The Waxman-Markey bill
is making its way through Congress, but officials are beginning to question the
likelihood of the bill passing into law this year. According to an Associated
Press report, Carol Browner, the White House “Climate Czar” said a few weeks
ago that it would be great to have this bill passed before the end of the year,
but she didn’t see how that would happen.
Obama and Copenhagen are
still pushing for an American commitment by Dec. 2009, but it is highly
possible that the bill will have to wait until 2010.
With the climate bill
set to create widespread economic change, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is
taking a position that is less than popular with environmentalists and some of
its membership, including Nike, Apple, and Exelon. These three companies
recently left the Chamber of Commerce because of its lack of support of the
Waxman-Markey bill. The debate and accusations range wildly from there, but the
Chamber of Commerce has officially taken the position that the environmental
condition needs to be addressed but that the Waxman-Markey bill isn’t the
legislation that will do it correctly. The lobbyist group is calling for an
environmental trial of sorts in an effort to put the science of climate change
to the test.
I’m game, how about you?
After all, if the climate change scientists are right, then they really have
nothing to lose; unlike you, the HVACR contractor who has a whole lot to lose
when it comes to new economic structures and new ways of doing business.