DC Hill update: ACES floor vote next week?

As leadership integrates input from committee chairs, vote counts mount, but we still do not have certainty that there will definitely be a House floor vote on the Waxman-Markey bill next week. We'll know one way or another early next week. In the meantime, we're continuing to build momentum for a stronger bill with 1Sky rallies taking place at Congressional offices around the country taking place today; more than 900 people nationwide signed up and we have phone banked and confirmed at least 154 actions in 83 Congressional districts, 33 of which are swing districts.

House ACES Bill

If the floor vote happens next week, it will be accompanied by a flurry of activity--long floor speeches, late hours, and probably a Friday vote. If the vote is postponed, it will probably happen on the week of July 6-10, right when members get back from July 4th recess. The House leadership has yet to announce whether or not they will accept floor amendments.

Meanwhile, Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman(D-CA) nears final agreements with committee leadership: out of the 8 other committees with jurisdiction, none have held formal mark-ups on ACES. Instead, committees have held hearings and internal discussions, which have resulted in conversations with Chairman Waxman's staff about incorporating modifications into his forthcoming manager's amendment--essentially a new version of the bill, to be released prior to a floor vote. Most committees will be suggesting small adjustments to the bill, relevant to their subject areas. These suggestions will generally "improve" the bill -- all except for the biomass portions, worked out with the Agriculture Committee, which will likely weaken the bill.

Agriculture Committee

The highest hurdle yet to be cleared by this bill is the leadership of the conservative "Ag" Committee. Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN) has added to his list of ACES concerns, seeking modification of the formula designed to allocate allowances to utilities based equally on historic emissions and retail electricity sales. The desired compromise would shift 1% of allowances away from merchant coal to compensate rural utilities for the supposed disadvantage.

Discussions between Chairman Peterson, Waxman (D-CA) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) are rumored to have led to "expanded" offset authority for the Department of Agriculture, a more lenient biomass definition, and anything between increasing the transparency of EPA studies to preventing the agency from mandating accounting of indirect land use emissions (Source: subscription-only E&E).

Vote Count

Last week Speaker Pelosi said she has the votes to pass the bill, while Congressman Rick Boucher (D-VA) says ACES will pass by a wide margin. There are still many undecided voters. Some are progressives who are upset with the direction this bill has taken, while others are freshmen wary of controversial votes, or state delegates influenced by the general conservative lean of their colleagues. Top states represented include FL, TX, IN, PA, NC, and to some degree WI, WA, and MD.

Building Momentum for Stronger Legislation

1Sky has been working closely with other groups to build enough political cover for progressive members of Congress to call for more, in a way that moves the process forward, but builds momentum for bolder action as the bill moves towards conference. Our other key emphasis is that even if this bill passes, it will only be a first step on the long road towards tackling this problem. Our vehicle for this is the Pingree-Ellison "Dear Colleague" letter, championed by Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and Keith Ellison (D-MN), and signed by members of Congress in preparation for delivery to Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Waxman early next week. In just a few days of shopping the letter around, we've managed to attract signatures from over 25 members. This letter a way for members to say "I'll vote for this bill, but I would prefer stronger legislation." It helps build space for strengthening within the manager's amendment, the Senate bill, and in Conference.

Weak Energy Bill Passed Out of Committee in the Senate

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has approved their American Clean Energy Leadership Act in a 15-8 bipartisan vote. Democratic Senators Mary Landrieu (D-Louis.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) voted against the bill, while Republicans Lisa Murkowski (R-Alas.), Sam Brownback (R-Kans.), Jeff Sessions (R-Alab.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) supported it.

The bill features provisions that would impose a 15% by 2020 RES (with up to 4% coming from efficiency), establish a wide range of efficiency standards, and boost green jobs training. Also included are liability protections for parties investing in carbon capture and sequestration projects, a significantly smaller offshore drilling buffer in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, protection for oil from the Canadian tar sands, and a nuclear energy title that would support reactors as viable, emissions-reducing technology.

Most climate advocates including 1Sky are refusing to support the bill in its current form, and will seek floor improvements to increase renewable energy deployment and eliminate safeguards for fossil fuels. See our letter to the committee here.

In line with President Obama's campaign promise, Sen. Menendez (D-N.J.) plans to introduce a floor amendment mandating a 25% by 2025 RES.

Other News from the House

• Appropriations tries to weaken biofuels standards: Yesterday, in the latest Appropriations Committee Funding bill, an amendment that would cripple EPA authority to mandate accounting for indirect land use emissions from biofuels was narrowly defeated in a 29-30 vote. Victory on this legislation would have incentivized dirty biofuels.
  
  
• Cash for Clunkers: Both houses of Congress have now passed "Cash for Clunkers" legislation putting $1 billion toward vouchers for trade ins of older vehicles for cars with slightly better fuel efficiency. Climate advocates are generally not supportive, citing the marginal (as low as 1 mpg) difference between the bill's standards for "inefficient" and "efficient" cars.

Important New Reports:

• Report from Center for American Progress, Green For All, NRDC, and PERI finds that the combined impact of the Recovery Act and ACES (if strengthened) would be to jointly create 1.7 million green jobs nationwide.
  
  
• New comprehensive government study by the United States Global Change Research Program predicts the widespread domestic impacts of "unequivocal warming" in the United States. Here's the full report, and impacts by state and region.

Feel free to contact me with any questions: jason@1sky.org.