House Passes Major Climate Change Bill

In a triumph for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed sweeping legislation today calling for the nation's first-ever limits on pollution linked to global warming. The bill also aims to usher in a new era of cleaner, yet more costly energy. The vote was 219-212, capping months of negotiations and days of intense bargaining among Democrats.

Republicans were overwhelmingly against the measure, saying it would cost jobs in the midst of a recession. The legislation would require the US to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions by 17% from 2005 levels by 2020 and by about 80% by mid-century. But the government would not sell pollution permits and raise more than $600 billion over a decade as the administration had proposed.
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