Democrats edge closer to climate bill deal - Waxman said he will release bill on Thursday

[jefferson_dem]

Democrats edge closer to climate bill deal
By LISA LERER & PATRICK O'CONNOR | 5/12/09 9:15 PM EDT Text Size:

After months of negotiations, weeks of congressional testimony and an official White House meeting, Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee inched slightly closer to cutting a deal on climate change legislation Tuesday — even as some of their most pernicious members continued to raise objections.

Democrats on the committee resolved several key issues in an hour-long, closed-door meeting, including setting a renewable electricity standard and carving out special protections for utilities and fossil-fuel-intensive industries that would see the biggest cost increases under the new cap and trade program.

Chairman Rep. Henry Waxman, (D-Calif.) said he will release a bill on Thursday, with a mark-up planned for Monday. He expects to meet his self-imposed deadline and pass a bill out of committee by the Memorial Day recess.

"I believe we will have the votes for passage of this bill next week," said Waxman.

Still, several of the most demanding Democrats on the committee said things were far from finished.

"I'm not prepared to characterize things at the moment as being resolved," said Rep. Rich Boucher, (D-Va.). "Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed."

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http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22455.html

[pleah]

1. Uh huh,

"carving out special protections for utilities and fossil-fuel-intensive industries"


That doesn't sound very promising.

[Reterr]

2. carving out special protections for utilities and fossil-fuel-intensive industries

Something tells me the protections will not be for the people working in these industries...just for the fat cat CEOS. Anothert way of diluting it without actually helping the little guy, but at this point I suppose we should be happy to get anything.