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A bill expected to come to the floor of the House of Representatives this Friday is already being hotly debated. While the original draft of the bill required a 20% greenhouse gas reduction from 2005 levels by 2020, the current version has been toned down to 17%, still higher than the 15% being sought by President Obama. The 1200 page bill mainly focuses on a so-called “cap-and-trade” program to curb greenhouse gases – it will be the first time that the House has a chance to vote on such a program. A coalition of environmental groups including Oxfam, Union of Concerned Scientists, and the National Wildlife Federation, wrote to House Representatives urging them to vote for the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 or HR 2454. The groups contend that the bill, flawed as it is, will be the first step toward energy transformation if it passes. But one environmental group opposes the bill outright: Friends of the Earth has launched a web-ad campaign claiming that the bill, introduced by Representatives Henry Waxman and Edward Markey, is based in part on a blue-print written by polluting corporations like Shell.

GUEST: Brent Blackwelder, President of Friends of the Earth

Visit www.foe.org for more information.