Overshadowed by the health care debate, a new coalition has been formed to try to get momentum on climate change legislation.
The group is composed of labor unions, including AFSCME (The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees) and SEIU (Service Employees International Union) and also includes interest groups like the League of Rural Voters. They have a presence in 28 states and are organizing a group of 100 veterans to lobby in Washington next week.
The group will also create TV ads and organize a grassroots effort that will try to try to dent the lobbying efforts of the manufacturing sector that has spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to weaken or table the climate change bill that passed the House.
The group’s argument is that the United States will be safer and that jobs will be created because of climate change legislation.
The timing is important because in the next month the senate will begin to write their own version of the climate change bill. The committees will then mark-up the legislation and attempt put a final piece of legislation on President Obama’s desk before the December Copenhagen conference on climate change.
The process has been slowed by the health care debate, as the same committees involved in constructing the health care bill will play a role in the authoring of the climate change bill. In addition, politicians fearing the rise in energy costs because of this legislation will be unpopular at home. The Senate is likely to produce a weaker bill then the House and the final legislation will wind up being a compromise between the two bills.
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