House passes climate change bill

The House passed the climate change bill 219-212 on Friday evening with 44 Democrats voting against the bill and 8 Republicans voting for it.

House Ag Committee Chair Collin Peterson praised the bill as passed stating agriculture and forestry are clearly exempt from the bill’s greenhouse gas emission reduction requirements. The bill establishes an agriculture and forestry offset program so farmers, ranchers and forestland owners will earn offsets which they can sell to utilities, refiners or other firms. The bill also prevents the Environmental Protection Agency from holding U.S. biofuels producers responsible for deforestation or other land use changes in other countries, the so-called “indirect land use” assessment.

The bill now moves to the Senate where it faces another round of stiff opposition.