By SkySite Property staff

After the recent blockage of a global warming bill in the U.S. Senate, environmental lobbyists are refocusing their efforts on the House of Representatives.

The blocked bill, introduced by Sens. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) and John Warner (R-Va.), sought to cut carbon emissions by 70 percent by 2050. Lobbyists hope the House learned from the Senate bill’s failure and plan to take a more aggressive approach. They hope to strike while the iron is hot and convert the leftover momentum from the Congress bill into a House victory.

“All the lobbying interests working on Lieberman-Warner are turning their sights to the House side,” Friends of the Earth legislative director Shawnee Hoover said. “If we don’t get started on the House now, they won’t be able to pass a bill next year.”

House members now will be considering a new round of climate bills, one of which could be announced this month. The Investing in Climate Action and Protection Act (iCAP), H.R. 6186, introduced by Ed Markey (D-Mass.), would reduce greenhouse gas emissions levels to 85 percent below 1990 levels, markedly more aggressive than the Lieberman-Warner proposal.

Taking notes from the Senate bill’s failure, House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) is planning climate change hearings this summer.
In an effort to help push the bill along, Greenpeace has expanded Project Hot Seat—its nonpartisan, grass-roots global warming campaign that focuses solely on House districts. Since 2006, the campaign has expanded from six congressional districts to 50.

“The United States must live up to its moral obligation as a world leader and act decisively and quickly to reduce our global warming emissions and spark an energy revolution,” Greenpeace said in a statement posted on its Web site. “We must look to the House and the new Administration for leadership on this issue.”