Politico puts it well: So far, the worst oil spill in American history hasn’t jump-started climate change legislation in a gridlocked, shell-shocked Senate.
Sure, there’s a lot of excitement over eliminating the cap on BP’s liability (although Republicans blocked it as usual), but where’s the fervor over energy reform?
Just like the idle booms bulging with oil, the energy and climate bill is going nowhere fast.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is holding a last ditch session today with committee chairmen to see if they can figure out a strategy to move the bill foward.
You’d think this would be a perfect opportunty – the effects of offshore oil drilling are clear in the publics’ mind and polls show they’re more interested in climate change and renewable energy at the moment.
But Republicans continue to hold onto their filibuster, which requires Democrats to find an impossible 60 votes. Republicans still want drilling (in ANWR, of course) and they’re against a cap on carbon pollution.
"Cap and trade as we know it today is dead," said Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). "The Kerry-Lieberman-Graham thing fell apart because … I just never saw a commitment from the Democratic leadership to pursue it."
One strategy to push reform through would be to piggyback the Kerry-Lieberman package with the popular effort to eliminate BP’s cap on liabilities for the Gulf spill.
Time is not on their side any longer. There are two short summer work periods left before legislative action stops and attention shifts to the November elections.
But if Democrats lose their majority in November, there’s no chance a bill will pass.
Well, if Democrats used the Reconciliation process to pass health care reform with a simple majority, why can’t the same process be used for energy reform?
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