ON THE NO-ENERGY BILL, 3

The Dems’ Climate Change Fail
David Jenkins, July 26, 2010 (FrumForum)

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s recent announcement that the Senate will not take up a comprehensive energy and climate bill this year is the inevitable result of Reid and President Obama failing to lead on the issue and squandering one opportunity after another.

"In what might be described as the “audacity of nope,” the White House bristled at criticism that the president had not been engaged enough in the effort and lashed out at the environmental community…[but the] sad reality is that neither the President nor the Majority Leader ever got behind any specific approach or piece of legislation…The White House is lamely blaming lobbyists for not doing the president’s job of specifying what he wants and securing votes to drive his proposal to passage… Reid focused his ire on Republicans…[He]should review his office’s news clippings."

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"In April, as Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) were about to unveil their bi-partisan bill, Reid blindsided the trio by suggesting that he wanted to put climate on hold and move immigration reform to the top of the agenda...Graham, who was also putting together an immigration reform bill for next year with Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), saw that Reid and the White House were playing political games and withdrew from the climate effort.

"Another Republican, Senator Susan Collins of Maine, is co-sponsor of a bipartisan cap-and-dividend climate bill with Maria Cantwell (D-WA)…Neither of these bills had clear support from President Obama and Senator Reid. Neither Obama nor Reid has said much of anything about the Collins-Cantwell bill, the only bipartisan bill in the hopper."

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"Instead of getting behind a specific bill, Obama and Reid spoke in generalities and stood on the sideline…trying to gauge…[where there were] 60 votes…What kind of leadership is that?..[and] letting everything from healthcare to financial reform leap ahead of [the climate and energy bill] on the schedule.

"…[T]his prevented the Democrat caucus from being unified on an energy and climate strategy…Democrats in the Senate were undisciplined in both purpose and message…[It is] true that most Republicans remain opposed to putting a price on carbon pollution…[but there are] Republicans willing to work constructively to pass a climate bill... Much of the blame for failing to pass comprehensive climate and energy legislation properly rests with a risk-averse President and Majority Leader…"