ENVIRONMENT
Moving Forward On Global Warming

Friday was a historic day in Congress, as the House passed the first-ever bill designed to curb greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. The narrow 219-212 vote was a hard-fought victory, overcoming the regional interests of lawmakers, aggressive lobbying by business groups, and misinformation by right-wing pundits. "After more than three decades of being held hostage to the influence of foreign energy suppliers, this legislation at long last begins to break our addiction to imported foreign oil and put us on a path to true energy security," said House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-CA), one of the authors of the landmark American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES). The other author of the bill, House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming Chair Ed Markey (D-CA), added that the legislation will "create jobs by the millions, save money by the billions and unleash investment in clean energy by the trillions." The bill now moves to the Senate, where the fight for passage will be even tougher. In his weekly address on Saturday, President Obama recognized the challenge and called on senators to not "be prisoners of the past." "Don't believe the misinformation out there that suggests there is somehow a contradiction between investing in clean energy and economic growth," he urged. "It's just not true."

A FLEXIBLE BILL: ACES "would establish binding greenhouse gas pollution limits, set the first national renewable electricity and efficiency standards for utilities, and improve efficiency standards for buildings and appliances -- creating 1.7 million new jobs and spurring $150 billion in investments." In fact, by 2020, U.S. emissions are required to decline by 17 percent. ACES wasn't the ideal bill for most people. Some business interests were opposed to stringent regulations and many environmentalists preferred the auction of all the pollution allowances. Speaking to reporters over the weekend, Obama explained why this fragile compromise was necessary: "Part of the reason I think that business was supportive, and ultimately we got support from legislators who in the past had been opposed, is because of the flexibility that was built...into this bill." Despite the fear-mongering by many conservatives on ACES, regulating greenhouse gas emissions is widely supported by the American public. A recent Washington Post-ABC News poll found that three-quarters -- including "substantial majority support from Democrats, Republicans and independents" -- support such regulation. Obama has also received high ratings for his handling of the issue, with global warming his second strongest area after international affairs.

NEXT STEPS IN THE SENATE: As Center for American Progress President and CEO John Podesta has noted, the Senate Energy Committee is off to "an inauspicious beginning by passing an energy bill that would do little to boost investments in renewable electricity." "The bill would allow oil drilling in an area only 45 miles off the Florida Gulf Coast and worsen global warming by lifting the prohibition against the federal government purchase of oil from Canadian tar sands, which produce twice as much greenhouse gas pollution as regular oil," said Podesta. "The Senate bill is weak, toothless, and unacceptable, and it must be improved before it passes." In addition to allowing drilling, environmentalists are upset that the bill has a weaker renewable electricity standard than the one in the House bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is hoping to have the full Senate consider the bill sometime this fall and Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA) plans to have a bill on climate strategy ready for consideration by early August. Obama is also urging the Senate to strip out a provision present in the House bill that would "impose a tariff in 2020 on imports from countries without systems for pricing or limiting carbon dioxide emissions."

'TREASON AGAINST THE PLANET': On Friday, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) wrote on Twitter, "I hope we can fix cap and trade so it doesn't unfairly punish businesses and families in coal dependent states like Missouri." McCaskill's state gets 85 percent of its electricity from coal and is home to the world's largest coal company, Peabody Energy, which has spent nearly $10 million lobbying against climate legislation since 2008. As The Wonk Room's Brad Johnson notes, "In reality, the cap-and-trade system the House passed fully protects states now dependent on coal, with multi-billion-dollar programs for advanced coal technology." But interest groups have poured millions of dollars into lobbying against this bill. In the first three months of 2009 alone, the oil industry spent $44.5 million on lobbying, and last year spent 73 percent more on lobbying than it did the year before. In March, the top public relations group for the coal industry announced that it was looking to shape public attitudes online, with a $20 million media budget for Internet-based advertising. As Obama told reporters this past weekend, the bill's foes have been seeking to "get political gain by scaring the bejesus out of people." In today's New York Times, columnist Paul Krugman says that in light of the fact that "the planet is changing faster than even pessimists expected," global warming deniers and people unwilling to take action are committing "treason against the planet." "The deniers are choosing, willfully, to ignore that threat, placing future generations of Americans in grave danger, simply because it's in their political interest to pretend that there's nothing to worry about," he writes. "If that's not betrayal, I don't know what is."

