Just last week the reports indicated there were not enough votes to get the Waxman-Markey bill out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. With assistance from the National Mining Association we learned that a lot of negotiating has been going on in the last few days since it is now scheduled to begin consideration of the draft “American Clean Energy and Security Act” sponsored by Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on Monday, May 18, 2009. Chairman Waxman has apparently agreed to modifications to the draft legislation in order to secure sufficient votes among Democratic members to report the legislation from the committee. NMA continues to voice its opposition to the bill since the proposed changes do not extend adequate protections for the coal industry. A final draft of the legislation is expected to be released on Monday that will reflect any additional modifications arising from further negotiations among the Chairman and the Democratic members of the committee.
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