Gore emphasized that, while the bill isn't perfect, it's the only option:
Today is an historic opportunity to pass truly meaningful legislation to limit global warming pollution, vastly expand our use of renewable energy, and use energy far more efficiently. A victory today in the House of Representatives on the American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act would represent an essential first step towards solving the climate crisis. This bill doesn't solve every problem, but passage today means that we build momentum for the debate coming up in the Senate and negotiations for the treaty talks in December which will put in place a global solution to the climate crisis.
There is no back-up plan. There is not a stronger bill waiting to pass the House of Representatives. It's time to get started on a plan that will create jobs, increase our national security, and build the clean energy economy that will Repower America.
Gore--along with President Obama, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis--is reportedly also making phone calls to undecided Democrats,
At least three House lawmakers will miss this evening's series of votes on landmark climate change legislation.
Three members -- two Democrats and one Republican -- have confirmed they will miss the vote this evening, scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.
Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) will miss the vote due to a family conflict, Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) is in rehab seeking treatment for alcoholism, and Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) is in Albania.
Since that will bring the total number of voting lawmakers for today down to at least 432, House Democrats will need 217 votes to pass the climate change bill.
A rules vote passed by a 217-205 vote earlier today, a vote which 11 lawmakers missed. Rep. John Lewis's (D-Ga.) office told The Hill he will vote, while a call to Rep. John Sullivan's (R-Okla.) office was not immediately returned. Sullivan is also seeking treatment for alcoholism.
Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa) accused the U.S. Congress of handing China a "gift" containing "American jobs" in the climate change bill before them.
Railing against the effect of the Waxman-Markey climate change bill scheduled for a vote this evening, Latham brought a prop to the debate.
Latham literally brought a gift box up with him to the podium during his one-minute speech, with the "present" inside: A hard hat with "American jobs" labeled on it.
Republicans have said that the bill would hurt American consumers and employers by making production more expensive.
The Waxman-Markey climate change legislation is too burdensome on the southeast United States, Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.) said today.
"There are some regions and some places in the country where this bill is going to be frankly a net winner," Davis admitted. "But unfortunately, Alabama is not one of those places, and the southeast is not one of those places."
Davis explained that the bill would "wreak havoc on the manufacturing sector," which is particularly important to Alabama's economy.
"All of us have to ultimately represent the interests of our district and our state," Davis said.
The "and our state" part of that sentence is crucial: Davis is running for Governor in 2010, meaning he'll have to garner support outside of his heavily Democratic district.
Republicans are playing into the hands of the Iranian regime and the Saudi Arabian kingdom, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) argued Friday.
Weiner said that Republicans' opposition to the climate change bill scheduled for a vote this afternoon benefits the oil-rich companies, which have been accused of funneling some of that money to terrorist groups.
"Ahmadinejad, the Saudi Kingdom -- they want exactly what my Republican friends are advocating," Weiner said on the floor during the debate ahead of this afternoon's vote.
"We can't come to the floor and say I'm outraged at what's going on in Iran...and then come to the floor and continue the policies that are paying for them!" Weiner added.
The New York lawmaker, once a prospective candidate for mayor of New York City, praised Democratic colleagues for acting on climate change.
Congress should pass major climate change legislation to stave off cumbersome regulations from the EPA, Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) said today.
Noting that the the EPA's "endangerment finding" requires the agency to regulate greenhouse gases if Congress doesn't act, Dingell warned his colleagues to be wary of the executive bureaucracy.
"If you want something to shudder at, I beg you to take a look at that," Dingell said. "We will see better than 300 kinds of regulations coming from federal and state bodies."
Lawmakers should be "scared to death" by such the prospect of such regulation, Dingell added.
Dingell's support for the legislation has been critical. The long-serving Michigan Democrat was chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee before Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), the legislation's lead author, staged a coup of sorts after the 2006 midterm election. So Dingell's support comes in spite of both personal grudges and his energy-intensive district's concerns.
Republicans are seven votes away from "bringing down" the climate change bill favored by Democrats and scheduled for a vote Friday, Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) claimed this afternoon.
Citing the 217-205 rules vote on the bill earlier in the morning, Burgess tweeted from the Hill that Republicans were close to downing the legislation, a top priority of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and President Obama.
No R's voted in favor of the rule. 30 Dems voted no. We are 7 votes away from bringing this down.
Indeed, no Republican voted for the rules, and three lawmakers -- Reps. John Culberson (Texas), Jeff Flake (Ariz.) and John Sullivan (Okla.) -- missed the vote.
Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) was nothing if not dramatic in taking to the House floor Friday afternoon to oppose the Waxman-Markey climate change bill scheduled for a vote today.
Goodlatte, echoing many Republicans, railed against the legislation as a de facto "tax" on energy consumers.
"We do not support this kind of suicide of the American economy," he said, concluding his remarks.
Members are now locked into the beginning of a scheduled three hours of debate in the House before a final vote, where it is expected the margin could be razor-thin, as Democratic leaders and the White House work to whip up enough votes for the bill.
The climate change bill to be brought to the floor of the House will have enough votes, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Friday.
But the debate and eventual vote on the bill may roll over into Saturday, Hoyer cautioned during an interview on Bloomberg News.
"I think we're going to have 218 votes -- a majority of the votes -- when this bill is voted upon later this afternoon," Hoyer said.
"It may roll into tomorrow -- I don't know that that could be the case, but we're going to take it under consideration. We'll see how long it takes to consider it," the second-ranking House Democrat added.
Hoyer also defended the bill against claims from environmental groups like Greenpeace that House Democrats ceded too much of the bill's substance in order to win enough votes to pass the landmark deal.
"When you say have we given away too much, I don't think that that's the case," Hoyer said. "In fact, I think we've brought a bill that's a balanced bill."
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