Updates Below

“The House could vote today on a measure to cap U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, with Democratic leaders predicting a tight victory for a behemoth bill that has grown more complex with each compromise.

“The heart of the bill, which now runs to 1,201 pages, is a plan to reduce emissions to 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. To do that, it would create a cap-and-trade system, in which polluters would be required to accrue buyable, sellable credits for all the greenhouse gases they produce.

But the bill also contains a system of caveats, safety valves and rule changes meant to satisfy unhappy Democrats. The result is legislation that could transform the U.S. energy industry — and allow both Wall Street and the Corn Belt to build a side business in carbon.

Yesterday, Democratic leaders said they had gathered enough votes to win passage of the bill, which could be voted on today or tomorrow.

C&T

The vote may be put off searching for a few more Ayes. Some folks think the bill has been so eviscerated in the hunt for those votes that it’s not worth passing.

“Since the Waxman-Markey bill left the Energy and Commerce committee, yet another fleet of industry lobbysists has weakened the bill even more, and further widened the gap between what Waxman-Markey does and what science demands. As a result, Greenpeace opposes this bill in its current form. We are calling upon Congress to vote against this bill unless substantial measures are taken to strengthen it. Despite President Obama’s assurance that he would enact strong, science-based legislation, we are now watching him put his full support behind a bill that chooses politics over science, elevates industry interests over national interest, and shows the significant limitations of what this Congress believes is possible.

“As it comes to the floor, the Waxman-Markey bill sets emission reduction targets far lower than science demands, then undermines even those targets with massive offsets.

Greenpeace:

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I’m one of those who believes in getting what can be gotten. Unless there’s a plan for how, after the bill’s defeat, something good would come, get the little that this offers. Change comes both in increments and by cataclysm. Increments we can plan and do. Cataclysms are beyond our control except to respond in the best way we can. We shouldn’t ever bring on cataclysm with the idea that good will come of it. What will come is completely unknowable.
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The Washington Post-ABC News just released a poll that found strong support among Americans for action to reduce global warming pollution. Despite conservative loud and misleading opposition to the bill, a global warming reduction plan has widespread public support.

The poll respondents also gave President Obama high marks for his efforts to address this problem. President Obama’s net ratings on this issue — net 28% approve — is his second strongest issue after international affairs. He has a higher approval rating on global warming than on health care or the economy, among other issues.

Respondents were asked whether “government should or should not regulate the release of greenhouse gases from sources like power plants, cars and factories in an effort to reduce global warming?” By more than 3-1, Americans felt that the Federal government should “regulate” the release of greenhouse gas pollution. And the respondents who felt strongly about it favored action by 4-1.

Climate Progress

Updates:

“With Congress expected to vote on a 1,201-page climate change bill on Friday, one of the country’s largest unions is sending word to Democrats from conservative or blue-collar districts: They’ll back them up for their vote.

“The AFL-CIO sent a letter to the House of Representatives on Capitol Hill on Thursday urging passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, otherwise known as Waxman-Markey.”

AFL-CIO