Valley Pulse

The Senate is expected this week to begin deliberations over the contentious climate change bill, beginning with a Senate hearing tomorrow.

The LA Times looks at the prospects of the bill in the Senate, and Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com says the Senate could reach the 60 votes needed to avoid a filibuster on the bill (hat tip: OpenCongress.org).

In our story, we heard from Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, along with farming and home building officials who said the legislation would be detrimental for farmers who would face higher input costs and from home builders who would have to pass on higher costs to make more efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning, or HVAC, systems.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will testify before the Environment and Public Works Committee beginning at 10 a.m. tomorrow.

A second panel will also testify. They are:

* Rich Wells, Vice President, Energy - The Dow Chemical Company
* David Hawkins, Director, Climate Center - Natural Resources Defense Council
* John Fetterman, Mayor - Braddock, Pennsylvania
* Haley Barbour, Governor - Mississippi

Two more Senate committee hearings are scheduled on various aspects of the bill this week:

Wed., July 8 - Finance Committee - Climate Change Legislation: International Trade Considerations (10 a.m.) Witness: Loren Yager, Ph. D, Director, International Affairs and Trade, GAO, Washington, D.C.; Eileen Claussen, President, Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Arlington, VA; Gary Horlick., J.D. M.A., Law Offices of Gary Horlick, Washington, DC.

Wed. July 8 - Foreign Relations Committee - Industrial Competitiveness Under Climate Policies: Lessons from Europe (2:30 p.m.). Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, a Democrat, is on this committee.

The bill, H.R. 2454, passed the House of Representatives, 219-212. Goodlatte was one of the no votes.