Waxman backs Markey panel, indicating Dems to push for global warming fix

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said he would support continuing the separate global warming committee helmed by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) in the next Congress.

Waxman, a political ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), said the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming created in 2007 “served a very useful purpose and I wouldn’t object to it being continued.”

{mosads}“They’ve looked at global warming and energy independence from a broader perspective than just our committee’s jurisdiction, and a lot of the ideas they’ve generated we’ve used in the legislation in our committee,” he told The Hill on Tuesday.

His comments are the latest indication that House Democrats plan to push strongly for a global warming fix next year, even though climate legislation has stalled in the Senate and its political prospects are likely to dim further with expected Democratic losses in the mid-term elections.

Many House Democrats are hoping the Senate lowers the threshold for filibusters in the 112th Congress, but The Hill recently reported that some centrist Senate Democrats are opposed to filibuster reform.

It is highly unlikely Republicans will keep the climate committee should they win control of the House this fall.

Markey has used his committee gavel to bash opponents of climate legislation and rally support for steep emissions cuts. The panel has held more than 50 hearings, which have included attacks on oil and coal companies, robust defenses of climate science and the risks of global warming and promotion of “clean” energy as a major economic engine.

Markey, who is also a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and Waxman co-authored the sweeping cap-and-trade plan that narrowly passed the House in 2009 before faltering in the Senate.

Climate advocates in the upper chamber, facing resistance from Republicans and centrist Democrats, have been unable to persuade Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to bring even a scaled-back version to the floor this year.

Markey recently declined to comment on continuation of the panel if Democrats keep the House, deferring to Pelosi. A spokesman for Pelosi could not be reached for comment.