The Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy & Security (ACES) Act has moved from draft to a 900+ page submitted bill. To be clear, the ACES is far from a perfect bill, having been weakened from what was originally introduced.
Sadly, the Committee Republicans evidently are not interested in a serious “No Regrets” strategy, with introduction of serious amendments enabling discussion of how to make this bill better for the nation today and into the future. Rather than offering substantive amendments that would offer a tangible basis for discussing different philosophies about solving problems, the committee Republicans plan to introduce 450 Amendments that are almost entirely political gamesmanship, seeking to embarrass Democratic Representatives, when they aren’t simply fossil foolish.
For example, when it comes to poison pill:
Suspends the Act should 1,000 jobs in California be lost due to implementation of this Act
Oh, and there are eight identical amendments for California, with the only difference being the number of jobs going up to 1,000,000 jobs.
Of course, the Committee Republicans don’t want to have a discussion about the impact of unchecked catastrophic climate change on employment in California with extended (and worsened) droughts, wild fires, higher temperatures, etc …
And, there is pretty much the same for every other state (although they are wily enough not to have a 1 million job loss option for Alaska).
There are also numerous ‘screw the environment’ non-starter items:
Ends restriction on incremental hydropower construction on wild and scenic waterways
There are even retributional elements, seeking to take away tax free status from organizations involved in climate work and hitting businesses that are part of USCAP.
“Just say NO!” Obstructionism seems to be the Republican standard for doing the people’s business. From E&E reporting,
Republicans are flirting with the idea of employing a committee rule that would force the Democratic clerk to read the entire bill. “If that’s the case, you’ve got close to a 1,000-page bill, you’re probably talking about 12 to 14 hours of reading,” Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) told reporters today. A Republican committee aide said no decisions have been made on that strategy.
UPDATE: Politico: GOP plans climate bill stall in committee:
Republicans know they can’t stop Henry Waxman’s ambitious climate change bill from clearing the Energy and Commerce Committee, but they’re promising to make the ride as bumpy as possible.
“This is not going to be one of gentlemanly, pro forma markups,” said Texas Rep. Joe Barton, the top Republican on the committee. “We’re prepared for it to take weeks or months.”
And, even Blue Dog Democratic politicians are beginning to question the value and relevance of listening to Republicans as long as they seek to act like this:
Some of those skeptical Democrats doubt the sincerity of the Republican approach. Republicans won’t vote for the bill, even if Democrats adopt some of their amendments, they argue.
“I think some amendments would be very attractive, but they don’t serve a purpose,” said Gonzalez. “The purpose of that is to accomplish something and frustrate what was a good faith effort by leadership.”
UPDATE 2: See Joe Romm’s discussion, Contempt of Congress: House GOP reveals disdain for clean energy, livable climate with 450 planned amendments to Waxman-Markey and a more-of-the-same rehash of Cheney energy plan