The U.S. Climate Bill: the Grown-Ups are Back in Charge
posted by: Cynthia Samuels 20 days ago
Raquel Brown, Media Consortium
Senate Democrats in the Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) finally squelched Republican boycotts and passed a version of the climate bill Thursday morning. Last week, Republican Senators refused to show up to committee hearings in an attempt to stall the bill. Brian Beutler of Talking Points Memo notes that EPW has now set “the stage for other panels to amend the legislation.”
To no one’s surprise, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) immediately complained about the legislation on Fox News. Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) was the lone Democrat that did not vote, which Inhofe interpreted as a sign that the bill is “dead.”
Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) was much more upbeat and argued that the Republican boycott actually marred their credibility. “The absence of the Republicans during the Environmental Protection Agency’s presentation was a clear message that their criticism of the EPA analysis was not a substantive one,” Boxer said. “We are pleased that despite the Republican boycott, we have been able to move the bill.”
Inhofe also condemned Boxer for passing the bill through the committee unconventionally. Aaron Wiener writes for The Washington Independent that “Without a quorum that included at least two Republicans, the committee was unable to open formal debate on amendments to the bill. But passage requires just a simple majority, and Chairman Boxer and the Democratic leadership chose to forgo amendments in order to move the legislation quickly, given that the end of the GOP boycott was nowhere in sight.” Luckily, now that the bill is moving on to other committees, Inhofe and his Republican EPW colleagues will no longer have much of a say on the bill’s final outcome.
With Copenhagen just a month away, Kate Sheppard argues for Mother Jones that the odds of passing a viable climate bill before the climate summit are very grim. On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will run a series of studies after each committee’s climate and energy bills are combined into a single piece of legislation. Even though the bill passed through the EPW committee, other committees, such as the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Finance Committee, and Agriculture Committee, need to weigh in before the bill is reviewed by the EPA and sent for a vote in the full Senate. How will this affect climate talks in Copenhagen? Sheppard writes that, “Without the urgency imposed by the Copenhagen deadline, any little momentum that the climate bill had could disappear very fast.”
While this news is discouraging, Steve Benen of the Washington Monthly points out that, “It’s worth remembering that it wasn’t too terribly long ago that reports said the same thing about health care reform. Legislative battles can often take some unpredictable twists and turns.” This is certainly true, but in order for the legislation to pass, more Republicans will have to get on board. Democrats are trying to gain Republican support for a bipartisan bill by pledging to meet them halfway.
“For several GOP lawmakers, the key on energy policy is building new nuclear power plants. So, Dems are willing to make a deal — they’ll back approval for expedited construction of U.S. nuclear reactors in exchange for support for the rest of the bill,” Benen writes.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC.) showed that some Republicans are capable of exerting leadership. In a press conference with Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Graham criticized Republicans’ childish behavior toward climate change legislation. He asked, “If you can’t participate in solving the problem, then why are you up here?”
David Roberts writes for Grist that the three senators pledged to work with the White House to rescue the climate bill. The senators’ plan is not meant to undermine Sen. Boxer’s efforts but to strengthen the bill overall through a “dual track.”
“By stepping in, Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman are letting the political establishment know that the Very Serious grown-ups are back in charge. (It’s pretty telling that Kerry feels the need to craft another bill alongside the one with his name on it.) They will go to the White House, close the door, and hash out what kind of bill can really pass,” writes Roberts.
The road ahead won’t be easy. Congress’ inability to pass climate change legislation could ruin any chance of success in Copenhagen. In weeks to come, the bill will move on to other Senate committees and the world will be watching. Stay tuned.
This post features links to the best independent, progressive reporting about the environment by members of The Media Consortium. It is free to reprint. This is a project of The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets.
Read more: copenhagen, global warming, climate bill, senate environment and public works, republican boycott, james inhofe, barbara boxer
comments
Al Gore is the seven headed media beast right out of Revelations
watch this video NOW
American Holocaust the Dust Bowl, stock market crash and Great Depression resulted in the deaths of an estimated 7.5 million Americans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO-eVe2xJZs
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Al Gore is the seven headed media beast right out of Revelations
watch this video NOW
American Holocaust the Dust Bowl, stock market crash and Great Depression resulted in the deaths of an estimated 7.5 million Americans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO-eVe2xJZs
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Al Gore is the seven headed media beast right out of Revelations
watch this video NOW
American Holocaust the Dust Bowl, stock market crash and Great Depression resulted in the deaths of an estimated 7.5 million Americans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO-eVe2xJZs
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We may get this one through, but only because it won't really hurt the corporations. While we have the momentum, let's go ahead and do a carbon tax, which is what we really need.
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As of late these elected cry-babies are really hampering progress on a whole slew of fronts that America needs a lot of catching up to do. Just lay them back in their cradles and get back to doing America's business. They can definitely start with Inhofe.
As far as the only Republican consideration of attaching nuclear power plants onto the bill is the only area where I concur with Miss Lea's comments below. Nuclear power plants are very, very thirsty entities and do create a whole lot of wastewater from boric acid to radiation. Newer facilities do have scrubbing and chelation treatments along with ion exchangers to lower the radiation, but in due time not only the wastewater, but other irradiated products such as the spent fuel rods, clothing, piping, tools and equipment become a burdened issue on where to store it.
And indeed with a practical approach sprinkled with a little common sense, cap and trade is the way to go with this climate bill legislation as it is the best way to keep the corporations involved honest and to genuinely lower CO2 emissions.
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The only persons who will benefit from Cap and Trade and the Carbon tax is first, Al Gore, who owns two of the companies.
Next, nuclear energy is a very BAD move. The wastewater from these NPPs are going where? They're talking yet MORE contamination to the enviornment, and more possibility of being hit with dirty bombs, which would send the country into a nuclear holocost. It's an idiotic, 'dumb' idea.
There are other means in which companies that manufacture solar energy panels, and hydropower could benifit, as well as the makers of the wind power. There are way too many CLEAN options for THIS bill to mean anything good for the U.S.
The government has possession of not only the solar/electric car technology, but also the hydrocar, in which they REFUSE to restructure the automotive plants to build. This IS just another way to funnel money to government and the FED, along with Wall Street investors who have primary holdings in government contracts. THIS is what this is all about. It has nothing to do with clean energy. Nuclear is DIRTY energy. Just as they dump chemical waste into the waters and ground, which is destroying this planet, what do you believe they would do with the 'wastewater' from these plants? In our waters and ground without exception. It's just more political insanity, which benefits no one but the elite and power brokers. Government doesn't care about creating jobs for people, only income for themselves and their elite friends. PERIOD.
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if they pass cap and trade, we are doomed ... you cant find anything MADE IN THE USA, as it is .... with c&t. the few remaning manufactures will close, everybodies electric will go sky high, and everything we buy will have a extra tax on it because somebody will have to pay for c&t .... and it wont be the rich ... ( think about it ) .....
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We must cap, I see no point in trading carbon offsets and no evidence some of these companies can trade fairly or honestly.
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Once again, the Republicans prove that boycotting debates and votes is counter-productive to their interest.
We should be patient because this is important and deserves consideration; I am not certain cap-and-trade is the way to go. I would rather see a program that encourages renewables development (and enables nuclear, too!) by taxing fossil fuels, but that would take a degree of political courage which is not presently found in Washington.
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(Goddard Institute for Space Studies) Surface Temperature Analysis
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