After a months of successes and stalls, it seems like Congress has finally compromised its way to an Energy Bill that the President will sign before Christmas.

After the first failed attempt to bring the bill up yesterday, bill proponents removed the tax incentives and mandates for renewable energy and secured continued tax breaks for big oil corporations, making the bill more palatable to opponents. What's left is an Energy Bill that not about our use of energy in the broad sense, but is more specifically about transportation fuels.

This just in from the New York Times.

WASHINGTON — Republicans were able to stall a broad energy bill in the Senate on Thursday morning, prompting Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic majority leader, to excise controversial parts of the measure in hopes of moving the legislation forward quickly.

The unsuccessful move to advance the bill failed by one vote. Supporters managed to get 59 “yes” votes, but 60 were needed to invoke cloture, or move to consideration of the bill itself. Forty senators voted “no.”

Reverend Robert Woody, parish priest at the Episcopal Church of Reconciliation in San Antonio calls on people of faith to support a strong Energy Bill. Read his comments printed in the San Antonio Express News Monday.

Comment: Don't stay silent on global warming

Web Posted: 12/11/2007 06:40 PM CST

Rev. Robert Woody

People of faith, across Texas and around the world, are increasingly of one mind about global warming.

No matter the faith, we each heed the call to be stewards of God's creation and to protect the poor and weak among us. We recognize the moral and spiritual implications of global warming and cannot stay silent.

In a joint letter to U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D - Calif), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, four major religious coalitions, representing millions of Americans, welcomed the work of lawmakers to highlight the urgency of global warming and take immediate action to address it. The National Council of Churches, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, National Association of Evangelicals and Jewish Council For Public Affairs/ Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL), emphasized some of the bill's key provisions regarding international security and climate change adaptation strategies. The letter describes the bill as "a significant step" toward protecting the "voiceless and the vulnerable."

The first global warming bill taken up by Congress in more than 20 years passed out of committee yesterday with a vote of 11 to eight. Bill authors John Warner (R-VA) and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA) staved off attempts by opponents to weaken the historic legislation during a committee mark up session Wednesday. More than 150 amendments were offered in an effort to protect both the environment and the economy.

Congress is home for summer vacation—Go bug ‘em!

In 1970, Congress mandated themselves a vacation now known as the August Recess. Members typically head back to their districts after a hot summer in DC passing and fielding legislation. The break provides a unique opportunity to check in with members and let them know what you think about recent important votes, like those on the reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and federal increases in renewable energy commitment.