NO CLIMATE BILL FOR SENATE

Poll – Key U.S. senators do not see climate bil in 2010
Tom Doggett and Richard Cowan (w/Chuck Abbott, Christopher Doering, Timothy Gardner, Ayesha Rascoe, Deborah Zabarenko, Jasmin Melvin and Eric Walsh), 25 February 2010 (Reuters)

"The U.S. Senate is unlikely to pass a comprehensive climate change bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions this year…While the Obama administration and a bipartisan core of senators still hope there is life for a climate change bill that would put a price on carbon emissions and help reinvigorate ailing international talks, [12 key Democrat and Republican Senators who could hold the swing votes] interviewed by Reuters this week were much more pessimistic.

"The survey underscores that global warming -- a scientific finding still hotly disputed by many Americans -- could end up being set aside by politicians focusing on issues that hold more appeal to voters ahead of congressional elections in November…[I]t would be a further blow to global negotiators seeking to cobble together a successor to the Kyoto Protocol…It also would put the the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in charge, at least for the time being, of forcing such pollution controls. But even EPA this week notified Congress it would move somewhat more slowly with regulations and only against the big polluters…"

From Reuters. (click to enlarge)

"The sober assessment comes despite the latest effort to forge consensus by a trio of senators across the spectrum -- Democrat John Kerry, Republican Lindsey Graham and independent Joseph Lieberman - and after President Barack Obama offered additional measures to entice Republicans, including federal loan guarantees to help pay for more power plants.

"After months of work, the senators still haven't produced a bill they think can win broad support, although they say one will be unveiled soon. The House of Representatives passed a bill that included a contentious cap-and-trade mechanism last June, surprising many who thought a consensus could not be reached…The Senate's rules that usually require 60 votes to pass controversial legislation such as climate change also present a major hurdle."

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"…[W]hile lawmakers see little hope of the Senate approving a climate change bill this year, they are more optimistic about a stand-alone energy bill that would expand offshore drilling, support building more nuclear power plants and require a portion of U.S. electricity supplies to be generated by renewable energy sources like wind and solar power…A Senate panel already has approved such a bill…

"Lawmakers are responding not only to the political realities, but to their constituents, who are showing diminishing concern about global warming…The proportion of people who believe global warming is probably a hoax more than doubled since 2008 to 16 percent of the American public…Those who are most certain that global warming is happening and caused by humans has fallen to 10 percent from 18 percent…Even long-time supporters of legislation to fight global warming, like Democrat Dianne Feinstein from California, appear to be throwing in the towel for this year."