Legislation to overhaul the Clean Air Act failed on a 9-9 tie vote in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee today, dimming White House hopes to move its biggest piece of environmental legislation in the 109th Congress. The measure, which President Bush labeled "Clear Skies," would replace the current industrial air pollution regulatory structure with a system that would cap sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and mercury emissions, and let utilities and other industrial polluters trade emission allowances on a free market. Republican Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island joined Independent James M. Jeffords of Vermont and the committee's Democrats in voting against the bill, in part because it does nothing to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, which many scientists consider a major contributor to global warming. Thomas R. Carper, D-Del., said he will work with other members and the EPA to craft a compromise in the year ahead.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 12:22 PM | Basie! Home