US Congress Left Stunned On What To Do On Cap And Trade Bill

By Audrey Howard on February 15, 2010, 9:08 am

Back in the summer, the road to cap and trade seemed all but certain. Passage was supposed to be easy. Democrats were comfortable in painting the energy lobby into a corner and making Republicans cave to mounting scientific pressure on the dangers of global warming. A series of missteps, scandals and Mother Nature herself has made Democratic leaders in both houses of Congress take a second look at the certainty of passage, and what they see have them in a quandary.

There’s Not Enough Votes

As everyone already knows, the winning of the Massachusetts Senate seat by Republican Scott Brown dealt a death blow to the Democratic super majority. Republicans didn’t take long in going on the offensive, shutting down key Obama nominees for several positions. It now seems the Republicans, while not able to win up or down votes, have at least a strong bargaining position in the Senate to postpone or drastically alter any Democratic plans for cap and trade.

Those Emails Didn’t Help Either

An email scandal erupted last fall when U.K. researchers announced a hacker had stolen correspondence and had published the emails on the internet. Some of the emails contained passages that indicated that researchers were quashing evidence contrary to global warming’s existence, and displayed clear bias toward results from pro-global warming researchers. Critics were quick to point out that this demonstrated clearly that politics had a clear influence on so-called impartial research.

 

And Then There’s Snow

Three blizzards have swept up the Eastern seaboard this winter, dumping record amounts of snow. It is hard to argue that global warming is a real threat when there is 40 inches of snow on your doorstep. The public it seems is adopting a wait and see attitude. Maybe when all the snow melts will cap and trade have a chance. But don’t count on it.

Related posts:

1. Dems Say Mid Atlantic Blizzard Buries Global Warming Issue For Good
2. Is White House Likely To Go Into Retreat On Global Warming Plans?
3. Snowstorm Massive Delays: 32 Airports Affected On Eastern Seaboard
4. Unemployment Extension: 2.1 M Lose As Senate Goes On Vacation
5. Blizzard In Mid-Atlantic Region Has Blown Countless “Snow Budgets”

One Response to “US Congress Left Stunned On What To Do On Cap And Trade Bill”

1. It Was All A Lie says:

   February 15, 2010 at 5:59 pm

   The embattled ex-head of the research center at the heart of the Climate-gate scandal dropped a bombshell over the weekend, admitting in an interview with the BBC that there has been no global warming over the past 15 years.

   Phil Jones, former head of the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia, made a number of eye-popping statements to the BBC’s climate reporter on Sunday. Data from CRU, where Jones was the chief scientist, is key evidence behind the claim that the growth of cities (which are warmer than countryside) isn’t a factor in global warming and was cited by the U.N.’s climate science body to bolster statements about rapid global warming in recent decades.