Just read a post on Green Inc., always one of my favorite blogs about the Green Collar Economy, that says the reactions to (read criticisms of) the Waxman-Markey energy legislation that recently passed the house subcommittee on energy and commerce, have been pouring in. With a bill this large and complex, I can’t say I was surprised to hear that there is a bunch of screaming going on. A lot of groups are going to want to have their say, and honestly it is going to cause a substantial impact on the economy (as you know, I believe this will be mostly positive).

So I was surprised to see the people called out as complaining were even more predictable than I’d figured, for example: the president of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association (yeah, um, no kidding), whose main argument is that:

The role of government is not to pick winners and losers, Mr. Drevna continued. “Such polices fail consumers by effectively limiting individual preference and choice for vehicle and fuel type.”

Don’t worry about it too much petroleum-guys. Even if we move at breakneck speed, you’re going to be running at full capacity for years to come. Let the American entrepreneur develop the innovative solutions that will satisfy the consumer, because big oil and big auto certainly haven’t done it.

The other main group identified as complaining was Greenpeace. I know they are an important organization, and they are saying the right things for the planet when the insist that the bill should go further, but all they do when they speak up is make people in the center or right cover their ears and stomp their feet.

They post also claims that the legislation is going to face some still resistance from the agriculture lobby when it goes to the full house. I’m sure it will be costly to agriculture to reduce carbon emissions, but I have an idea. Let’s pay for it with those billions and billions of dollars in subsidies that you keep getting that nobody thinks you need. Easy peasy.

So, all in all, not too bad. I’m starting to think that this thing may have an actual chance of moving forward, and I think that if this is all the screaming we’re going to hear, I agree with Fred:

Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, hailed the bill as a “masterful legislative job,” in a conference call with journalists.