Henry Waxman to Lead US House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee. (November 22, 2008)

In a surprise vote by US House of Representatives Democrats 82-year old John Dingell was not reappointed chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

On November 5  Henry Waxman of California challenged Mr Dingell for the  committee's chairmanship and defeated Dingell in a vote by the full Democratic Caucus on November 20 by a margin of 137 to 122. Mr Waxman will take up the chairmanship of the committee starting with the 111th Congress and January 20, 2009.

The Waxman chairmanship is expected to strengthen the hand of President-elect Barack Obama in next year's debate over setting limits on greenhouse gas emissions, and it would be surprising if Mr Obama wasn't instrumental in John Dingell's "dethronement".

The committee will be the main venue in the House for climate change legislation and Mr Waxman has taken a much tougher stance on the issue than has  Representative Dingell who coming from Michigan has been a staunch friend of the auto industry. The consensus view is that Henry Waxman will match Mr Obama's call for an 80% cut of greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2050.

ScienceNow reports: "It's a sea change," says climate scientist Stephen Schneider of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, adding that "they replaced seniority with 21^st century thinking instead of 19^th century protectionism for the auto industry." Schneider also calls Waxman "a straight shooter" for the way he has incorporated climate science into previous legislation on climate science.

But Schneider warns that lawmakers hoping to pass a climate change bill need the support of moderate lawmakers from states that produce coal as well as from liberals like Waxman. "This ain't a done deal, but it's an admission that times have changed," he says.