WASHINGTON (June 26, 2009)—After coming down on opposite sides earlier Friday in a vote on whether to send a controversial White House-backed climate bill to the House floor for debate, Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, and Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock both voted against the measure Friday evening.

The 1,200-page climate measure passed by a seven-vote margin, 219-212 in a victory for the Obama administration, which says the bill will usher in an era of cleaner, albeit more expensive, energy.

Republicans say cap-and-trade amounts to a $1,500 annual tax on each American household.

The Congressional Budget Office, however, estimates the bill would cost an average household $175 a year and the Environmental Protection Agency sets the cost to a typical household at $80 to $110 a year.

Edwards, who voted earlier Friday in favor of advancing the bill to the House floor for debate, said he decided to vote against the measure itself because he thinks it will hurt Texas and Texans.

“I am concerned it could increase gasoline and utility costs for families, farmers and businesses during tough economic times, Edwards said.

“Addressing global warming is a laudable goal, but I respectfully disagree with President Obama and Speaker Pelosi on this bill and believe it could cost jobs and hurt the economy, especially in oil, gas and coal producing states such as Texas.”

Carter, who voted against advancing the measure, introduced amendments the House rejected that would have repealed the energy tax if the Department of Energy confirmed that the bill raised gasoline or diesel fuel prices by more than 10 cents a gallon or home electric bills by $20 or more.

After the vote Friday evening, Carter blasted Democrats.

“Based on this vote alone, the American people need to replace this House with a new conservative majority, whose first priority in January 2011 should be a repeal of this fraudulent monstrosity,” Carter said

“Today, the Democrats told the public they don’t care what voters think, they will ignore the majority and continue taxing, spending, and regulating the country into bankruptcy.”

Democrats are pitching the bill as a green, job-creating machine that will clean the air and get the nation away from relying on fossil fuels, but Republicans say the bill will kill jobs and amounts to a huge energy tax.

President Barack Obama tried to blunt Republican claims that the legislation will kill jobs by calling it a "jobs bill" that will help create new industries.

It would require the nation to cut carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions that can lead to climate change.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry weighed in on the debate Friday, calling the bill the biggest tax increase in U.S. history.

Perry opposed members of the state’s congressional delegation to vote against the measure.

“By voting for H.R. 2454, you will be voting for the largest tax and the largest redistribution of wealth in history,” Perry wrote to Texas lawmakers.

Perry said the Electric Reliability Council of Texas found that wholesale power costs in Texas could rise from between $10 billion and $20 billion and that monthly bills could increase by $17 to $27.

He said the state’s comptroller estimates that the state could lose from between 135,000 and 277,000 jobs by 2012 and that the average Texas household would pay $1,136 more for goods and services as a result of the measure.