Inslee on new global warming panel

WASHINGTON — Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island, was named to a new congressional committee on global warming Friday, a day after the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to establish the panel.

The 15-member House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming will investigate and recommend policies to stem global warming but won't have the authority to write legislation.

It is the brainchild of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and is widely considered to be a tactic to either circumvent or pressure the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., a friend of the domestic auto industry who has resisted requiring more fuel-efficient cars.

Dingell has mocked the idea of a select committee as meaningless, but he voted for the committee's creation Thursday.

Inslee is among Congress' most vocal advocates for global-warming legislation and already is positioned to support the cause as a member of the energy subcommittee of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Friday, Inslee said the new committee could "help unify the multiple committees that have jurisdiction" over global warming by setting goals for them to meet.

He confirmed that Democratic leaders in the House plans to schedule votes on the first round of global-warming legislation by the summer.