Bill Chameides: Climate Legislation: Countdown to the House Showdown

By Bill Chameides, Huffington Post

Two recent polls (Washington Post-ABC News and Mellman Group/Public Opinion Strategies [sub req'd]) show that a large majority of Americans want the United States to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Today the U.S. House of Representatives just might deliver.

No one would say it's been a cakewalk getting the Waxman-Markey climate bill (H.R. 2998) to this point. The far-from-trim, 946-page bill that passed out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in mid-May has swelled to 1,201 pages as it made its way of several other committees, each intent on shaping the legislation to its liking. (Peruse the entire bill.)

The most vehement of the bill's hostage-takers was Representative Collin "I don't trust anyone anymore" Peterson (D-MN), the chair of the House agriculture committee who held out for --...