PRES SAYS YES TO CLIMATE ACTION, SENATE STUCK

Obama gives good speech on climate change, and Congress shrugs

Greg Sargent, Sept. 23, 2014 (Washington Post)

“At the United Nations today, President Obama gave a decent speech about climate change. He hit a number of key points…[saying that climate change is ‘the most important and consequential issue of the 21st Century’ and though the science is undeniable], we are dangerously close to condemning the next generation to a future that is ‘beyond our capacity to repair’ …[and, more importantly, acknowledging that] ‘there will be interests that will be resistant to action’…[and concerns that] ‘if we act and other countries don’t, that we will be at an economic disadvantage’…[the U.S. will act but it] can only succeed in combating climate change ‘if we are joined in this effort by every nation, developed and developing alike. Nobody gets a pass…’

“…And yet, because any international climate treaty requires a two-thirds majority of the Senate, the administration is reduced to exploring ways of pursuing a treaty that isn’t legally binding and wouldn’t require Senate ratification…Environmentalists have worked hard to prove that climate can matter in electoral politics, but…[the Senate] will probably be unstable and closely contested, with very narrow majorities in either direction, for years to come…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet