US House leaders name members to select panel on global warming

Washington (Platts)--9Mar2007

US House leaders Friday named members to the first Select Committee on
Energy Independence and Global Warming which Speaker Nancy Pelosi,
Democrat-California, created earlier this year to drive a bill this
year to address climate change.

The 15-member panel will be chaired by Massachusetts Democrat Ed Markey.
Republican James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, a former chairman of the House
Science Committee, will serve as the select committee's ranking member. The
committee will hold hearings and investigations, recommend policies,
strategies and technologies to Congress, but is not authorized to draft and
vote on climate-change legislation.

Democratic members will be Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, Jay Inslee of
Washington, John Larson of Connecticut, Hilda Solis of California, Stephanie
Herseth of South Dakota, Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri, John Hall of New York
and Jerry McNerney of California.

In addition to Sensenbrenner Republican members named to the committee by
House Minority Leader John Boehner are John Shadegg of Arizona, Greg Walden of
Oregon, John Sullivan of Oklahoma, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Candice
Miller of Michigan.

The House approved the formation of the select committee Thursday in a
269-150 vote, with 44 Republicans voting in favor. The select committee will
expire in two years when the 110th Congress adjourns. Pelosi has set a July 4
deadline for climate legislation to be ready for consideration by the full
House.

"We are facing an issue that will test the capacity of democracy to
respond in time to affect the fate of the planet," said Markey in accepting
the chairman's seat. "We have the technology, the ingenuity, and the
experience to reverse the inexorable buildup of heat-trapping greenhouse
gases. I look forward to working with my colleagues to find the consensus
needed to move boldly and quickly."

--Cathy Cash, cathy_cash@platts.com