Barack Obama listens anxiously
On Friday the house approved a controversial energy bill by a slim 219-212 vote. The White house and many other government officials had to rally hard to get the bill through. This is the first step in providing legislation to lower our greenhouse gas emissions and gradually shift America to using cleaner energy sources.
Passage of the bill in the house took strong lobbying from Obama, speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi and other supporters. With time winding down on the vote, Obama was making phone calls asking for support and Pelosi was rallying hard for yes votes.
"Today we are taking decisive and historic action to promote America's energy security and to create millions of clean energy jobs that will drive our economic recovery and long term growth", said Henry Waxman, Democrat from California.
The big debate of the bill seemed to be the financial impact on American consumers. Supporters of the bill noted the provisions that protect jobs and households.
44 Democrats voted no on the bill while only 8 Republicans voted yes, citing the economic impact of the legislation. Opponents said that the bill would raise electricity bills and cut jobs across the country. Republicans cited an MIT study to claim the bill would cost each household approximately $3,000 per year. Supporters of the bill argued that that work was misinterpreted and that the milestone energy bill will pave the way for a greener economy.
The congressional budget office, a bipartisan group, found that the bill would cost Americans only $175 a year by 2020. If all goes to plan, Obama's vision of a green economy would greatly outweigh any costs to consumers, but that is yet to be seen.
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