Climate Bill Passes the House

As was reported late yesterday afternoon, by every major news source, the House of Representatives narrowly passed the Waxman-Markey climate change legislation. Farm Policy, this morning, reported that:

Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), said: ‘The American people wanted change in our energy and climate policy. And this is the change that the people are overwhelmingly asking for.’ He called it ‘the most important energy and environment bill in the history of our country.’

The New York Times stated that the vote was 219-212 with only 8 Republicans voting for the bill; Republican leaders called the legislation

a national energy tax and predicted that those who voted for the measure would pay a heavy price at the polls next year. "No matter how you doctor it or tailor it," said Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pa., "it is a tax."

The bill has passed the House, but it will still need to pass through the Senate. The Senate appears to be the last hurdle for the sweeping climate change bill as President Obama has strongly supported the measure and has announced that climate change and universal health care are his two primary goals for his first term.

Posted: 6/27/09