On top of touting natural gas as our new savior, the bill has pushed aside perhaps its most important measure — limiting emissions from large scale factories and energy plants by way of a climate pricing measure. Senator Reid has noted that there is a possibility that the carbon capping measure and other important issues, like pushing clean renewable energy sources, will be picked up after the upcoming November elections — do we hint a bit of re-election fear in the Democrats words here? A possibility doesn’t seem like enough to us, granted President Obama’s promise at the Copenhagen Climate talks last winter to cut US emissions by 17% of 2005 levels by 2020. With no real hope for a Climate Bill any time soon, who is going to spearhead this reduction effort? Lisa P. Jackson of the EPA has attempted to pick up this carbon issue — repeatedly coming up against brick walls — and President Obama has taken some measures to increase fuel efficiency standards in vehicles, but real nation-wide change must come from a Congress-backed bill.
Though we understand the difficulty that Senate Democrats are having with Republicans — the elephants just keep getting in the way of the donkey train — we’re completely disappointed in the way they’ve decided to respond. The Climate and Energy bill was unveiled just three months ago and they’ve already thrown it overboard. Even President Obama’s administration has come out to say they are disappointed in the Senate’s preemptive failure. With the catastrophic effects of our dependency on oil proving itself in the form of millions of gallons of crude spilled in the gulf of Mexico, shouldn’t this be the time to get a bill passed? If this isn’t the time for a Climate and Energy Bill, then when will be the time? With the Senate Democrat’s backing down after just 90 days like the Cowardly Lion, we’re wondering if the answer is never.
This was the best time for decades… Perhaps centuries, to introduce a bill with some real teeth in it. Sadly we\’ve lost.
-I guess if the Gulf situation keeps getting worse there could be another chance…
[...] Senate Democrats revealed their previously-announced completely pared-down energy bill yesterday, President Obama tried to calm the public by saying [...]
[...] industry to work itself out while they pursue broader energy policy initiatives — or perhaps abandon them in the fight. Well, a new research paper by Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public [...]