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Peterson says he will vote ‘no’ next time

In an interview last week with a Fargo, North Dakota radio station, House Agriculture Committee chair Collin Peterson said he will vote ‘no’ on the climate change bill if it comes back to the House for final passage.  That according to a report in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Peterson, who played a major role in securing rural lawmakers’ support for cap-and-trade legislation last summer, said he was “stuck voting” for the climate bill in June when House speaker Nancy Pelosi granted his requests for broad agriculture concessions.  In his words, “I kind of got drug into the process.” But Peterson says he won’t support it again if a similar bill is ever returned to the House for a final vote.

Peterson questioned the validity of climate change arguments and expressed concern about the burden the legislation would put on the economy. 

One political observer says Peterson’s possible defection could prove fatal to the bill—if it ever passes the Senate—since he is an influential voice among rural Democrats.