If you’ve been following the news, then you’ve probably heard of the Waxman-Markey Act, also know as the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES). It is an energy bill that outlines an emissions cap-and-trade policy. It passed in the House on Friday by the House, but has yet to make it to the Senate. After two Bush terms of inaction on climate change, we’re finally moving in the right direction. Maybe.

The blogosphere and newspaper opinion pages are on fire about whether the bill is a nonsense,  just what we need, or somewhere in the middle. A Mother Jones article in the week leading up to the House vote does a good job of summarizing the concern over Waxman-Markey:  Pass a flawed climate bill now, or wait for a better one?

Here is the meat of the 1,200-page bill:

• Set limits emissions limits of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases: by 2020, emissions need to be 17% below 2005 levels.  By 2050, an 80% reduction.
• Set renewable energy production standards: by 2020, any electricity provider who supplies more than 4 million MWh must produce 20% of it’s supply through a renewable source, such as wind, solar, or geothermal. However, part of this requirement can be met through increasing energy efficiency. Alternatively, an energy supplier can pay $25 per MWh to achieve compliance.
• Modernization of the American electricity grid.
• Provides for an expansion in electric vehicle production.
• Makes large increases to the required levels of energy efficiency in buildings and home appliances.

The emissions weren’t a much as President Obama had hoped for, or as much as many European counterparts have adopted, but it’s a start. A new article today pointed out that the new law could upset the voluntary market, such as companies trying to green up their image by buying offsets. The provisions for energy efficiency increases in buildings could lead to some pretty neat things.

However, the bill has yet to be tested in the Senate. With Al Franken making Democrat #60 in the Senate, we’ll just have to wait to see if that means anything.