House passes bill affirming global warming exists

By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, aiming to put an end to the debate over whether global warming is actually occurring, passed legislation recognizing the "reality" of climate change and providing money to work on the problem.

By a vote of 272-155, the House approved an environmental funding bill for the fiscal year starting October 1 that would increase federal investments in basic research on climate change and establish a new commission to review scientific questions that need to be addressed.

The White House has threatened a veto of the $27.6 billion bill because its overall spending would exceed President George W. Bush's request by about $2 billion. The Senate has not yet debated the bill.

The bill also would require oil companies to renegotiate faulty drilling contracts issued by the government in 1998 and 1999 that have allowed them to avoid paying billions in royalties, or be barred from receiving any new leases to drill for oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

The White House "strongly opposes" the provision, saying it could produce legal challenges that might delay future lease sales and would set a bad precedent coming nearly a decade after the government signed the contracts.

By inserting a declaration in the bill that climate change is a "reality," the Democratic-controlled House was trying to move U.S. policy-makers beyond a debate, long stimulated by the Bush administration, over whether there was scientific proof that global warming really is occurring.

A leading promoter of that debate has been Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Inhofe, who has referred to global warming as a "hoax." He chaired the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee until Republicans lost control of Congress this year.

Many scientists worry global warming will produce a series of environmental catastrophes, from more violent storms and the collapse of many species, to worsening food shortages and diseases in some regions.