Dispatch from SSC Intern Emilia Pramova
After weeks of negotiations, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman announced that he had struck a deal with Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson who had been lobbying for greater farmer/rural interests protections. Waxman declared that the agreement is set and that the bill will definitely pass through.
Darren Samuelsohn of ClimateWire stated today that this development clears the way for a historic floor vote as early as Friday.
Peterson said that he planned to vote for the House climate bill - and bring dozens of rural lawmakers with him - after Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman agreed to make several concessions on issues that had drawn the ire of farm state members.Waxman affirmed yesterday that although he compromised on a number of rural issues he is still keeping the core environmental integrity of the legislation. More specifically, he announced that:
Waxman and Peterson signed off on a plan that puts the Agriculture Department - rather than U.S. EPA - in the lead for management of the offset program that pays farmers and other landowners to conduct environmentally friendly projects.
This is a good environmental bill because it achieves the reductions in carbon emission that we must accomplish in order to avert the dangers from greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. I think the environmentalists will see this bill overall as a major win.Read the entire article by Darren Samuelsohn here.