Rep. Henry Waxman (left) and Rep. John Dingell (right)

The battle for Chair of the House Energy Committee is getting heated between Democrats John Dingell of Michigan and Henry Waxman of California.  Dingell, the current Chair of the committee, referred to his challenger Waxman recently in a Detroit radio interview as “anti-manufacturing left-wing Democrat” with a “serious lack of understanding of people in the auto industry and manufacturing generally.”  Waxman is not phased however, claiming to have the votes within the Democratic caucus to take the gavel of the powerful committee away from his Michigan colleague in the incoming Congress.

Why do we care you ask?  The reasons are pretty straighforward:

1. Committee Chairmanships are the true power centers in our Federal legislative process.  The Chair of a Committee chooses what legislation he or she will allow to come before the committee, thereby framing the entire discussion of what the fully assembled House of Representatives or Senate will eventually vote on.  If the Chair wants to push a new law through, they can.  If they wish to bury it, it will disappear, lost in the swamp of parliamentary procedures that litters the land around the U.S. Capitol.

2.  Representative Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, has been a stalwart ally of the major automobile manufacturers his entire career.  While these same companies may not even know enough to stay in business, they still will fight tooth and nail against any initiative that changes the current disastrous energy policy of this country.  A policy they have fought for years with John Dingell being one of their fiercest warriors.  So, in a nutshell, if you want to see a move toward alternative energy in the United States, it will not happen with John Dingell on the House Energy Committee - no matter how many Barack Obamas you elect President.

You can in making Henry Waxman the next Chair of the House Energy Committee by contacting your (Democratic - sorry GOP, this is a caucus only decision) Representative in Congress, and the Democratic leadership in the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and demanding they vote for change, which = Waxman.

LINKS:

Time: Waxman Challenges Dingell

Miami Herald: Rivalry breaks out over Congress’s top energy spot

The Ann Arbor News: Dingell clout under assault