Climate change bill faces uphill battle

“Our goal is to keep attention focused on this issue as we head into this congressional session, and also into the presidential election in 2016,” Van Hollen told CNN, explaining the bill serves as a vehicle for discussion.

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Van Hollen’s objective is to force Republicans to address the issue, and he believes they’re slowly coming to the negotiating table. Think Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, and her crusade against income inequality to push Hillary Clinton toward embracing a populist mission as she forms an economic platform for her likely presidential bid.

The real challenge, of course, stems from getting Republican leadership to bring the legislation to the House floor for a vote. And already Republicans are skeptical.

Jeff Holmstead, an assistant administrator at the EPA during George W. Bush’s presidency, predicted the only kind of climate change discussion that will occur in the House will center on what Republicans propose to roll back from President Barack Obama’s announcement last June that he would broadly interpret the Clean Air Act of 1970 to mandate lower emissions.

CNN