One thing anyone must admit about Peter Welch: he has displayed thus far in his Congressional career an absolutely uncanny knack for landing where landing will do the most good. From the Rules Committee in his first term, Welch leapt very precisely to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce in his second. Why the move, if the Rules Committee carries such clout? Because John McCain lost the election, my friends.

The Wax, right

Which means that Energy and Commerce is now the crucible for climate change legislation. Which means that Committee Chair Henry Waxman needed people he could trust on the issue at his back. Which explains why a national version of Efficiency Vermont has already made its way into the draft version of the bill.

Which, as Cyrus said all those years ago at the beginning of The Warriors, is the way things ought to be.

Late “DC Is A Harsh Mistress” Update, Tuesday, 6:05 am:

Ouch. Missed this as I was drafting the post above in the wee hours of last night: Waxman has been forced to postpone markup of Waxman-Markey, ie. the climate change bill, due to Democratic opposition. And of course, this is the sort of self-interested push-back that might scuttle the plans of an ordinary committee chair. But we’re talking about the Wax here. And he’s a whole different animal. (Ask John Dingell.)