Washington (Platts)--16Jan2008

US House of Representatives leaders seem content to let Energy and
Commerce Chairman John Dingell produce a global warming bill on his own
schedule, in contrast to last year's more top-down process for the Energy
Independence and Security Act of 2007.

Whereas House Speaker Nancy Pelosi set a firm date for committees to
complete work on their sections of the comprehensive energy bill, neither she
nor House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has set a similar deadline for a global
warming bill.

"My belief is that we'll move one forward," Hoyer said Wednesday, "but
it's very early in the year, and [Energy and Commerce] have to have their
hearings and have consideration [before I can] make any predictions." The
Maryland Democrat said the bill might be ready by this summer.

Meanwhile, the stage seems set for a fight between Dingell and the
leadership over whether or not the greenhouse gas cap should cover the auto
industry.

Dingell told reporters at the 2008 North American International Auto
Show Tuesday that his committee's bill will not include further requirements
for domestic auto manufacturers, which must already raise their fuel economy
by 40% in the next two decades to comply with EISA.

Pelosi, by contrast, has pushed the Environmental Protection Agency to
grant her home state of California a wavier to the Clean Air Act, allowing it
to impose tailpipe emissions standards on automobiles. She is unlikely to
support giving the industry a free pass in the coming bill.

Energy and Air Quality subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher of Virginia
said Wednesday that he and Dingell did not propose exempting the
transportation sector from the bill altogether, but "it is important that we
acknowledge the contribution the auto industry is making" under EISA when
drafting the climate change measure.

--Jean Chemnick, jean_chemnick@platts.com