House Passes Historic Climate Legislation; Bill Heads to Senate

On June 26, the House of Representatives voted 219-212 in favor of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 ( H.R. 2454 / H.R. 2998 ). The bill would establish a cap and trade program to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from power plants, manufacturers, refineries and other sources. The bill also includes a combined efficiency and renewable electricity standard, requiring states to meet 20 percent of their electricity demand with renewable energy by 2020, with up to 25 percent of that allowed to be met with energy efficiency savings. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates the bill in its current form would cost American households between $80 and $111 per year, or 22 to 30 cents per day. A separate analysis from the Congressional Budget Office projected an annual cost of $175 for U.S. households by 2020.

“Today, we are taking decisive and historic action to promote America's energy security and to create millions of clean energy jobs that will drive our economic recovery and long term growth,” said Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA), who sponsored the legislation along with Energy and Environment Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-MA). The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration, where Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, says she plans to report the Senate version of the bill to the floor by August. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) intends to take up the legislation by the fall.

Following the bill’s passage in the House, President Barack Obama called on members of the Senate to continue progress in his weekly radio address: “My call to every senator, as well as to every American, is this,” President Obama said. “We cannot be afraid of the future. And we must not be prisoners of the past. Don't believe the misinformation out there that suggests there is somehow a contradiction between investing in clean energy and economic growth.”