Pelosi Changes Course, Wants Cap-and-Trade Floor Debate This Year

Last week Pelosi told reporters that she wants to move major global warming legislation before the UN climate change conference this December, a reversal from her comments three weeks ago that she may not be ready to bring such legislation to the floor in 2009. "I believe we have to because we see that as a source of revenue," Pelosi said in a San Francisco Chronicle article.  "Cap and trade is there for a reason. You cap and you trade so you can pay for some of these investments in energy independence and renewables." House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) has already introduced a bill in the House which he promised to mark up by Memorial Day. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), the chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, plans to release a "set of principles" for climate legislation sometime this week.