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Supporters of Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) say that giving the gavel to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) could lead to a delay in climate change legislation when Congress returns next year.
Waxman, who launched his challenge to Dingell the day after the election, is seen as more aggressive on climate change regulation, but Dingell supporters argued a global warming bill would be slowed by a transition.
“There would be a different chairman, different staff,” Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.), a member of the Dingell “whip team,” said in a press call Friday. “We’re looking at a narrow window of opportunity in the first few weeks of the Obama administration.”Waxman supporters said the more liberal Californian will write a better bill and can still do it fast. “Given that many people feel that Chairman Dingell has stood in the way of modern energy and environmental policy for many years, a switch would speed up, not delay, forward movement on energy and climate change legislation,” said a senior Democratic aide. Dingell was slow to warm to the need for restrictions to curb global warming, and two years ago House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) tried an end-run around him by creating a new committee to look at the issue.
Dingell supporters stress that the chairman is now hard at work on climate change legislation, having issued a discussion draft of legislation to cut greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.
Demonstrating his commitment to climate change regulation, Dingell Friday wrote to a relatively liberal group of 152 Democrats who’d signed an October letter outlining principles for global warming rules. Dingell’s letter said that his discussion draft “closely follows” most of the principles in the letter.
“I think you will find the discussion draft aligns with the principles and goals outlined in your letter,” Dingell wrote. But the discussion draft has been criticized by a former Clinton administration official who is now a key environmental adviser to President-elect Barack Obama.
The criticism comes from Robert Sussman, who is now the co-chairman of Obama’s EPA transition team, according to a report in Environment and Energy Daily, a trade publication.
Sussman, a former EPA deputy administrator, wrote that he had “serious concerns” about the draft in his role as senior fellow for the liberal Center for American Progress. In a paper, Sussman said the discussion draft “should not be the starting point for legislative action in the new Congress,” according to the report.
Sussman’s paper was written before he was on the transition team. Dingell spokeswoman Jodi Seth said it should not affect the chairmanship race.
“He does not represent Obama’s views,” Seth said of Sussman.
Messages left with Waxman's office and Sussman were not immediately returned.
This story was updated at 6:18 p.m. |
