Just in case you didn’t finish reading all 1,200 pages of the climate change bill, as Washington did, here are some key points:
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Greenhouse gases mus be cut by 17% by 2020, and by 80% by the time 2050 rolls around. The government will also issue limited numbers of one ton permits every year, which companies must have if they want to emit greenhouse gas.
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Twelve percent of power from electric utility companies must come from renewable sources by 2020.
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New office buildings must be 30% more efficient by 2012.
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And, according to the Congressional Budge Office, the current bill should cost U.S. households another $175 a year and higher.
But while Democrats are partying like its 1999 over the Friday passage through the House, don’t expect immediate action. It now goes to the Senate where it could get tied up with the health care bill.
Here’s more from The Business Insider:
“John Boehner tells the Hill that he spent over an hour reading excerpts of the massive climate bill during Friday’s debate because “people deserve to know what’s in this pile of s….”
Now it goes to the Senate, but don’t expect immediate action.
Speaking on “This Week” Obama adviser David Axelrod told George Stephanopoulos that the Senate will focus on healthcare, not the climate bill. He says the climate bill will be shelved until the fall.
That means the fate of the climate bill is tied to the healthcare bill. Any gains Democrats make on the healthcare legislation will come at the expense of the climate bill.
We imagine this pisses Boehner off even more. If the Senate isn’t waiting for the bill, why did the House push it through so quickly?
Don’t expect the House GOP to stop fighting. Republicans think they have a major issue to seize upon:
The Hill: Even though Sen. Majorty Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) holds the bill’s fate in his hands, House Republicans intend to hammer Speaker Pelosi’s signature climate-change measure over recess.
And GOP Conference Chairman Rep. Mike Pence (Ind.) said “we have only just begun to fight” as he left the Capitol Friday night.
Pence encouraged GOP rank-and-file lawmakers to hold energy summits in their districts over the Independence Day recess. In the recess packets sent home with members, he even included directions on how to organize energy summits.
The goal of holding an energy forum is to “educate your constituents about the Democrats’ national energy tax legislation and let them know what ‘all of the above’ solution you support.””
