CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
– ENVIRONMENT
July 1, 2009 – 11:53 a.m.
Senate Struggle Expected over Climate Change Legislation
By Coral Davenport, CQ Staff
Senate Democratic leaders are preparing for what is expected to be a tough fight over climate change legislation, even tougher than it was in the House.
The House passed by a slender six-vote margin sweeping legislation (
Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer , D-Calif., is expected to kick off hearings on climate change legislation on July 7, with testimony from Energy Secretary Steven Chu , EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and Agriculture Department Secretary Tom Vilsack .
Boxer aims to mark up legislation modeled on the House bill in her committee before the August recess. Underscoring the ambitious timetable, Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., has given other committees that may have jurisdiction — including the Agriculture, Finance and Foreign Relations panels — a Sept. 18 deadline to complete their own markups.
Even before a Senate bill has been drafted, Boxer has been holding regular Tuesday meetings with a core group of 25 Democrats for whom pushing climate legislation is a top priority. That group is building a legislative strategy focused on reaching out to the key moderates whose votes are essential to building the 60-vote filibuster-proof majority needed to pass the bill through the Senate.
Senators got a stark lesson in how essential those votes will be —– and how tough they’ll be to win — during the frenzied lead-up to the House vote. Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., and her whips cajoled reluctant groups of Democrats, who feared that a vote for the climate bill could harm their home districts and their chances of re-election.
The same set of dynamics looks set to play out in the Senate, where the spotlight is turning to a group of about 15 Democratic moderates who could determine the success or failure of a Senate effort to tackle global warming.
Meanwhile, the White House is stepping up its campaign to sell the global warming initiative in farm country, as part of a “rural tour” that kicks off this week. The president has announced that top administration officials, including cabinet officers, will be dispatched this summer to rural communities to discuss energy, environmental, health care and technology issues.
Events will include sessions on green jobs and the new rural energy economy in Ringgold, Va., Bethel, Alaska, and Zanesville, Ohio.
Comments
The votes in congress were bought. As in vote for this and we'll include for your district a 50 mil hurricane research center ( fla). Rise up people , don't let your reps sell out you and our country for their own power and money.
So we've got millions and millions to spend on a "threat" that the UN IPPC describes as "very likely." Incredible! I wouldn't bet $2.00 on a horse with that much of a chance. These democrats are either dumber than I thought or on the take. Ask "Blago," Charlie Rangel or Mrs. John Conyers.
CAP and TRADE Will Create Companies TOO BIG TO FAIL So what's the real scoop? Ignore the proselytizers and find out from those who "shaped" the Bill .... http://pacificgatepost.blogspot.com/2009/07/dear-mr-president-thanks-again-for-cap.html
This is a giant scheme to destroy free enterprise. No longer will companies or individuals be able to do the simplest things without paying off a Congressman or bureaucrat. Companies will close down, elderly will freeze, and this, like the tax increases during the depression, will make things worse, much worse. It's tje end of America, pure and simple.
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