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As Senate Debates Climate Bill, House Members Wonder if They'll Be Asked to Take It or Leave It
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| Contributor | particleman |
| Last Edited | particleman Apr 20, 2010 07:37am |
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| Category | Proposed Legislation |
| Author | DARREN SAMUELSOHN |
| Media | Newspaper - New York Times |
| News Date | Tuesday, April 20, 2010 01:30:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | In Las Vegas, the house always wins. In Washington, the House isn't as lucky.
A carefully crafted compromise on climate change that narrowly passed in the House last June has been stuck for almost a year in the Senate. Now, with three senators set to unveil their own bill Monday and a floor vote possible this spring or early summer, House lawmakers are wondering whether there will be a significant effort to negotiate major differences between the two proposals or if they will be asked to simply approve the Senate version.
There is no guarantee that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) can even notch 60 votes to pass such a sweeping measure during a midterm election year. But if he does, some House Democrats say they would not be surprised if they were asked to buckle in conference negotiations
Several major differences are expected between the House and Senate bills, such as a carbon pricing system that deals with various sectors of the economy in different ways, rather than the House's all-inclusive approach. A scaled-back carbon-pricing plan opens the door to lawmakers close to the major oil companies, which originally came up with the idea as a way to avoid being included in a large, economywide cap-and-trade system.
The Senate bill is also expected to include language to promote offshore oil and gas drilling, and help with the expansion of nuclear power. Moderate House Democrats who struggled with last year's climate vote may find those changes appealing, especially if provisions are added that sell back home to a public increasingly open to new energy exploration and also if it puts a hard clamp on the global warming program's costs.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said last week he would like to maintain "regular order" on the climate and energy bill, citing the bruising health care debate that culminated last month when the House adopted the Senate's proposal with a few key tweaks handled through the fast-track budget reconcilia |
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