Blog & news round-up: ACES voting day!

It’s finally voting day! The House is indeed expected to vote today on ACES, around 5pm. Things are constantly changing, so I’ll keep this short, and focus on some of what’s been happening over the last 24 hours in climate bill land. Wonk Room [1] has the schedule for today as such:

1. H. Res. 587: Adoption of the rule to set the terms of debate, officially three hours in total.
2. H.R. 2998: Adoption of the Waxman amendment in the nature of the substitute.
3. H.R. 513: Adoption of J. Randy Forbes (R-VA) substitute, the New Manhattan Project for Energy Independence.
4. Motion to recommit.
5. Final passage.

The House is debating now, so follow along with 1Sky on Twitter [2] to see what the reps are saying. One (I believe it was Rep. Bishop of Georgia) explicitly said that his office is tallying constituent calls and his vote will depend on the results - more 'yes' calls than 'no' calls will equal a yes vote on the bill. Many are speaking out in support, citing opportunities for green jobs creation, while a few have referred, some rather dramatically, to it as a ‘cap-and-tax [3]’ bill: 

Dana Rohrbacher’s (R-CA): “If cap and tax passes, jobs will go to China & economy will go to hell.”

Lots of 1Sky supporters have been calling their reps to urge them to vote yes today, (which everyone should do [4]) and have many been sending us feedback on their calls. One loyal climate supporter reports:

Bilbray, Brian P. (R-CA050)
Said Bilbray would be voting no. I said I would do the same for him when he is up for re-election."

There is truly a massive effort to urge support, as one veteran staffer confirms [5] "It’s the most extraordinary whip effort I’ve ever seen.” A whole team of whips (nine of them!) have been speaking with undecided representatives to convert them to yeses, and it's shaping up to be a very close vote.  From Grist [6]:

“It’s tough sometimes to get to a hard ‘yes’ on an issue like this,” Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.), a member of the whip team. Doyle, a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, was a key broker on the bill’s industrial and manufacturing components.

“I don’t know that we’ll get to the point where you say we have 218 hard yeses,” he continued. “But I think we’re so close now, and there’s so many undecideds leaning ‘yes,’ that there’s a sense once you put it on the floor, they’re going to vote with us.”

“I don’t think anyone is willing to declare overwhelming victory yet, but there is a sense in the caucus that this thing is moving in the direction of passage,” he said. “I think the leadership feels good enough about it that they’re willing to put it on the floor.”

The White House is also pushing hard for this legislation, with Obama making personal calls to some members and making a short speech, stressing that the bill is about jobs.

The manager’s amendment, just released, contains a few changes, both good and bad. Check out the draft summary [7] put together by our policy crew for a run-down of the changes.  [pdf]

As it stands, the vote could come down to a handful of representatives, so call your rep, and tell your friends to call theirs, and then call yours again [4]!