Waxman Wins Round One

Rep. Henry Waxman won a round in his quest to chair the House Energy and Commerce Committee as the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee recommended that he chair it. The issue is destined to go to the full caucus for a vote, since this is too important to be handled at this level, but for the challenger any kind of win can help build momentum.

As is always the case with congressional politics, the calculus facing individual members is very complicated. But to an outsider observer, it’s pretty clear that Waxman is a serious environmentalist who’s really committed to tackling the climate change issue. John Dingell isn’t a villain, and one gets the sense he’s really doing his best at this point to try to square the needs of the environment with the needs of the Michigan-based auto industry, but he hasn’t actually found a satisfactory way to do it.