51·çÁ÷

When Congress reconvenes after Labor Day, the U.S. Senate will resume its work on a comprehensive energy and climate bill.  In part, those deliberations will focus on a companion bill, the America Clean Energy and Security Act, or H.R. 2454, which the U.S. House of Representatives passed on June 26, 2009, by a vote of 219 to 212. This article begins a series of articles that 51·çÁ÷ will publish in 51·çÁ÷'s Environmental Observer to keep members informed of the ongoing climate change debate in Congress.  These articles will summarize H.R. 2454 in plain English and include 51·çÁ÷'s preliminary reactions. Majority leaders in the Senate are aiming to vote on their version of the climate change bill as early as October.  After the differences between the two bills are reconciled, the resulting language will need to secure passing votes in both houses of Congress before a final bill can go to President Obama. As Congress debates climate change, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is also laying the foundation to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act though both industry groups and several government agencies (including EPA) have expressed concern that regulation under the existing statute is not the best course of action. Read more here. For more information, contact Karen Lapsevic at (202) 547-4733 or lapsevick@agc.org.