Under the Radar

HUMAN RIGHTS -- OBAMA REPORTEDLY CONSIDERING AN EXECUTIVE ORDER PERMITTING INDEFINITE DETENTION: On Saturday, the Washington Post reported that Obama administration officials are possibly "crafting language for an executive order that would reassert presidential authority to incarcerate terrorism suspects indefinitely." The report emphasized that the order is under consideration but has not been finalized. Administration officials are "increasingly worried that reaching quick agreement with Congress on a new detention system may be impossible" after Congress stripped funding to close Guantanamo Bay. In one White House draft, the Post reports that "U.S. citizens would not be held in the system" and that "anyone detained under this order would have a right to challenge his detention before a judge." Ken Gude, associate director of the International Rights and Responsibility Program at the Center for American Progress, responded that while he still has concerns about an executive order, it would nonetheless "be a significant improvement over the Bush administration and would go a long way towards cleaning up the mess at Guantanamo. ... Whatever would emerge from the sausage grinder risks being far worse than even the already unacceptable status quo." The Washington Independent's Spencer Ackerman spoke to Kate Martin of the Center for National Security Policy, who also said that if Obama "issues an executive order like the one [the Washington Post story describes], it'll be a major victory." But others such as Salon's Glenn Greenwald, the ACLU, and the Center for Constitutional Rights still have significant concerns about the possible order.

Think Fast

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his supporters have "begun to use his disputed victory in this month's election to toughen the nation's stance internationally and to consolidate control internally." The government declared its intention to prosecute some of Mir Hossein Mousavi's advisers, arrested some Iranians who work at the British embassy, and broke up an "opposition gathering."

The first military coup in Central America since the end of the Cold War occurred over the weekend, when "President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras was ousted by the army on Sunday, capping months of tensions over his efforts to lift presidential term limits. ... Soldiers stormed the presidential palace in the capital, Tegucigalpa, early in the morning...waking Mr. Zelaya and putting him on a plane to Costa Rica."

In a new secret Justice Department memo, the Obama administration has "determined that detainees tried by military commissions in the U.S. can claim at least some constitutional rights, particularly protection against the use of statements taken through coercive interrogations."

President Obama praised the House yesterday for passing a bill to address climate change, calling it an "extraordinary first step." He added that he hoped the move will "prod" the Senate to act. However, citing the global economic crisis, Obama urged the Senate to strip a provision that imposes tariffs "on imports from countries without systems for pricing or limiting carbon dioxide emissions."

Defying the Obama administration's call for a settlement freeze, the Israeli Defense Ministry announced today that it has "approved construction of 50 new homes at a West Bank settlement as part of a plan for 1,450 housing units." However, Israel said Sunday that it "would be open to a complete freeze of settlement building in the West Bank for three to six months as part of a broad Middle East peace endeavor."

Yesterday on ABC's This Week, David Axelrod, President Obama's top political adviser, would not "rule out the possibility that the White House would agree to a tax hike on health insurance plans that would hit middle-income Americans." Axelrod said Obama "has no interest in 'drawing lines in the sand' on the issue of how to pay for the costly health reform."

Forty years after the Stonewall riot helped spark a movement for equal rights, "gay New Yorkers celebrated their gains at Sunday's gay pride parade and lamented the state has not legalized same-sex marriage." Gov. David Paterson (D) told the crowd that "he remains hopeful that the state Senate will pass a same-sex marriage bill -- if it can resolve the partisan stalemate that has paralyzed it."

This week, President Obama "will host an event at the White House 'recognizing and celebrating the accomplishments' of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans."

And finally: Don't tell Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE) he's jaywalking. When Terry was crossing the street in Washington, DC, a driver yelled out, "Can't you read the sign?" "[Expletive] you!" replied Terry. "Really?" asked the driver. "Really," Terry confirmed.

Blog Watch

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad offers an ambitious plan for the creation of a Palestinian state.

The Washington Post's Dana Milbank calls the Huffington Post's Nico Pitney a "dick" after arguing on CNN.

When it comes to health care reform, the public option is not the only thing that matters.

The Washington Post's Ceci Connolly misrepresents the position of grassroots activists on the public option.

A conservative Canadian politician defends the Canadian health care system from attacks by American conservatives.

The Census Bureau tries to "explain the rules of the census" to Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN).

Fox Nation accuses House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) of "treason" for passing the Waxman-Markey clean energy bill.

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) has put a hold on Cass Sunstein's nomination to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

Daily Grill

"I've been in politics a long time. I've made it my policy, I just don't talk about people's personal problems. I don't think it's appropriate, I don't think it's polite, and I don't think it achieves any purpose."
-- Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS), 6/28/09, referring to Gov. Mark Sanford's (R-SC) extramarital affair

VERSUS

"And now we have this president who treated Monica Lewinsky in such a way that it makes prostitution look dignified and ennobling."
-- Barbour, 9/15/98