What’s Next For The Climate Bill?

By Keith Johnson

(Wall St Journal, November 10, 2009) After all the excitement last week in the Senate environment committee, is the real fun just starting for the climate bill?  To recap: Democrats passed their version of the big energy and climate bill out of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, but it was a Pyrrhic victory. Republicans boycotted the vote, forcing Chairwoman Barbara Boxer to sidestep Senate protocol and count on only Democratic votes. The new conventional wisdom is that last week’s antics have fatally wounded the current Kerry-Boxer bill.

So now the action moves to a couple of other committees: Finance and Energy. Hearings in both committees start tomorrow. And Sen. Max Baucus’ finance committee could be the key.  At the risk of stating the obvious, the climate bill isn’t going to live or die on its environmental creds—but rather on its cost. The issue of how much new energy and environmental regulation will cost—consumers, businesses, and the economy as a whole—has been front and center since Congress took up legislation in earnest last year.

The bill’s cost makes or breaks public support. The bill’s cost is what largely drives congressional opponents, both Republicans and Democrats.  So the big question becomes: What will Sen. Baucus do? His finance committee will deal with two big issues central to determining the economic impacts of any climate bill: the allocation of emissions permits and figuring out how to cushion the blow for U.S. manufacturers. Darren Samuelsohn at Climate Wire has a great rundown.  Click here to read more…