Here’s an excerpt from the grist.org article about the vote:

"'Today the House has passed the most important energy and environment bill in our nation’s history,' said Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who co-authored the bill with Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.).

“…President Obama immediately praised the passage of the bill on Friday night, and called on the Senate to follow suit. ‘Today the House of Representatives took historic action with the passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act,” said Obama. 'It’s a bold and necessary step that holds the promise of creating new industries and millions of new jobs, decreasing our dangerous dependence on foreign oil. Now it’s up to the Senate to take the next step.'”

You can read the President’s full remarks and watch his weekly address “Opening the Door to a Clean Energy Economy” below.

The fight to pass comprehensive energy and climate legislation looks like it’s gearing up to be a fight about embracing a clean energy future, or getting stuck in the past; about denying the false argument the GOP has been pushing that we have to choose between doing something good for our environment or good for our economy.

Today, President Obama and Energy Secretary Chu announced aggressive actions to promote energy efficiency that will save American consumers up to $4 billion dollars annually by 2012. Secretary Chu said:

“When it comes to saving money and growing our economy, energy efficiency isn’t just low hanging fruit; it’s fruit laying on the ground. The most prosperous, competitive economies of the 21st century will be those that use energy efficiently. It’s time for America to lead the way.”

The actions announced today include:

-- Major changes to energy conservation standards for numerous household and commercial lamps and lighting equipment. (Seven percent of all energy consumed in the United States is for lighting.)

-- The announcement of a $346 million investment from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to expand and accelerate the development, deployment, and use of energy efficient technologies in all major types of commercial buildings as well as new and existing homes. (Residential and commercial buildings consume 40 percent of the energy and represent 40 percent of the carbon emissions in the United States.) Funded projects include: advanced building research, solid state lighting research & development, and expanding ENERGY STAR to accelerate development of energy efficient products and expand the ENERGY STAR brand into new areas.

You can more about the new standards in the Washington Post article on the announcement.

“Today I call on the House of Representatives to pass the American Clean Energy and Security Act, landmark legislation supported by President Obama that will transform the way we use and produce energy in America . The passage of this bill represents the next step towards an energy plan that will help fuel a lasting economic recovery, break our dependence on foreign oil, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and create a framework of clean energy incentives to create millions of good, green new jobs.

“This bill represents months of extraordinary effort on behalf of our Democratic leaders in Congress, including Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, and his committee’s members, including Congressmen Ed Markey, John Dingell and Rick Boucher, as well as Charlie Rangel, the Chair of Ways and Means, and Collin Peterson, the Chair of the Agriculture Committee. Under the leadership of Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer, remarkable work has been done to get this bill to the floor.

“The House has the opportunity to make history when the bill comes to vote on Friday – to move us closer to independence from Middle East oil, to jumpstart our clean energy economy, and to finally address the dangerous carbon pollution that threatens our planet. As President Obama has said, passing this bill is extraordinarily important for our country and I strongly urge members of the House of Representatives to come together and pass the American Clean Energy and Security Act.”

As part of “Energy Week”, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis were at events in Michigan, Tennessee and Arkansas today highlighting the President’s commitment to passing comprehensive energy and climate legislation. Earlier this week, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson were in New Jersey, Oklahoma and Colorado.

Yesterday, the White House released a new web video featuring Van Jones, the Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. The video demonstrates how weatherizing homes will be a major source of new jobs. Watch it below, and be sure to watch for the House vote on Friday.

The bill, the American Clean Energy and Security Act (also known as Waxman-Markey), was passed out of committee a couple of weeks ago – it could be voted on in the full House as early as this week.

In the lead up to the vote a diverse coalition of stakeholders have ramped up their efforts to build support for the bill. Late last week, the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, the Center for American Progress (CAP), Green for All and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released two reports that outline how investments in a clean-energy economy will produce significant economic and job creation benefits.

-- The Economic Benefits of Investing in Clean Energy: How the Economic Stimulus Program and New Legislation Can Boost U.S. Economic Growth and Employment: Report explains how the investment of $150 billion annually, through public spending and private investment, would produce a net gain of 1.7 million new jobs. CAP compiled state-by-state fact sheets of clean energy jobs creation.

