Wood-waste provision drew Baird's vote

Rep. Brian Baird D-Vancouver

U.S. Rep. Brian Baird cast his vote for the House climate change bill despite the fact that it contained a 300-page amendment added in the wee hours of Friday that members had no chance to read.

The Vancouver Democrat has complained for years that House leaders consistently schedule votes on complex bills without providing adequate time for members to review them. He has advocated a 72-hour waiting period before votes on major pieces of legislation.

Baird said in an interview that he tried late Thursday to persuade House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to delay a vote until after the Fourth of July recess, then voted Friday against the procedural rule that allowed the bill to come to a vote.

"I specifically said to Pelosi, and to the White House congressional liaison, that I thought they should hold (the bill) for five days," he said. "I did what I could."

House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio took to the House floor Friday afternoon to inveigh against the amendment, saying the American people "have the right to know what we are voting on."

Baird said he voted for the bill only after he succeeded in getting language included that will allow wood waste from federal, state and private forest land and the byproducts of pulp and paper mills to be counted as renewable energy.

"It was an essential," he said. "I would not have supported the bill if not for that." The provision will create "literally thousands of jobs in the timber industry and thousands more in the pulp and paper industry," he said.

Baird said he disagrees with the bill's overall emphasis on establishing a cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"I'm a passionate believer that we need to take action on climate change," he said. "If anything, the bill does too little" in setting goals to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

"I would have preferred a straight carbon tax, with the proceeds going to lower the federal deficit and support renewable energy," he said.

Only two House members from the Northwest crossed party lines in voting on the bill. Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., voted for the bill; Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., voted against it.