Whether you refer to it as cap and trade, cap and tax, an energy tax, climate change legislation, etc., Democrats start their effort today to move that measure through the U.S. House.

A lot of arm twisting is already going on, even though there is almost no chance this bill could get through the U.S. Senate.

The idea is not a new one - the Democrats tried something like this back in 1993 with the BTU tax.

The basic idea is to make regular energy more expensive and force the use of alternative fuels and other options, all part of a drive to reduce greenhouse gases, the pollutants that some believe lead directly to climate change.

Republicans argue it's a bunch of political malarkey, "government dictated green jobs," as one GOP Congressman put it.

The bill would put a cap on climate change emissions, and basically charge major industry big time money if they want to be able to emit such pollutants in the future.

What's interesting is that the compromise that Democrats announced last week, which ratcheted back a number of the original plans, have now made the bill unpalatable to many groups on the more liberal side of the party.

"A piece of legislation that started out as a real opportunity for the US to combat climate change has been co-opted by special interests and now threatens to do more harm than good," said a statement on the web page of the environmental group Greenpeace.

Greenpeace labeled the bill "significantly weaker," saying it's filled with "giveaways and loopholes" for the coal industry and utilities.

That stems from the decision of top Democrats - under pressure from lawmakers from coal producing states - to set aside as much as $40 billion in free pollution permits.

Really, this issue is much like health care and many other issues right now - the arguments of Republicans almost don't matter because of the size of the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.

The important votes are those of more moderate to conservative Democrats who don't want to be on board with a big time liberal piece of legislation, as well as those from industrial and coal producing states who see this as a big loser for major industry.

And right now, I don't believe there are 218 votes in the House to approve this bill - and there certainly aren't anywhere close to 51 in the Senate.

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