Pelosi asks to see better way than public option
Washington (CNN) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled her willingness Thursday to consider a health care bill that lacks a government-run public health insurance option.
Pelosi has previously insisted the public option was necessary for House approval of a health care bill. Last month, the House passed its version of the sweeping health care measure that includes the public option.
However, Senate Democrats agreed this week on a tentative deal to drop the public option from their health care bill in order to ensure the measure can pass the chamber.
Under a proposed alternative, the Senate bill would permit private insurers to offer nonprofit coverage overseen by the government and expand the Medicare program for senior citizens to allow people as young as 55 to buy in.
Pelosi, D-California, at her weekly news conference said she wants to get the Congressional Budget Office analysis of the Senate alternative before judging it, but she opened the door to a final bill without the public option.
"We in the House believe that the public option is the best way to keep insurance companies honest and also to increase competition," Pelosi said, adding: "If you have a better way,
Greenhouse gases pose health hazard, EPA says
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Six heat-trapping gases that contribute to air pollution pose potential health hazards, the Environmental Protection Agency said Friday in a landmark announcement that could lead to regulation of the gases.
"This finding confirms that greenhouse gas pollution is a serious problem," EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said.
The gases -- carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride -- have been the subject of intensive analysis by scientists around the world, the EPA said. The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the EPA's scientific review in 2007.
"This finding confirms that greenhouse gas pollution is a serious problem now and for future generations," EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said in a release, later adding, "The science clearly shows that concentrations of these gases are at unprecedented levels as a result of human emissions, and these high levels are very likely the cause of the increase in average temperatures and other changes in our climate."
The EPA's finding now goes into a public comment period.
The report, titled "Assessment of the Impacts of Global Change on Regional U.S. Air Quality: A Synthesis of Climate Change Impacts on Ground-Level Ozone," is the culmination of a study started in 2000, the EPA said.
The White House moved quickly to try to squelch any concerns that the EPA would immediately issue any regulations concerning the gases.
"The president has made clear his strong preference that Congress act to pass comprehensive legislation rather than address the climate challenge through administrative action," White House spokesman Ben LaBolt said. "That's why the president has repeatedly called for a bill to provide for market-based solutions to reduce carbon pollution and transition to a clean-energy economy that creates millions of green jobs."
Don't Miss
The EPA announcement comes amid efforts by Congress to enact a limit on global warming pollution.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee is scheduled to begin hearings next week on a comprehensive energy and climate bill, called the American Clean Energy and Security Act.
Committee Chairman Henry Waxman is said to want the bill out of committee by Memorial Day, which falls on May 25, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she wants to bring the bill to the House floor for a vote this year. it on the table."Kliphnote: And if congress can't get a bill signed, the EPA will do that on their own. Because the EPA is unregulated. They and Obama can do they they want.and congress can not stop them. This could affect every thing we do. We are a carbon based economy.
No comments:
Post a Comment