Waxman beats Dingell!

Intra-Democrat fights are rarely this sweet. Waxman beats Dingell:

Representative Henry Waxman won the chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce Committee, ousting John Dingell, the longest-serving member of the U.S. House.

On Shakesville, Oddjob comments:

THAT’S CHANGE!! …[T]he single largest reason why car fuel efficiency standards have not been meaningfully raised since the 1970’s is because Dingell has been the chairman of the House committee most responsible for such legislation, and he’s from Detroit. Waxman is a liberal and from California, the state where smog from automobiles has been the biggest air pollution problem.

This fight has been going on for years, but before now Dingell has held his ground. From a Greenwire report in 2006:

Climate, Pelosi said, is “a critical part of our agenda.”

Pelosi referred specifically to a global-warming bill from Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), which many environmentalists have identified as one of the few measures on Capitol Hill to take the steps necessary to avert irreversible changes to the Earth’s climate. Last month, Pelosi cosponsored the measure.

But Dingell thinks the Waxman proposal goes too far too fast. “I have reason to believe,” he said, “it’s on the extreme side.”

Sane legislative responses to global warming are now much, much more likely.