The U.S. Senate fails on climate change

International Herald Tribune ^ | June 11, 2008 | EDITORS

[ricks_place]

The most obvious lesson to be learned from the U.S. Senate's failure to mount any sort of grown-up debate on climate change last week is that the country needs a new occupant in the White House.

By that we mean a president who not only understands and cares deeply about the issue - which both Senators Barack Obama and John McCain say they do, and which President Bush clearly does not - but who is also willing to invest the time and the political capital necessary to push good legislation through Congress.

The bill that died in the Senate sought to reduce American emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by nearly 70 percent by 2050, short of what most climate scientists believe is necessary but an important first step.

The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, trumpeted climate change as "the most important issue facing the world today," and all of the players insisted they understood the stakes. Yet after three-and-one-half days of unhelpful partisan sniping, the Democratic leadership pulled the bill from the floor when only 48 senators voted to prevent a threatened Republican filibuster.

...

There are other fault lines. One huge issue that was not even addressed in last week's truncated discussion is what to do with the enormous sums of money likely to be raised by selling emission quotas to industry. Some senators would invest most of that money in clean technologies - wind, solar, even nuclear power - and in a new generation of coal-fired plants that could capture and store carbon emissions. Others would return a sizable share of the proceeds to consumers to help ease the pain of higher energy bills.

No one ever said that dealing with climate change would be easy or cost-free...

[ricks_place]

...what to do with the enormous sums of money likely to be raised by selling emission quotas to industry...

[penelopesire]

This needs a barf alert!

[shadowcat]

the us senate is a failure period,
Bastads ought to be beaten

[EQAndyBuzz]

“Others would return a sizable share of the proceeds to consumers to help ease the pain of higher energy bills.”

Then why take it in the first place?

[xcamel]

FReepmail me to get on or off

Click on POGW graphic for full GW rundown

New!!: Dr. John Ray's
GREENIE WATCH

The Great Global Warming Swindle Video - back on the net!! (click here)

Ping me if you find one I've missed.

---

IHT can p1ss off..

[sauropod]

The most obvious lesson to be learned from the U.S. Senate's failure to mount any sort of grown-up debate on climate change last week is that the country needs a new occupant in the White House.

The most obvious lesson to be learned from the general ignorance prevalent in the MSM is that they really need to be able to read credible scientific papers once in a while and not suck in the George SoreAss I'm gonna sell the oil market short spin.

What Crap. Capital C.

[sauropod]

Yet after three-and-one-half days of unhelpful partisan sniping, ...

Boo frickin' hoo!

[ArchAngel1983]

No one ever said that dealing with climate change would be easy or cost-free...

or truthful…

[benjamin032]

Who writes this tripe? We went from still debating the possibility of human contribution to a possible situation to demanding the government make us pay to solve the “crisis”.

[Myrddin]

No one ever said that dealing with climate change would be easy or cost-free...

The error is accepting that there IS a problem. From where I sit, I see perfectly normal variations in climate. There is no crisis and no need to use leftist political hysteria to craft a total destruction of our economy. The current high prices of petroleum products are an object example of what happens when leftists craft the legal strangulation of the economy. It's just the start of major economic pain if we don't toss those jackasses out of office and implement sane economic policies.

[Sherman Logan]

Curious that the President is blamed for what the author views as a failure by the Senate.

Why not blame the Senate? The president has no right to even speak on the Senate floor.

[chris_bdba]

“grown-up debate on climate change”

Oh brother! I lost interest here. So far no one who is convinced the climate is changing can answer why if it has never been this warm before were cold blooded reptiles (dinosaurs) able to live as far north as their bones have been found unless of course it was this warm before? I’ve had one tell me “I don’t want to talk to you anymore about this”. teehehe

[bill1952]

reduce American emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by nearly 70 percent by 2050, short of what most climate scientists believe is necessary but an important first step.

FIRST STEP??? What will they take from us after that?!?!?

[Nervous Tick]

>> Then why take it in the first place?

Because it needs to be passed through the bureaucracy’s alimentary tract — so it can nourish another million bureaucrats (a. k. a. Democrat voters).

Whatever flatus is left over will then be farted in the general direction of the taxpayers.

[rabscuttle385]

The most obvious lesson to be learned from the U.S. Senate's failure...

I stopped right there.

[paudio]

IHT is part of NYT group, I believe, so there’s no surprise here.

[KarlInOhio]

A vote so vital for world survival that McCain, Obama and Clinton all missed it.

[darkangel82]

There ARE no grown-ups in Congress.

[sam_paine]

IHT = NYT World Edition (You’re never to far from home to barf.)

[Myrddin]

The whole global warming hysteria is built on the Hegelian dialectic. Read the page at the link. You will understand the false premise of anthropogenic global warming being presented as "settled science" as the "thesis" step of the dialectic. All the "go green" crap in the media is aimed at pushing the "antithesis" part of the dialectic. The intent is to soften you up to accept the big state "solution". The draconian legislation that was proposed in the Senate (and Kyoto before it) is the "synthesis" element. Observe the whole mechanism to understand what is underway.