Congress has returned from summer vacation with much of the news coverage focusing on health care reform, but does anyone remember the clean energy and climate bill?

Shortly before the summer recess the Waxman-Markey bill, the largest and most progressive energy bill, passed the House of Representatives. The Senate has not passed, or even completed drafting its own version.

Politico reported that Senators are fighting about which committee will draft the legislation. Chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, Sen. Barbara Boxer of California believes her committee should have control over the legislation, while Sen. Max Baucus of Montana and Finance Committee Chairman believes his committee should draft the legislation. A quick turnaround of a Senate climate bill after the month-long recess is looking less and less likely.

Meanwhile the environmental advocacy group, Repower America has sent out action-response letters telling their members to send this letter to their Senators urging the them to support a comprehensive clean energy and climate bill within the year. Compromise and cooperation must ensue for the clean energy and climate bill to pass both chambers.

Hold onto your hats, Congress is debating climate change. Right now the U.S. House is considering the Waxman-Markey climate bill.

To get in on the fun, check out the extensive coverage over on Grist. You can find their latest articles on the climate bill here. (One especially fun article: Grist’s description of Gore v. Hansen on the climate bill, complete with an illustration showing those two environmental heavyweights boxing.)

Also today, I was reading an e-mail update from the American Solar Energy Society. They had a short and helpful summary of why they believe that the climate bill isn’t strong enough and what could be done to improve it. Here’s a link to their recommendations.

A bill introduced in Congress Wednesday would help drivers retire their old, inefficient cars in exchange for money to help them buy public transportation passes or newer vehicles with better-than-average gas mileage.

The Accelerated Retirement of Inefficient Vehicles Retirement Act of 2009 (ARIVA), introduced by Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), would offer vouchers of up to $4,500 for drivers to retire any vehicle still in drivable condition that has a fuel economy rating of less than 18 miles per gallon.

These vouchers would help make fuel-efficient cars, such as hybrids and electric cars, more affordable for everyone, but especially for those who can least afford high gas prices but also can’t afford to buy a newer vehicle with better mpg.

The bill would require that retired cars be scrapped and that the voucher go toward the purchase of a new or used car that exceeds federal fuel economy standards by at least 25 percent, or toward the use of public transit.  

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) has commended the bill, estimating that 575,000 cars would be retired through the program each year, and that oil savings would reach 46,000 barrels per day by 2013.

You can follow the progress of this bill, H.R.520, through Thomas, the Library of Congress’ legislative information website. And you can read more about ACEEE’s endorsement of ARIVA here, as well as the group’s full report on the bill, Accelerated Retirement of Fuel-Inefficient Vehicles Through Incentives for the Purchase of Fuel-Efficient Vehicles.

If you’d like to speak up in support of ARIVA, contact your state senators and representatives and encourage them to co-sponsor the bill. You can find their contact information on the United States Senate and House of Representatives websites.

President-elect Barack Obama traveled to Capitol Hill Monday to gauge congressional support of his proposed $775 billion economic stimulus package. He met with Senate and House leaders from both sides of the aisle.

The stimulus plan includes billions in tax cuts for workers and businesses and billions in tax incentives for job creation.

The president-elect urged Congress to pass the stimulus plan within one month.

The Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC) is asking its supporters to mail their Senators and Representatives a letter requesting that the stimulus plan invest in green jobs.

The ELPC has a sample letter for supporters to copy and mail. The letter says, “As my representative, I ask you keep the stimulus clean by investing in public transit, passenger rail and smart growth solutions ...”

The letter encourages Congress to invest in green transportation rather than new roads, creating new jobs while ending the country’s dependence on oil. Of the $775 billion package, more than $100 billion is tax incentives for businesses with job creation. The ELPC is asking that those new jobs be green.

Visit the House and Senate websites to find the addresses of your Representative and Senators and tell them what you think about the proposed stimulus package.

Lately I've been writing quite a bit about what's happening in Washington, D.C. It's not so much that I have a one track mind as that Congress has been busy debating legislation that will have a real impact on the environment — especially on energy use. If you're an environmentalist, now is a good time to pay attention to what's happening on Capitol Hill.

What happens with the energy bill and the Lieberman-Warner climate bill will make a big difference in how far this country goes to make cars more efficient, expand the use of renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It's a good time to call or write your elected representatives and let them know what you think about these issues.

You can follow all the latest developments in the newspapers, but here are a couple of other handy places to turn for the latest on these two bills:

• Good sources of information on the energy bill include the Union of Concerned Scientists and Renewable Energy Access.

• Grist is doing a play by play of the Lieberman-Warner climate bill. (And while you're there, be sure to check out their extensive series on How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic.)

• Use these links to contact your representatives in the U.S. House and Senate.

• Check out this helpful cheat sheet from Project Vote Smart explaining how a bill becomes a law.

• Looking for all the official details? Try THOMAS, a database of legislation from the Library of Congress.

Do you know of other helpful resources for following environmental legislation? You can paste them in the comments field below.