Thursday night, the Waxman-Markey climate bill passed its first test and passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee, with a vote of 33-25 with one Republican voting for it (Bono Mack). International adaptation, domestic adaptation, and clean energy each have 1% of the value of auction allowances. This was lower than originally requested – 1% is estimated at $750 million -- but conversations with committee leadership indicated that there was not an opportunity to increase or amend this allocation in committee. Amendments were proposed that would strip funding from the international provisions, but were defeated. And there was some great, speedy coalition work to fight those amendments back.
Congratulations on helping to accomplish this critical first step! It’s just a start, so let’s recharge for the work ahead defending and strengthening the international adaptation provisions.
