During President Barack Obama’s White House Press conference yesterday the focus was mostly on Iran and health care reform, but he also commented on the House climate energy bill.

The bill written by Democratic Representatives Henry Waxman of California and Edward Markey of Massachusetts is scheduled for a House floor debate and vote on Friday.

President Obama fully endorsed the bill called it “extraordinarily important.” He urged members of the House to pass the bill and said it would make the U.S. a global leader in clean energy technology.

The bill includes a cap-and-trade system for green house gas pollutants and funds new clean energy projects such as geothermal, solar and wind.

It is unclear if the vote is likely to pass since there is nearly no Republican support and some wavering from moderate Democrats from farm states.

For more a simple break down of what’s in the bill go to Grist and for the latest information about what is happening on Capitol Hill check out Politico.

On Wednesday a Senate committee approved an energy bill that many environmentalists criticized. The bill would open large areas close to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling and guaranteed a federal loan for an Alaska gas pipeline project.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted 15-to-8 on the bill. Democrats on the committee pushed to require utilities to have 15 percent of electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2021, but the bill had exemptions that would reduce that goal.

This standard is considerably weaker than the House energy and climate bill sponsored by Democratic Representatives Henry Waxman of California and Edward Markey of Massachusetts, which is expected to be voted on in the House before the Congressional Fourth of July break.

The House bill is more progressive with more caps on greenhouse gas emissions and higher standards for renewable energy sources. The Senate bill is clearly a compromise between Democratic and Republican committee members. Republicans committee members fought for increased petroleum reserves, expanding drilling to within 45 miles of coastlines and increasing the number of nuclear energy facilities.

The Washington Post reported that a dozen environmental groups wrote a joint letter to the committee of opposition to the bill. The groups criticized the renewable energy standards of being too low and expressed concerns for wildlife off the west coast of Florida because the bill would allow more offshore oil and gas drilling.

The results of the House bill, which will likely be voted on first, could dramatically change the Senate bill that does not go as far with renewable energy or limiting greenhouse gases.

On Tuesday a White House commissioned research panel released its report saying climate change is affecting the U.S. The group, which is overseen by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, is required to report finding on climate effects on the environment ever 10 years.

The group reported that the average U.S. temperature has risen 2 degrees in the last 50 years and is expected to continue to rise at an increasing rate. The group findings were not revolutionary, but the announce comes at a key time when President Barack Obama is supporting a Congressional bill that would cap U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and when top United Nations climate officials concluded meetings Friday about the upcoming treaty negotiations at the United Nations Climate Summit in Copenhagen in December.

The Congressional bill written by Representatives Henry Waxman, Democrat from California and Ed Markey, Democrat from Massachusetts, passed in the House Energy and Commerce Committee and is expected to be voted on before the Congressional Fourth of July break.

The United Nations Climate Summit in December has been highly anticipated for Kyoto Protocol supporter. After last weeks meetings many climate officials are optimistic that a new better plan will emerge that gets more major countries such as the U.S. and China to sign the treaty.

On Monday Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu announced the release of $80 million more of the $5 billion designated in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for weatherization programs.

Four states’ proposals were approved for increased weatherization projects. Arizona received $22.8 million, Kansas got $22.5 million, Mississippi was approved for $19.7 million and Oregon was awarded $15.4 million.

The weatherization programs create new jobs through training and construction projects, but they also make building and homes more energy efficient. Most of the state proposals were for weatherization of homes for the elderly, handicapped and those below the poverty line. In total more than 22,300 homes will be weatherized with the $80 million in these four states.

Money for weatherization was given out in the first wave of stimulus money three months ago. This is the first time more southern states, such as Florida, Texas and Arizona, have received money for weatherization. Past government weatherization programs have been for cooler states such as Minnesota, Wisconsin and Massachusetts for heating insulation, but now more money is being given to warmer states to increase the efficiency of air-conditioning.

The New York Times reported that under the traditional past government formulas hot-climate states would have received 16 percent of the weatherization fund. This time hot-climate states received nearly twice as much with 31 percent of the government funds, leaving less for cold-climate states.

The federal Energy Information Administration said the United States spends twice as much on heating as on cooling, which means more energy is consumed heating homes than cooling them. This has caused some debate as to whether the goal of the program is really energy conservation or jobs creation in the neediest areas of the country. Either way, more money for weatherization means less energy consumption.

On Monday President Barack Obama announced his plans for the next round of stimulus money to create 600,000 jobs.

“There are some who, despite all evidence to the contrary, still don’t believe in the necessity and promise of the recovery act and I would suggest to them that they talk to the companies who, because of this plan, scrapped the idea of laying off employees and in fact decided to hire employees,” Obama said.

Some of the newly proposed initiatives in the $787 billion Recovery Act are environmental. Politico reported that some of the new jobs will be in the Department of Interior, Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The new wave of stimulus will create 107 jobs for National Parks, 200 jobs for new waste and water systems in rural areas and begin clean up work at 20 superfund sites from the national priority list.

The purpose of the stimulus is job creation but environmental gains are being made at the same time, keeping the campaign promise of new green jobs.

In an effort of transparency, Obama also announced the start of a new Web site WhiteHouse.gov/Recovery. The Web site makes it easier for people to track stimulus spending.