Reps. Markey and Boucher may swap gavels on key Energy and Commerce subcommittees.
Reps. Markey and Boucher may swap gavels on key Energy and Commerce subcommittees.
CQ Politics reports today that Reps. Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Ed Markey (D-MA) may “swap gavels in the 111th Congress,” giving Markey, the current chairman of the House Select Committee on Global Warming, control of a key energy subcommittee:
Since 2007, Rick Boucher of Virginia, the Energy and Commerce Committee’s fourth-ranking Democrat, has led the Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee, which has taken the lead role in crafting legislation to address global warming.
But Boucher said in an interview Tuesday that he expects Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, No. 3 among committee Democrats in seniority, to bid for the subcommittee chairmanship. Boucher said he would “respect that decision” and stake his own claim for chairmanship of Markey’s Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet.
Matt Yglesias explains the implications of such a swap, writing, “Boucher’s a coal guy from West Virginia, but he’s solid on internet stuff, so I think this switch would be a win-win.”
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Apparently Matt needs to research his congressmen before commenting. Boucher represents the Ninth district of VIRGINIA. The southwest area of this district is very much coal dependent, and Mr Boucher has represented this district very well as to energy and telecommunications. I am hoping that the loss of this Chairmanship will not have a negative impact on an industry so vital to our area.
January 2nd, 2009 at 6:33 pmWell, there’s West Virginia and then there’s West Virginia. Serves ‘em right for not calling their state East Virginia to begin with.
But either way, getting a “coal guy” off the Energy and Air Quality subcommittee sounds like a great idea to me.
January 2nd, 2009 at 6:56 pmhmm thats depressing . cheer up with some music
January 2nd, 2009 at 7:48 pmVirginia coal country is Southwest Virginia.
With no ThinkFast, I offer the following:
Library of Congress seeks sermons and other religious messages regarding the inauguration of Barack Obama. It’s the first time ever.
January 2nd, 2009 at 8:20 pmBoucher is from the 9th district of VIRGINIA, not West Virginia. He is indded a solid coal guy, who has traded ofdf with Conyers on CAFE standards, etc.
He did not even have opposition in the last election. He balances coal loving rednecks in SW Virginia, with the white wine swilling “sophistocates” in Blacksburg/Virginia Tech. Needless to say, the libruls get taken to the woodshed on a regular basis, and the word “progressive” never is uttered.
January 2nd, 2009 at 8:39 pmI did a bit of Googling, and it looks like Boucher really knows what he’s talking about when it comes to solutions for maintining net neutrality while addressing valid business concerns. Including a lot of nuts-and-bolts stuff.
I don’t think Boucher really wants to paint himself into a corner where he ends up having to push the “clean coal” song-and-dance.
Letting Markey overlap the Global Warming subcommittee with Energy/Clean Air should get more done as well. Hopefully he can keep ‘em on the same page.
It looks like this is win-win all around, for everybody.
January 2nd, 2009 at 9:05 pmRick Boucher is a good man. He’d be great in either position.
January 2nd, 2009 at 10:51 pmWhen they swap gavels, can C-SPAN play the music from The People’s Court? That would kick ass.
January 3rd, 2009 at 1:41 amDidn’t anyone get the talking points? It’s climate change, not global warming. We will lose the argument if we keep saying global warming. Especially this winter. Both of these guys are thoughtful, reasonable and intelligent.
January 3rd, 2009 at 7:03 amLet’s hope the new Commerce Chair examines the purchase of banks by our shadow banking system. IndyMac will be 100% owned by unregulated private equity firms and hedge funds. None have to declare themselves bank holding companies.
January 3rd, 2009 at 10:50 amdrew3rd:
January 3rd, 2009 at 11:04 amGet with the program my friend. It is climate disruption, not climate change. Geesh…
drew3rd Says:
Didn’t anyone get the talking points? It’s climate change, not global warming. We will lose the argument if we keep saying global warming. Especially this winter.
No, we wouldn’t actually lose the argument that way, because it would expose their method of “we only need one statistical counterexample to prove your point, but you need an infinite number to prove yours.”
The Age of Stupid is ending.
January 3rd, 2009 at 3:02 pm