What the energy bill passed by the House means for Congressional Democrats

The historic and controversial clean energy and global warming bill that very narrowly passed the House Friday afternoon is fraught with political perils and may have lasting effects for Democrats. Left-leaning environmental groups are saying the bill isn't strong enough, and Republicans, (who knew the political weight that was just dropped by Democrats and began cheering when the final vote was tallied) have been saying it will force many companies in an already struggling economy to lay off more workers and will force average Americans to pay more for electricity and heating oil.

The Fourth of July reccess, which also kicked off this weekend will see mounting political fronts flare up as Democrats from industrial swing districts will be forced to defend their votes to angry constituents worried about their jobs or the cost of energy while Republicans, who have yet to offer their own energy bill alternative, finally see an issue they can replay over and over again before the '10 midterms. The GOP also are hoping for a repeat of 1994, when after two years into his first term, Bill Clinton lost a huge number of congressional seats in a Republican takeover that succeeded on many of the same political arguments they're making now. For the record, Clinton had even more Democrats in the House of Representatives then Obama has now.

Most Democrats hailed Friday's vote as historic and groundbreaking, and the legislation is being lauded by more moderate conservation groups and proponents of alternative energy, who already received a boost of funding with the Federal Stimulus that was passed in February. Already though, analysts are saying that oil, petroleum, and coal companies, who have spent millions of dollars on ads and lobbying congress to try and blunt some of the effects of the bill say that their companies will have to spend billions more to become compliant on the new legislation and will be forced to pass those costs on to the consumer or lay off workers to avoid going under.

Doubts remain how the bill will do when the Senate takes it up in the fall, but right now it appears that many Democrats are out on a limb politically, and unless any of the new legislation starts showing glimmers of hope for an economy ravaged by wall street excess and mounting job losses, the Republicans, much to their delight, will have their '94 sequel.