Up in the Air

By Bill Polits

Despite the unusual push by Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works chairman Barbara Boxer to push the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S. 1733) out of committee against a Republican boycott of the proceedings, the word on the street is that the climate bill will not be brought forth for a vote until the next legislative session, in 2010.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Max Baucus (D – Mont.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, declares that it’s a common feeling that the bill won’t be brought to a senate vote this year.

The Impact on Fire Safety

Keep in mind that the Senate bill has - pending EPA approval - an exception for fire suppression use of HFCs, but the Waxman-Markey bill (H.B. 2454) does not. These two bills will have to be reconciled with one another at some point before they become law. The result of that reconciliation – if climate legislation becomes law – will determine how fire suppression will be affected. For now, though, it is clear that the push for climate legislation becoming law before the Copenhagen meeting next month has come to naught. Though climate change continues to be a concern to most Americans, other things such as the economy are more pressing. Add that to the fact that there are powerful sectors of the US economy which stand to lose through such legislation, and the result is that it’s not proving to be easy to get a bill passed, and it’s not likely to get easier.