In a tacit admission that the United States Senate is a dysfunctional mess, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid acknowledged that the Senate will not vote on climate change legislation this year. A disappointed Harry Reid said, “Many of us want to do a thorough comprehensive [climate and energy] bill that creates jobs, breaks our addiction to foreign oil, and curbs pollution. Unfortunately at this time we don’t have a single Republican to work with in achieving this goal.” With Senate Republicans committed to lockstep obstruction of any and all Democratic legislation and a super-majority required to pass any legislation, Reid was faced with dropping this crucial legislation.
Why is it critical? The first six months of 2010 were the hottest ever recorded. Our oceans are rising, and warming to be hottest on record. The ocean is acidifying from CO2 overload as the Arctic ice cap shrinks to the lowest level in history. California faces a future of critical water shortages. The list of hair on fire problems is longer than anyone wants to read.
California was ahead of the game, passing a comprehensive climate law (AB 32) in 2006. Alas, that’s too much for the purveyors of the fossil fuels that are ruining the climate to bear. Having lobbied their Republican allies in Congress to kill the US climate bill, now, the oilies are coming to kill California’s climate law with Prop. 23, the Dirty Energy Proposition. I like to call it the Polluter Protection Act. Call it whatever you like, it is a dagger pointed directly at the heart of the only law in the country that deals effectively with climate change. Moreover, in trying to protect their enormous profits, these greedy polluters are content to kill the only sector of California’s economy showing signs of health.
While the Senate Democrats’ decision is disappointing, we in California don’t have a second to waste wringing our hands. It’s time to organize. Sign up now on the campaign Web site to defeat the Dirty Energy Proposition on the November ballot.
