The White House shifted into Christmas mode on Friday as Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha accepted the gift of an 18½-foot Douglas fir from Pennsylvania as the official White House Christmas Tree.

A military band played “Oh Christmas Tree” during the ceremony.
Story: Obama needs 12 stitches after being hit on lip during basketball game

Washington (CNN) – Two leading senators on Wednesday introduced a sweeping energy and climate change bill intended to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions while reshaping the energy sector for the 21st century.

Sens. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, and Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut who sits with the Democratic caucus, said the proposal offered a broad-based approach that would end the nation’s dependence on foreign oil while keeping U.S. industry competitive.

Macon, Missouri (CNN) – President Barack Obama donned a hard hat and goggles Wednesday to tour an ethanol plant in Missouri, then touted biofuel production and other alternative energy sources to free the United States from dependence on foreign oil.

On the second day of his two-day swing through Iowa, Missouri and Illinois, Obama told workers at the POET Biorefining plant in Macon that their work creates a stronger economy for the nation and their own community.

WASHINGTON – Long-awaited climate change legislation was put on hold by its authors Saturday when a dispute over immigration politics and Senate priorities threatened to unravel a bipartisan effort that took months of work.

Voicing regrets, Sen. John Kerry said Saturday he is postponing the much anticipated unveiling of comprehensive energy and climate change legislation scheduled for Monday. The Massachusetts Democrat made his announcement after a key partner in drafting the bill, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, threatened to withhold support if Senate Democratic leaders push ahead first with an immigration bill.

Washington (CNN) — Greenhouse gas emissions pose a threat to public health and welfare, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said Monday.

“The overwhelming amount of scientific studies show that the threat is real,” she said.

The announcement stems from a Supreme Court ruling which ordered the agency to determine the impact of carbon emissions not only on the environment, but on public health.

iReport: Share your thoughts on climate change

“These long-overdue findings cement 2009′s place in history as the year when the United States government began addressing the challenge of greenhouse-gas pollution and seizing the opportunity of clean energy reform,” Jackson said.

Washington (CNN) — Top Democrats put the issue of climate change back in the spotlight Tuesday, debating legislation to cut greenhouse gas emissions while announcing $3.4 billion in new clean energy funds.

A key congressional committee began hearings on a “cap-and-trade” bill requiring emissions to be cut by more than 80 percent over the next four decades.

Questions related to global warming have been among the most politically contentious in recent years. Democrats are generally more receptive to proposals designed to curb energy consumption in order to slow climate change; leading Republicans continue to express concern about the necessity and economic impact of such measures.

Negotiations for the global pact have stalled, and Tuesday’s gathering is aimed at jump-starting those talks.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, U.S. President Barack Obama, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Rwandan President Paul Kagame are among the world leaders expected to speak Tuesday.

Roundtables are also planned, all with the overarching and generally accepted goal of limiting the rise of Earth’s temperature to within 2 degrees Fahrenheit above its temperature before the industrial revolution.

Hu’s speech will be of particular interest, given that his country is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, analysts said.

WASHINGTON – Congress has taken its first step toward an energy revolution, with the prospect of profound change for every household, business, industry and farm in the decades ahead.

It was late Friday when the House passed legislation that would, for the first time, require limits on pollution blamed for global warming — mainly carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels. Now the Senate has the chance to change the way Americans produce and use energy.

What would the country look like a decade from now if the House-passed bill — or, more likely, a water-down version — were to become the law of the land?

“It will open the door to a clean energy economy and a better future for America,” President Barack Obama said Saturday.

But what does that mean to the average person?

The bill passed 219-212, with virtually no Republican support.

The bill would reduce nationwide greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050 through a so-called “cap-and-trade” program under which companies would buy and sell emissions credits.

Among other things, the bill would also require utilities to generate an increasing amount of power from renewable sources.

Even before daybreak Friday, consternation over the bill brewed anew.

The Democrats released a 301-page amendment to the bill at 3:09 a.m. Friday, drawing protest from Republican Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.

CNN) – Indiana Rep. Mike Pence on Saturday touted the Republicans’ omnibus, “all-of-the-above” energy plan, while warning that proposals from Democrats would lead to higher energy prices and massive job losses.

Pence, the chairman of the House GOP American Energy Solutions Group, and other House Republicans this week introduced the American Energy Act, a plan they say will reduce energy costs, create jobs and help clean up the environment.

The plan calls for expanded exploration of domestic sources for oil and natural gas, a commitment to nuclear energy, investments in renewable and alternative energy technology and incentives for the public to focus on conservation.