The U.S. House of Representatives took the first steps toward approving an ambitious and wide-ranging global-warming bill on May 21. The Energy and Commerce Committee approved a bill that industry sources are calling historic by a 33-25 vote, largely along party lines.
The massive bill—more than 930 pages—is the result of weeks of hearings and negotiations in the House, and it is supported by a wide range of environmental groups, corporations, electric utilities and energy companies. But the road ahead for the bill is long and its ultimate prospects uncertain, with markups required by several other House committees before it can be considered on the House floor. There is no comparable bill in the Senate.