-- Green Prosperity: How Clean-Energy Policies Can Fight Poverty and Raise Living Standards in the United States: Report shows that shifting from traditional fossil fuel to clean energy will improve the standard of living for millions of Americans across all skill and education levels, especially among lower-income families.

In Case You Missed It: Last week, the White House also released a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) about the potential impact of climate change in the United States. The report lays out – in layman’s terms – how failure to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will result in significant changes to temperatures, rainfall patterns and sea level. Grist.org had a good round up.

"Van Jones has been a strong voice for green jobs and we look forward to having him work with departments and agencies to advance the President’s agenda of creating 21st century jobs that improve energy efficiency and utilize renewable resources. Jones will also help to shape and advance the Administration’s energy and climate initiatives with a specific interest in improvements and opportunities for vulnerable communities," said Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

Jones is the founder of Green For All, a national organization that promotes an inclusive green economy, strong enough to lift people out of poverty. He is also the co-founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Color of Change, two highly innovative social justice organizations. A 1993 Yale Law School graduate, Jones is the author of the 2008 New York Times best-seller, The Green Collar Economy.

President Obama signed a memorandum Monday requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider an application by California to set more stringent auto emissions and fuel efficiency standards than required by federal law.

If the EPA grants a waiver allowing California to set its own emissions standards, the nation's largest state will be allowed to require automakers to produce trucks and cars that get better mileage than what is required under the current national standard.

Thirteen other states could take similar action.

"It will be the policy of my administration to reverse our dependence on foreign oil," Obama said. [...]

Besides the EPA waivers, Obama also called for automakers to increase their fuel efficiency standards nationwide.

The president also directed the federal government to make its buildings more energy efficient and to find new ways for federal agencies to save energy.

Check out the WhiteHouse.gov blog for the President's full remarks.

The second memo paves the way for California and more than a dozen other states to raise emissions standards above and beyond the national standard. They'd asked to do so before, but the Bush administration had denied the request.

"Instead of serving as a partner, Washington stood in their way," President Obama said. "The days of Washington dragging its heels are over."

Today, President-elect Barack Obama announced key members of his energy and environment team, including Dr. Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy; Lisa Jackson, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator; Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ); Carol Browner, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change; and Heather Zichal, Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change.

MCCAIN: You’ll have to tell me what’s changed. I love it when they say, “Oh McCain has changed.” And I say, “What have I changed on?” They can’t name a single issue or they’ll name an issue and its false. I’m the same guy. I’m proud of our campaign.

It is not exactly a winning message but the interview presented itself with a rather easy challenge: name McCain's flip-flops.

Think Progress identified 44 of them.

The Democrats are basically saying "follow the money" on the energy debate, pointing out that lawmakers leading the Republican theatrics include Mike Pence (R-Ind.), who received $150,000 in oil company contributions, and Mike Conaway (R-Texas) who received $487,000 in contributions. The list of oil money recipients includes about 20 Republican lawmakers, all of whom have been involved in the faux floor sessions.

"Whether the House is in session or not, the Republicans on the floor today have always gone out of their way to protect the oil companies that fund their campaigns," the Democratic memo says. "All told, the House Republicans leading this week’s efforts have taken more than $3 million in campaign contributions from Big Oil companies."

Republicans in the House claim they want a vote to help American families, but their 20 votes against Democratic energy proposals prominently display whose interests they are really looking out for.

Democrats also point out that Republicans have voted against at least 10 Democratic energy proposals, including a measure that would force oil companies to drill within existing Gulf of Mexico leases. The Democrats have refused, however, to allow votes on drilling in new areas currently under a moratorium.

Meanwhile, John McCain has accepted roughly $2 million in contributions from the oil industry -- most of which came after his flip on offshore drilling that he announced before a room full of cheering Houston oil executives.

Lifted by record crude prices, Exxon Mobil says its second-quarter earnings rose nearly 14 percent to $11.68 billion, the biggest quarterly profit ever by any U.S. corporation.

The world's largest publicly traded oil company said Thursday its net income for the April-June period came to $2.22 a share, up from $10.26 billion, or $1.83 a share, a year ago.

