Sen. Harry Reid, of Nevada, is hoping to get climate and energy legislation in front of Congress before they head home for the August recess. With the news from the Gulf only getting worse, he's hoping to create a BP-fueled bill that legislators can't say "No" to.
Well, good luck Harry.
Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is planning a high-risk, high-stakes strategy for bringing climate and energy legislation to the floor ahead of the August recess.The gamble: yoking a bipartisan, fast-track measure to overhaul offshore drilling rules with a broad, contentious bill capping greenhouse gas emissions that otherwise would have almost no chance of passage on its own.
Democrats are mixed on the strategy for notching 60 votes. Some argue that public perception of fossil fuels in the wake of the BP oil spill will sway enough of the partys swing votes and open Republicans to attack if they oppose the measure as their reelection campaigns head into the homestretch.
Republicans are not supporting virtually anything to transform our energy system, said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Thats not what the American people want. So I think you bring forth a strong bill, you rally the American people and I think the Republicans will respond as a result of that."
Read the rest of this Politico article, by Coral Davenport and Darren Samuelsohn, here.
Here's Harry's cohort in the house calling climate and energy legislation "a moral issue."
Here's Archbishop Rowan Williams also saying climate legislation is a moral issue:
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