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Grayson vote traded to get storm center
Democratic leaders in the U.S. House were scrounging for votes Friday to pass a controversial global-warming bill, and U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Orlando, was willing to deal.The result? In exchange for his vote, Grayson got assurances from Democratic leaders that they would support his efforts to build a new $50 million hurricane-research center in Central Florida. And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi got a 219-212 victory on the bill. "This is a home run," Grayson said.
First, the bill must pass the more-cautious Senate and survive negotiations between the two chambers before it can be signed into law by President Barack Obama. Given the costs of capping carbon emissions and coming up with alternative-energy sources for electricity -- the Congressional Budget Office estimates at least $175 per household a year -- the fight will be fierce. Indeed, 44 Democrats voted against the bill Friday night, despite intense lobbying by Obama and other Democratic leaders. Even if the bill does become law, the pledge Grayson extracted remains the legislative equivalent of an IOU. On the House floor before the vote, the hurricane center simply was called a "priority" by the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "I think it's a very worthwhile project. I look forward to working on it and making it a priority as the legislative process moves along," said U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, the California Democrat who sponsored the bill. According to Waxman, the center could be constructed with funds aimed at helping states "study and adapt to climate change," money that would not be available until 2012 at the earliest. The hurricane center is "among the type of activities that would be eligible to receive funding," he said. Posted by: Fred 2009-06-28 |
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