John McCain's approach to energy? Billions in tax cuts to companies like Exxon Mobil combined with offshore drilling that, by his own admission, would not provide any real relief at the pump. Maybe he's gunning for a 60 second standing ovation from oil executives?

Nevertheless, the Democrats defeated the Republicans by winning a vote to limit debate on the bill itself, which the GOP had previously attempted to block. That's very good news for the Democratic Congress, and the House already passed similar legislation.

While the renewable energy tax incentives make the bill even better, without it there are still lots of big ideas that progressives should rally behind. OpenCongress notes some of the other pieces of the legislation:

The bill would recoup lost taxes from big oil companies, protect consumers from gasoline price gauging, promote energy efficiency in lighting and appliances, require utilities to generate some of their electricity from renewable sources, and raise the standard for fuel efficiency for automobiles.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said it best today, noting that "Republicans repeatedly demonstrate that they do not care about the priorities of the American people, throwing up roadblocks at every turn instead of working with us to reduce skyrocketing gas prices, reduce our dependence on oil and reduce the emissions that cause global warming."

But there are still more negotiations to come, and according to Bloomberg News, a final vote on the bill is expected tomorrow. Even the measure blocked by the Republicans could be reconsidered, thanks to a manuever by Sen. Reid.

Most European leaders endorsed a plan in which participating nations would reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 to half of what they were in 1990.

But Bush argued for "goals" in reductions rather than mandatory reductions.

The other leaders caved, and the final agreement does not mandate reductions in greenhouse gases, which are widely blamed for rising global temperatures. The leaders also agreed to invite major economies like China, India and Brazil to join them in the "goal" of reducing emissions.

The new plan replaces the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

As the New York Times points out, Bush has a long history of "denial and obstructionism" on climate change. The Bush administration even allowed oil-industry lobbyists to edit scientific reports to minimize the threat of global warming.

"A White House official who once led the oil industry’s fight against limits on greenhouse gases has repeatedly edited government climate reports in ways that play down links between such emissions and global warming, according to internal documents. Before going to the White House in 2001, he was the 'climate team leader' and a lobbyist at the American Petroleum Institute, the largest trade group representing the interests of the oil industry. A lawyer with a bachelor’s degree in economics, he has no scientific training."

The administration relied almost exclusively on the energy industry for its energy policy recommendations. The final policy was even written from an energy industry "wish list."

"Nine days before George W. Bush was inaugurated, energy lobbyists gathered at the American Petroleum Institute’s offices in downtown Washington. Their agenda: to write a wish list. One participant remembers it fondly. 'The tone was, 'Ok, what do you guys want? You are going to have the ear of this White House'...But many items on that board--and other lists scribbled by other energy lobbyists in other offices around town--found their way into the recommendations that the president will unveil to the nation next week. The API list, in fact, was forwarded to George Bush’s transition team, which sent it to the Interior Department."

As Bush claimed this week that he is "committed" to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a New York Times editorial pointed out one more telling fact:

"His goal is to produce a common strategy in 18 months. This would coincide, roughly speaking, with his departure from public life, suggesting his real goal is to leave the heavy lifting to his successor."

The firm is perhaps the nation's most aggressive lobbyist for coal-fired power plants, heavy emitters of air pollutants and carbon dioxide, a gas associated with global warming. Environmentalists say the firm played a significant role in persuading the Bush administration to roll back major provisions of the Clean Air Act.

...In addition to collecting $89,000 in contributions from Bracewell partners and employees, Mr. Giuliani has held a fund-raiser in Houston. The firm’s managing partner, Patrick C. Oxford, is a top-shelf Bush fund-raiser with a wealth of contacts within Republican money circles.

...It is difficult to say just how much of Mr. Giuliani’s contributions from those industries stem from his affiliation with Bracewell, but employees of companies in those sectors, including several Bracewell clients, have contributed more than $400,000 to Mr. Giuliani’s campaign so far.

"From clean air to mercury pollution to global warming policies," said Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters, "Giuliani’s firm has been perhaps the most anti-environment voice in Washington, representing some of the biggest corporate polluters."