US climate bill may be put to vote on Friday
25 Jun 2009
US senators have resolved some outstanding issues between farm state members and sponsors of the global warming and energy bill, paving its way for a historic vote that could take place as early as Friday.
An earlier version of the bill had been opposed by Collin Peterson (D-Minn) for the way it treated framers and he had threatened to bring as many as 50 fellow lawmakers on board against it when the bill hit the floor.
With the changes Peterson is now confident of other farm state members supporting the bill.
Another democrat, energy and commerce chairman, senator Henry Waxman (D-Calif) said that he had compromised on a number of rural issues while still retaining the core environmental integrity of the legislation, however he is hopeful of continued support on the bill from one of his core constituent groups.
He said that the bill would win approval of the environmentalists because it would achieve the reductions in carbon emission that must be accomplished to avert the dangers from greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. He said that the environmentalists would see the bill overall as a major accomplishment.
Democratic staff is expected to release legislative text on agriculture compromises as well as a number of other items that had not been resolved. These also include tax and trade provisions requested by the House Ways and Means Committee.
