ABSTRACT
On June 26, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 219-212 to approve landmark legislation on climate change, a move President Obama hailed as a “bold and necessary step” that, pending Senate action, would at last signal the nation’s willingness to tackle its energy use and minimize adverse impacts on the world’s climate future. House passage followed intensive lobbying by President Obama and his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, Vice President Joe Biden, the White House energy and climate policy coordinator Carol Browner, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former vice president Al Gore, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, all of whom made special pleas to wavering lawmakers in both parties. In the end, 44 Democrats voted against the measure, as did all but eight Republicans, with opponents citing the likely economic impacts, particularly in regions of the nation that are heavily dependent on the use of coal for electricity generation or on energy-intensive manufacturing.1
