House Democrats who were struggling to get consensus within their own party on a massive global warming bill, say they are so close to an agreement that a vote on the legislation may come as early as Friday.
Democrats amended their proposal to quell opposition by centrist Democrats and Democrats from farming districts, but it is not clear whether the changes will be enough to sway the dozens of Democrats who may still be inclined to vote against it. No Republicans support the bill which means Democrats need at least 218 of their 256 members to pass it.
“We are very close to an agreement and hopefully by [Wednesday] we will have an agreement,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.
Even as Democrats get closer to a compromise, opposition is mounting on the Left, with many environmental groups saying the bill will enrich polluters while doing little to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Some groups are even calling for Democrats to scrap the bill and start over.
The environmental group Friends of the Earth on Tuesday debuted new Internet adds opposing the energy bill, calling it “wholly unacceptable” and saying it “fails to come anywhere close to solving the climate crisis.”
Earlier this month, the Sierra Club and other liberal environmental groups sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to amend the bill to include tougher pollution standards and reduce the overall number of free pollution permits that the bill would provide.
The opposition among Democrats, meanwhile, has been led by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., who has said that as many as 45 Democrats have big problems with the bill and may not vote for it.
The bill, written by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., calls for a cap and trade system that would have the government give away or sell global warming credits that could then be traded or resold by companies. The system would be particularly costly in places that rely on coal-fired power plants and manufacturing.
Peterson has argued that the cap and trade system will disproportionately hurt rural areas and debilitate the energy-intensive farming industry. Peterson has also complained that the bill does nothing to reward conservation efforts that farmers are already undertaking.
Peterson and Democratic leaders worked over the weekend to come up with a compromise, which so far includes a provision that will provide a small percentage of free carbon emissions permits to rural electric cooperatives that Peterson feared would be hit hard by pollution caps. The bill would also give additional free permits for small oil and gas refineries, a move that will help win over other moderate Democrats.
The new bill language allows states to distribute energy subsidies to families with incomes below 150 percent of the poverty level — about $33,000 for a family of four.
“Peterson had five, six, seven major issues,” Hoyer said. “And we think probably most of those are [resolved].”
