It is shaping up like another stall, delay and lobby free for all in the U.S. Senate.Looks like the Worlds Greatest Deliberative Body [TM] may courageously kick vital legislation down the road. Who could have predicted?
Center for Public Integrity reports…the 60 or so venture and investment firm lobbyists together with the 170 alternative energy lobbyists and 160 environmental lobbyists, and they are still outnumbered 5-to-1 by the approximately 2,000 representatives of major sectors that are looking for a slow-down or hand-out - traditional manufacturers, power companies, oil and gas, transportation, and agriculture.
The total number of climate lobbyists working for all those interest groups, new and old, stands at about 2,780 - five for every member of Congress. That's 400 percent more than when lawmakers first considered a nationwide greenhouse gas emissions reduction program six years ago.
Three Senatorial profiles in courage------
Senator Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota) said that winning passage of climate change legislation in an election year had “very poor prospects”
Senator Ben Nelson (D- Nebraska) said that he would “just as soon see [climate change] set aside until we work through the economy”.
Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Ct.)"I don't think the Senate has an appetite for another such epic, polarized legislative war this session,"
No comments:
Post a Comment