The narrow passage by the House of Representatives of H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 [.pdf], by a vote of 219-212 on Friday, June 26, marks the first time that major legislation on global warming has passed either house of Congress. The Bill, which is 1,428 pages long, includes many key concepts from the draft introduced by Representatives Henry Waxman and Edward Markey in May, as well as a number of revisions and additions that ensured its passage.

Attention now turns to the Senate, which, according to statements by key committee members and Obama Administration officials, will likely not reach a vote on global warming legislation until this fall, at the earliest. Should the Bill fail to pass in the Senate, greenhouse gas emissions may still be regulated through other methods, such as state and regional climate change initiatives and possibly direct regulation by the EPA through the Clean Air Act, under its endangerment finding.

In a nutshell, the Bill contains the following provisions...

Please see full alert for more information.