| Sourced From Time.com |
With a razor-thin margin of just seven votes, the House of Representatives on Friday evening passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act the first bill to put a fixed and declining cap on U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions. Republicans and Democrats in the House spent much of the day sparring in sharp language over the bill, which will reduce U.S. carbon emissions 17% below 2005 levels by 2020 and 83% below by 2050. In the end, the vote of 219 to 212 included more than 40 Democrats who broke ranks with their party’s leadership to vote against the bill. Republicans savaged the bill as an economy-killing energy tax one member even called for a moment of silence for the Americans who would lose their jobs because of the bill and some left-wing environmental groups, including Greenpeace, withdrew their support because they believed the bill’s compromises made it far too weak. (See TIME’s photos of ways to boost energy efficiency.)
