that the cost of the legislation to the average citizen would "be the cost of a postage stamp per day," basing his assertion on both the Congressional Budget Office and Environmental Protection Agency's cost estimates of an increase of $80 to $175 per household per year for the proposed changes.

Republican leaders see the potential outcome differently, believing that the Congressional Budget Office's estimates are too low. Rep. Frank Lucas stated, "The Waxman-Markley bill promises to destroy our standard of living" (Wall Street Journal).

Perhaps Senator James Inhofe's statement that the "razor-thin vote in the House spells doom in the Senate" may be prophetic, but at the very least it represents an uphill battle for passage of the measure as written when it is voted on by the Senate in the fall.

Sources: Associated Press http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h5iS14YOIUrpdmPuNylwKcVpSnmAD9931LCO0

Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124610499176664899.html