Climate Change Legislation Faces More Hurdles

Will climate change legislation go the way of immigration reform – pushed off the congressional agenda by more pressing matters?

Not if U.S Senate Democrats can help it, according to Politico.

The Democrats are reportedly urging President Barack Obama to intervene on the struggling legislation.

The latest blow to the bill was the withdrawal of support from Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R-S.C), who threatened to vote against the measure if Congress moved forward with immigration reform, even though he co-authored the legislation with Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass) and Joe Liberman (I-Conn).

“I care equally about immigration and climate change,” Graham said in a subsequent interview with the Washington Post. “But if you stack them together this year you’ll compromise climate and energy. You’ll compromise my ability to get votes on climate change. When I told everyone I would do climate, in fact, I was assured we also wouldn’t be doing immigration.”

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats believe Obama should speak personally with Graham, a senator who has been willing to work across the aisle in the past.

Still, Graham may not be the only roadblock.

Now there’s discussion about if the recent massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico could hinder the measure by providing yet another congressional distraction and dividing partisan support for offshore drilling, which is a key component of the bill.

A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report released this week noted that climate change can cause deaths from heat waves, property damage from floods and rising seas from melting glaciers.

Environmentalists said the report showed the need for a new energy and climate law.

It remains to be seen whether legislators can piece shattered support for the bill together in time to get such a law passed this year.

A Chicago native, Bridgette has been a journalist since she first wrote for her seventh grade newsletter. Today, that passion is just as strong. She has written for several newspapers, including the Houston Chronicle, the Houston Defender, the Marshall News-Messenger (Texas) and the Springfield News-Sun (Ohio).

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7 Responses to Climate Change Legislation Faces More Hurdles

1. MyAIC says:

   11:55am April 30, 2010 at 11:55 am

   Is Energy Technology Our Last Chance?

   Energy technology – the green revolution – may be America's last chance to hold on to the competitive advantages that made us the wealthiest and most powerful economy of the last century. Ending her speech at Arizona's Renewable Energy Future Summit, Governor Brewer said, "Having the sunshine and having the technology to harness it is only part of the story. The rest of the story has yet to be written."

   We better get typing, because if we don't write these next chapters – for our energy industry, our climate, and our economy – China (or Spain or Germany) will write them for us.

   http://www.arizonaic.org/blog/233-arizona-energy-…

   Reply
2. Ross Thomas says:

   2:54pm April 30, 2010 at 2:54 pm

   While you're enumerating things people have claimed might somehow be caused by fractional changes in the global average temperature anomaly, don't forget these:

   - More fog in San Francisco

   - Less fog in San Francisco

   - Genetic changes

   - Maple syrup shortages

   - Ice sheet growth

   - Ice sheet shrinkage

   - Hypothermia deaths

   - Heatwave deaths

   - Less heavy grey whales

   - Taller mountains

   - Shorter mountains

   - Psychiatric illness

   If it's not already clear enough that we should actually be much, much more terrified than you say, then hundreds more cataclysmic examples may be found at:

   http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/warmlist.htm

   Reply

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4. Bridgette Outten says:

   4:21pm May 2, 2010 at 4:21 pm

   Thanks for your comments! You both bring up some interesting points for discussion. Please continue to check back with us as we keep an eye on the issue.

   – Bridgette

   Reply
5. PeterK says:

   1:29am May 3, 2010 at 1:29 am

   Is Green Technologies The Way To Go?

   What are the harmful side effects of green technologies and how may they increase the risk of cancer?

   "Increased use of nickel-metal-hydride batteries (those used in electric vehicles) will necessarily require significant increases in nickel production and the impacts associated with nickel mining and refining."

   "High-level nickel exposure is associated with increased cancer risk, respiratory disease, and birth defects; the same is true with certain other metals, especially cadmium and lead." (materials used for solar panels)

   "Increased production of solar cells also can lead to increased environmental risks. For example, cadmium-tellurium (CdTe) compounds in photovoltaic systems and the potential for increased cadmium emissions from mining, refining, and the manufacture, utilization, and disposal of photovoltaic modules. Cadmium and cadmium compounds like CdTe are classified as known human carcinogens by the National Toxicology Program and the International Agency for Research on Cancer and as probable human carcinogens by the EPA."

   Just because its "Green" doesn’t mean it is all good for you. Keep things in perspective.

   Reply
6. Bridgette Outten says:

   7:59pm May 3, 2010 at 7:59 pm

   Thanks so much for visiting the site and your comment, Peter. I agree that all things natural aren't necessarily the best thing for you — isn't poison ivy natural? — and research is imperative. We have to be sure that going green will not only reduce our carbon footprint, but provide healthier alternatives for what may currently be in place.

   – Bridgette

   Reply

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