U.S. Climate Change Bill Set To Pass House

As legislation, Waxman-Markey is a terrible mess. Hansen hates its, for example. Credits will be given away rather than auctioned; lots of special deals have been cut for the farm states. By itself it won't accomplish a lot. Nor is its passage assured in the Senate, where folks like Inhofe are looking to delay the thing to death. Nevertheless, getting a bill out of The House is an enormously important symbol; its as far as a piece of major climate change legislation has ever gone in the U.S. And if the U.S. negotiating team walks into Copenhagen with nothing, then the odds of the rest of the planet committing to significant action dwindle. So here's hoping this crappy bill passes.