On A More Serious Note

On Friday night Congress finally completed the hammering out of the new energy bill, and the leadership announced that it will be voted on by both Houses this coming week. This comes after lengthy and difficult negotiations between the Senate and the House, along with big lobbying efforts by the auto makers and energy companies, and it seems a minor miracle that a compromise bill has been agreed upon. This from the NYT gives a good precis of the bill: Lawmakers Set Deal on Raising Fuel Efficiency, its history and its future. Because an energy bill like this has so many large corporations arrayed against it, despite this quote from the above article, its hope of passage is far from assured. Or, at least its hope of being passed with all the essential ingredients left in:

The energy bill faces opposition from segments of the auto, oil and utility industries, among the best organized and well financed lobbies in Washington. But House and Senate leaders expressed confidence on Friday that they could win passage before the end of the year.

The energy package, intended to reduce the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels and slow the production of the gases that contribute to global warming, would bring major changes to America’s highways, farms, factories, refineries and power plants. It contains not only the fuel-economy rules, which will alter the American auto fleet, but will divert vast tracts of farmland to produce ethanol and other renewable fuels and bring a bonanza for solar and wind power.

A GOP House filibuster on this bill seems almost certain, and 60 votes are needed to overcome such an action. It's not perfect, but it does represent a milestone in energy legislation, representing anew direction in energy away from fossil fuels toward more support for renewables and energy efficiency. So, instead of building snowbabes this week, let's all see what we can do to convince our representatives in Congress to pass this bill. If you're reading this post, you're already on the computer, so here's two easy ways to contact your reps and put in a word for their vote on the energy package. Let's have a tidal wave of support on this from the Internet.

From Friends of the Environment: Urge Congress to Pass a Strong Clean Energy Bill

and from Union of Concerned Scientists: Vote for Clean Energy and Fuel Economy

Technorati Tags: contact reps, energy legistlation package,

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