Tuesday, June 23, 2009

House Climate Change Bill Set for Friday Floor Debate

H.R. 2454, the Waxman-Markey "American Clean Energy and Security Act", is now scheduled to go to the House floor this Friday to begin debate. This could, however, be a very brief debate as the House leadership has indicated its intent to restrict amendments and bundle leadership agreements on substantive changes to the bill into a Manager's Amendment that would also be introduced on Friday, but the possibility of a Saturday session remains open. The most public point of opposition to the bill is from the agricultural community regarding the cap-and-trade provisions as they pertain to rural communities, and it is unclear whether a deal has been struck to secure this sector's support. That being said, conservative Democrats have continued to express concerns with the bill's cost so passage in the House is, at this point, not a foregone conclusion.

**UPDATE** Here's a more thorough summary of the changes made to the bill.

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