The U.S House of Representatives late Friday, June 26, narrowly approved landmark legislation to curb U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions. The vote was 219-212, with 44 Democrats voting against the measure and eight Republicans crossing the aisle to vote for the bill.
The vote saw Democrats from the East and West Coasts aligned against their more conservative colleagues from regions dependent on coal for electricity and heavy manufacturing. Michigan’s delegation bucked that trend as its vote split along party lines with Democratic representatives voting for the bill and Republicans voting against it.
The bill also split industry and environmental groups. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers opposed the bill while some of the nation's biggest corporations, including Dow Chemical and Ford, backed the legislation. Also, while many environmental organizations supported passage, others, including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, opposed it, saying it didn’t go far enough.
The matter is far from resolved. Attention now turns to the U.S. Senate where the Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has set a schedule to bring the matter up for consideration in October.
As passed by the House, the bill would:
- Establish an ambitious set of greenhouse gas emission-reduction targets -- 3% below 2005 levels by 2012, 17% percent by 2020; 42% by 2030 and 83% by 2050;
- Provide a significant amount of emissions allowances free to affected industries, including allocating 35% of the allowances to the electric industry and 9% to natural gas distribution companies;
- Phase out the free allocation of emission allowances over five years beginning in 2025; and
- Institute a 20% combined renewable energy-energy efficiency requirement.
The Michigan Jobs and Energy Coalition will continue to work with allies and members of Congress on revising a number of key areas, including further modifying emission-reduction targets in the early years. This would reduce costs to consumers while allowing time for the development of new technologies to help in achieving the reductions.