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Farm-state compromise opens way for passage of global warming bill
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Key Democrats reached a deal Tuesday that its supporters hope will lead to House passage of the biggest environmental bill in decades, one aimed at slowing the destructive heating of the planet. Farm-state Democrats won concessions that will delay the Environmental Protection Agency from drafting regulations that could hamper the ethanol industry and will hand the Agriculture Department oversight of potentially lucrative projects to reduce greenhouse gases on farms.
The House is expected to take up the legislation on Friday, the first time the chamber will vote on a bill that would impose nationwide limits on the gases blamed for global warming emitted from power plants, factories and automobiles.
The breakthrough came hours after President Obama called on the House to pass the legislation and a new EPA analysis was released that showed the legislation would raise household energy costs on average only an extra $80 to $111 a year.
"It is legislation that will finally spark a clean energy transformation that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and confront the carbon pollution that threatens our planet," Obama said.
The deal concludes weeks of closed-door negotiations between the bill's sponsor, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and farm-state Democrats, led by Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., who expressed concern in recent weeks that there was not enough in the bill to alleviate the costs for farmers.
TRANSPORTATION OVERHAUL ON TAP
Congress will start down one of its longest, most winding and most-lobbied roads today as it begins to rewrite how highway and transit programs will be planned, built and funded for the next six years.
Lawmakers face two tough deadlines: Current law governing highway and transit programs expires Sept. 30, and the Transportation Department has estimated that the Highway Trust Fund, which helps pay for the projects, will run out of money in mid-August.
The effort to fix these problems begins with unusual bipartisan agreement, but also with some resistance from the Obama administration.
Top Transportation Committee members in the House, led by Minnesota's Jim Oberstar, have agreed on their vision for the next six years and are pushing an ambitious blueprint that would cost $500 billion. That's the bill the highways and transit subcommittee will take up today, aiming to bring it before the full House for a vote next month.
HOUSE APPROVES VETS FINANCING
The House approved legislation that is intended to prevent delays in financing for veterans' health care. The bill, which has been a major lobbying priority of veterans organizations, would allow Congress to appropriate funds one year in advance. Officials say that for 19 of the past 22 years, the Department of Veteran Affairs' budget has been approved late. As a result, the directors of veterans health care centers have often been unable to proceed on time with new services, staff expansions or renovations. The Senate is expected to pass a similar bill.
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