
Blue Dog Democrat Collin Peterson, who played a major role securing rural lawmakers' support for cap-and-trade legislation this summer, said today he would vote 'no' if a similar bill returned to the House for final passage.
The Agriculture Committee chairman said he was "stuck voting" for the bill (which is now awaiting Senate action) in June because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi granted his requests for broad agriculture concessions, but won't support it again if it remains unchanged.
He made the comment during an appearance on a conservative talk radio show hosted by Scott Hennen in Fargo, N.D. (audio below).
"First of all, this isn't going anyplace in the Senate," Peterson said. "But if it did and we ended up with a bill that was similar to what came out of the House and that was going to become law, I would vote no."
Peterson's possible defection could prove fatal to the bill -- if it ever passes the Senate -- since he is an influential voice among rural Democrats. It also may reflect how much heat he has taken from his relatively conservative district for supporting a controversial bill labeled a "national energy tax" by Republicans.
He told Hennen that he is concerned about the bill's effect on the economy and that "we're heading off on too much ideology."
UPDATE: Tom Erickson, a spokester for the National Republican Congressional Committee, blasted a response this morning to Peterson's comment. The NRCC has been targeting Peterson for months, though Republicans have yet to put up a challenger.
"After throwing Minnesota's ag community under the bus, Collin Peterson is shamelessly trying to win back their support by opposing a bill that he helped write," Erickson wrote. " It's great that Peterson finally opened his eyes to the fact that agriculture loses out under this bill, but he had no business putting the lifeblood of Greater Minnesota's economy on the line in the first place."