Waxman plans to release draft emissions bill this month
Posted on March 4th, 2009By: Darren Samuelsohn
ClimateDaily: Democratic leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee plan to solicit comments this month on a draft energy and global warming bill as they take aim at their goal of marking up that legislation by Memorial Day.
“We’ll have to develop a committee draft probably in March and have hearings on it and talk to members and get reactions to it,” Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) told reporters today. “Because we need the input from the stakeholders, both from the environmental side and the business side. And all the differences that might entail.”
Waxman and Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the chairman of the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee, also confirmed that their committee staff have begun writing the bill, which they said is expected to set a national standard for renewable energy and also establish a cap-and-trade program that sets mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions.
“We are and have been drafting, so that I think the members are anticipating that they will be given a draft that can be the basis for the discussion across the full range of committee members, to ultimately then make it possible for us to mark up the legislation in May,” Markey added.
House and Senate Democratic leaders have said they want to deliver global warming legislation to President Obama for his signature before the U.N. climate negotiations conclude in Copenhagen in December, but that will be no easy task, considering how the climate debate breaks down along both regional and party lines.
From the GOP perspective, House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio last week questioned whether Democrats and Obama were out of touch with voters in pushing authorization of a major new environmental program that is sure to come with a high price tag.
“‘Cap and trade’ is code for increasing taxes, killing American jobs and raising energy costs for consumers,” Boehner said. “Middle-class families are struggling during this recession, and the last thing they need is even higher costs of living and weaker job security, which is exactly what ‘cap and trade’ would deliver.”
But Waxman countered that the climate bill he produces will reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and promote economic development. And strategically, Waxman said, the legislation benefits from moving through a diverse 59-member committee that serves as a snapshot of the larger political dynamics in the entire 435-member House.
“We’ve got work to do,” Waxman said. “Work to do on our committee. But our committee is an interesting committee. Our committee represents the whole House. We have rural and urban Republican and Democratic members, liberal and conservative, any way you want to identify the members of our committee.”
Waxman, an 18-term congressman, also suggested that the legislation he writes could have some legs across Capitol Hill.
“A bill that will emerge from our committee is a bill that I think can pass the House and may well be a model for the Senate,” he said. “But don’t tell them I said that, because they’ll want to do their own bill. And see us in conference. That’s fine, too. That’s the regular way we accomplish things here.”
‘President proposes, Congress disposes’
As part of his fiscal 2010 budget proposal, Obama last week outlined some key details he wants to see in the global warming bill, including emission targets that cut U.S. greenhouse gas levels 14 percent from 2005 levels by 2020 and 83 percent below 2005 levels by midcentury.
Both Waxman and Markey said they did not know if Obama would formally draft a bill for consideration on Capitol Hill. And they also stopped short of an all-out endorsement of the president’s emission reduction targets.
“The president proposes, Congress disposes,” Waxman said. “We’re going to obviously follow his leadership. That’s obviously going to be a consultative process. But we’re going to have to think through all the decisions here as we develop the consensus this year.”
Markey signaled an interest in pushing a bill in line with even more aggressive 2020 and 2050 emission targets. “We’re going to pass legislation that is equal to the urgent challenge which the planet is faced with,” he said. “We will, as Henry said, do so in partnership with the administration. He set very high goals. We’ll do our very best to meet those goals.”
Waxman also addressed questions about the multiple House panels that are playing a role in the climate debate, including the Ways and Means, Agriculture and Banking committees. “Everyone wants to take a look at this, and we’ll have to engage in conversations with the leadership of all those committees as we move forward,” Waxman said.
Committee clashes are already in play in the climate debate. Last week, Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) focused his panel’s attention on the climate issue and pledged to produce his own climate bill by Memorial Day.
And the House Agriculture Committee marked up its own legislation last month that gives oversight jurisdiction on a new carbon market to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Markey today offered a different position.
“We believe that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has the historical experience in the energy and electricity marketplace,” Markey said. “And that is the proper venue for that regulatory responsibility. As we’re going forward, that’ll be the position that we’re advocating.”