According to our friends at the National Endangered Species Act Reform Coalition, the House Resources Committee this morning favorably reported H.R. 4857, Rep. Cathy McMorris' "Endangered Species Compliance and Transparency Act of 2006."  This bill requires the federal agencies who sell federal power to be more transparent in how they list costs associated with ESA compliance. This is important, considering that most consumers are not aware of how ESA is affecting their electricity bills. In fact, a recent poll in the Pacific Northwest found that 70% of consumers either didn’t know how much they paid for salmon recovery or believe that less than 5% of their monthly bills go towards salmon recovery.

The Family Farm Alliance has formally supported H.R. 4857, and Advisory Committee member Chris Voigt (Washington) testified at a recent field hearing on this bill.

The bill, which passed by a roll call vote of 17-10, was considered and reported without amendment.   Members voted as follows:

MEMBERS VOTING IN FAVOR OF H.R. 4857 (17) Chairman Richard Pombo (R-CA) Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) Rep. John Peterson (R-PA) Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM) Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) Rep. Henry Brown (R-SC) Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA) Del. Luis Fortuno (R-PR) Rep. Cathy McMorris (R-WA) Rep. Thomas Tancredo (R-CO) Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) Rep. Marylin Musgrave (R-CO) Rep. John Duncan (R-TN) Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-CA)

MEMBERS VOTING IN OPPOSITION TO H.R. 4857 (10) Ranking Member Nick Rahall (D-WV) Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI) Del. Eni Faleomavaega (D-AS) Del. Donna Christensen (D-VI) Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA) Rep. Tom Udall (D-NM) Del. Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU) Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) Rep. Mark Udall (D-CO).

Many thanks to Family Farm Alliance members who stepped and made phone calls to their congressional Members to support this bill without amendment.

The bill now awaits consideration by the full House of Representatives. 

Dan Keppen