On March 8, the House of Representatives voted to support the creation of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) 15 Member Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming by a 269 to 150 vote. The vote, which included 44 Republicans, is a victory for the Speaker, who was criticized by some colleagues for the idea when she initially proposed it. Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) was tapped to lead the Select Committee, whose mandate is to educate Congress on the issues and make recommendations for legislation, but not to legislate directly. Pelosi agreed to limit the duties of the Committee to assuage concerns of Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) and other chairmen, who did not want to lose jurisdiction over the issue. Nevertheless, the Committee will likely be a kind of "bully pulpit" for the Speaker and others in the House leadership, who are pushing hard for the House to legislate caps on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and take other steps, such as increasing vehicle fuel efficiency standards.
House Republicans named Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) as the Ranking Republican on the Committee. Sensenbrenner is skeptical about the science of global warming and is not a shrinking violet, so he is expected to give Committee Chairman Markey a "run for the money." From the Northeast, Rep. John Larson (D-CT) was also named to the committee.