As you might recall, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), better known as President Obama’s climate change bill, on Friday night, June 29. The bill squeaked by on a 219-212 party-line vote, with the opposition including 44 Democrats and all but eight Republicans. Supporters hailed the bill’s passage in the House as a historic achievement and a tribute to the uncanny political skills of Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi and the bill’s authors Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Ed Markey (D-MA).
The Senate will take up the Waxman-Markey bill sometime in fall, probably in conjunction with Senator Jeff Bingaman’s (D-NM) less ambitious American Clean Energy Leadership Act, a mixed bag of something for everyone, including fossil fuel and nuclear energy proponents, which passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on June 17.
However, if you’re looking for climate change legislation that boldly whips the nation forward by aggressively curbing our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, don’t look here.
