Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said recently that he hopes to have a draft cap-and-trade bill out for comment by mid-April, according to a Greenwire story by Darren Samuelsohn.  This will begin what I expect will be a lengthy period of pushing and shoving by energy producers, industrial energy users, and environmental pressure groups over who the winners and losers are going to be.  Dingell and Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), Chairman of the committee’s Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee, will be under enormous pressures from all these special interests.  The only group that won’t have much clout are the consumers who will end up paying more for energy and most other goods and services if rationing policies are enacted.  On the Senate side, the Democratic leadership is aiming at a vote in May or June on the Lieberman-Warner cap-and-trade bill.  The American Environment Coalition is circulating a joint letter opposing Lieberman-Warner for signatures.

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