Finally, another link roundup! Indulge in post-House passage reporting, recaps and analysis from all around the web – but first things first: where’s the official bill?!
Full text
Updated, Full Text Version of Waxman-Markey Climate Bill (Mother Jones)
If you—like Reps Joe Barton (R-TX) and John Boehner (R-OH)—are having problems locating a full text version of the Waxman-Markey climate bill, HR 2454, complete with amendments, we’ve linked to them here.
Analysis
One brief shining moment for clean energy (Salon)
The inimitable Joe Romm of Climate Progress says passing the House is a transformative first step, but it’s not enough:
While the bill’s targets may seem dramatic, they are in fact less than what the science tells us is required to avoid catastrophic warming. The 2020 target in particular is far too weak and quite easy and cheap for the country to meet with efficiency, conservation, renewables and fuel-switching from coal to natural gas.
We need more than ACES (Grist)
Ted Glick of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network lays out steps for ensuring that the Senate passes a strong bill.
Removal of “citizen suit” provisions eased passage of ACES (Global Climate Law Blog)
Howrey’s climate law blog draws attention to the removal of the citizen suit provision from ACES. Most other major environmental laws, like the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act, grant standing for citizens to bring suits against polluters. A citizen suit provision in an earlier draft of ACES was stripped out due to the fear of overlitigious environmentalists:
A staff member in the office of Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) had warned that the subsection could result in a flood of “lawsuits filed by environmental groups who perceive some risk—and they undoubtedly will perceive it” and that “this provision will further empower the eco-trial bar to fight the ravages of climate change and the businesses it dislikes, with no effect on the former and disastrous consequences for the latter.”
ACES Puts US and World On Safer Temperature Path (NRDC)
A new Duke University study analyzes the impacts of ACES, concluding that it will lead to stabilizing CO2 levels at 450ppm and a 2-degree increase in global temperatures from 1990 levels.
How The Climate Bill May Spur An Energy Revolution (Huffington Post)
A look at how ACES would affect people’s lives and the economy.
Obama’s Reaction
Obama Warns Against Trade Penalties in Energy Bill (New York Times)
In a stark contrast to yesterday’s strong endorsement of the ACES bill, today, the Times reported Obama as quite critical of ACES’ tariff provisions:
At a time when much of the world is mired in recession, Mr. Obama said, “We have to be careful about sending any protectionist signals.”
He said that certain energy-intensive American industries — like steel, aluminum, paper and glass — had legitimate concerns about competition from developing nations and that he would seek to level the playing field in international negotiations.
But he warned that trade sanctions that are based on the extent to which other countries curb carbon dioxide emissions might be illegal and counterproductive.
Obama Hails Climate Bill, Hopes For Some Changes (Washington Post)
The Washington Post highlights Obama’s characterization of ACES as an “extraordinary first step” and notes that he had little to criticize, except that he hoped to remove a clause that would impose a tax on countries that don’t regulate carbon dioxide emissions.
In a midday interview in the Oval Office, however, Obama had little to criticize as he savored last week’s narrow victory in the House on one of his top domestic priorities: a climate bill that is designed to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and promote renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Obama Casts Doubt on Call for Climate Tariff (Wall Street Journal)
The Wall Street Journal provides a little more context about the tariff clause, related provisions, and how it pertains to the international negotiations at Copenhagen:
The president suggested that other provisions in the bill would help energy intensive industries. The bill offers free emissions permits to certain trade sensitive industries during a lengthy phase-in period. More broadly, Mr. Obama is headed to Copenhagen for an end-of-year summit aimed at forging a global pact on emissions, and among the issues in those negotiations is whether to create protections for countries that sign onto the deal.
Politics
House passes climate-change bill (Politico)
Politico recaps and analyzes the political implications of passage in the House, including reporting on fence-sitters as well as vote-switcher Rep. Doggett (D-Tex.)
But the all-hands-on-deck effort to protect politically vulnerable Democrats by corralling the minimum number of votes to pass the bill, 219-212, proves that there are limits to President Barack Obama’s ability to use his popularity to push through his legislative agenda. Forty-four Democrats voted against the bill, while just eight Republicans crossed the aisle to back it.
Climate bill shaped by compromise (via LA Times)
A rundown of the agriculture and coal compromises entailed in passing ACES:
That approach is fast becoming an Obama hallmark, a blueprint for the administration’s battles over healthcare, financial regulation and the climate bill in the Senate: It is a devotion to compromise, and finding a way to maintain strict discipline among hopeful but anxious liberals.
One hurdle down for climate bill, 60 more to go (Grist)
Kate Sheppard emphasizes the narrow win and the challenge ahead:
House Democrats late Friday eeked out a win on the American Clean Energy and Security Act, getting just one more vote than was necessary to pass the sweeping bill. The victory marks the first major action by the U.S. Congress to address climate change, but the narrowness of the vote suggests the fragile nature of the effort to restructure the country’s energy portfolio.
Pelosi, Waxman, Markey, Slaughter Triumph (The Atlantic)
Marc Ambinder calls it a victory:
…in passing the largest and most ambitious overhaul to the nation’s energy policy in decades, Democrats in the House of Representatives are celebrating a genuine policy accomplishment. The bill is so big, so audacious, even in its watered down form, that if it somehow manages to pass the Senate, it will almost immediately change the lives and lifestyle of every American, the fortunes of major industries, and the economic future of regions, cities and towns.
Climate Change Bill May Be Election Issue (New York Times)
Carl Hulse compares ACES to the doomed 1993 “B.T.U. tax”. Over on Dot Earth, Times environmental reporter Andrew Revkin responds:
There are enormous differences between the two situations and initiatives. The 1993 tax was pursued mainly as a source of revenue to cut the deficit, not a means of reducing American dependence on foreign oil and cutting risks of dangerous climate change. But there is one similarity. Democrats, particularly from coal states, helped set the stage for the failure of the 1993 tax, according to various experts, and according to Mr. Clinton. …Democrats from states that produce or depend on fossil fuels have been slow to buy into the climate bill.
ACES in 60 Seconds (Matthew Yglesias)
Matthew Yglesias embeds a nice 60-second pastiche of the floor debate, and observes:
So what kind of congressman looks at a complicated effort to overhaul a complicated subject matter, then kind of shrugs and says “well this is complicated and I’m too lazy and stupid to be bothered to figure out what’s happening!” Well, I know what kind of congressman does that. But it’s pretty irresponsible.
GOP Senators Pledge to Fight Climate Bill (Roll Call)
Republican Senators took to the Sunday morning talkshows vowing to block passage in the Senate:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” called the measure a jobs killer and argued it would lead to electricity rate hikes.
“If we do have a global warming problem, and many people believe we do, we need to target it on a global basis,” he said, suggesting the need to address foreign polluters like China and India.
