Does Waxman Victory Mean Slam Dunk for Climate Bill?

It was announced on Thursday that congressman Henry Waxman, D-CA, will be replacing John Dingell of Michigan as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. So ends a nearly three-decade run by Dingell as the top democrat on the committee, and many are celebrating in hopes that Waxman’s victory will be good news for health care and climate change legislation.

From The Wall Street Journal:

For some, Mr. Waxman’s victory is the third leg of the climate-change stool. President-elect Obama just reaffirmed his campaign-trail commitment to a quick and ambitious climate-change program. The Senate has grappled with the issue for years. But the House historically lagged.

Plenty of folks figure that’s because now ex-chairman Dingell was torn between aggressive environmental legislation and the need to protect his local automaker constituents in Michigan. No such worries now, argues TNR’s The Vine, which figures Thursday’s vote spells a mandate for tougher congressional action on climate change:

Waxman, for his part, has fewer constraints on that front, and supports a much more aggressive stance toward climate change and reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. His own cap-and-trade bill has ambitious targets—it’s considerably more stringent than the Lieberman-Warner bill debate in the Senate this summer, with fewer concessions to industry and a call for a moratorium on coal-fired plants that can’t sequester their emissions. Apparently, the majority of the House caucus wanted to move in that direction.

Republicans are reportedly horrified by Waxman’s openness to climate change legislation, unsurprisingly worried about how that will effect commerce. But what, exactly, are the real prospects for quick action on climate change?

Though some climate campaigners think we’ll see legislative action early next year, senators in the know aren’t so sure. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, who has presented his own climate bills before, doesn’t think we’ll see any in 2009 – and 2010 is an election year in which lawmakers might put pleasing their constituents, who worry over the cost of climate change legislation, before the environment.

There’s not much we can do, for now, but wait and see.

Link [The Wall Street Journal]

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