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Posted Tuesday, October 27, 2009 1:55 PM

Environment Committee Republicans Ditch Climate Hearing

Daniel Stone
Senate Republicans have made little secret of their intent to oppose cap-and-trade legislation. Last week Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe—possibly Congress's most vocal climate change skeptic and opponent of climate legislation—threatened that if environment committee chair Sen. Barbara Boxer tried any funny business before the markup of the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, such as not giving members enough time to review it, he would lead a boycott of the meeting among all Republicans on the committee, on which he is the ranking member. It would have been a brazen move to slow the committee’s debate by simply not showing up, thus causing the body to not make quorum. But for a party impotently in a 7-12 minority, Inhofe recognized that his options are limited. “The only leverage we have is the quorum leverage,” he told The Washington Post late last week.

Inhofe hasn’t yet had to make good on his promise. In fact, this morning when Boxer opened the first of several high-profile committee hearings to discuss the legislation, the benches on both sides were nearly full. But following the series of five-minute opening statements by all members, there was a Republican exodus—one after another, all packed up their papers and walked out. It didn’t appear to be an organized movement of any kind, but was certainly noticeable to the rows of reporters in the room, as well as the panel of administration officials—Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson—who sat through several hours of opening statements to answer the panel's questions. By the end of that time, not one GOP voice remained.

Timing can often be unpredictable in committee hearings and most members keep strict schedules, so several empty seats on their own are not terribly newsworthy. But zero Republicans present to hear four cabinet secretaries shines light on the depth of the partisan disconnect on a climate-and-energy bill. Most of the members who left, including Sen. David Vitter, Sen. Lamar Alexander, and Sen. John Barrasso are unlikely to support the legislation no matter what it looks like or how long they have to review it. Not even one of their colleagues, however, staying to hear a distinguished panel is quite unusual. Just like with bold health-care legislation, a Republican attempt to filibuster Boxer’s bill (which she introduced with Sen. John Kerry) is all but a given. With Republicans increasingly distant on the issue, it’s also a given that Democrats have their work cut out.
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Member Comments

Posted By: DougmanJ (October 27, 2009 at 5:06 PM)

Landrieu won't be on board with climate legislation either.  She can't.  The Oil, Natural Gas and Petrochemical industries are huge in Louisiana; they employ the most people.  You can get a 60K/year job in a chemical plant or oil rig with no high school diploma.  This is an attractive option for many in a state with low education levels and high levels of poverty.  Plus, (white) people down here  straight-up don't like Obama.  They don't like anything he does or says.  This is why Landrieu may not vote for the health care bill, but if she does, Louisiana will definitely be an "opt-out" state.  Landrieu, in any other state, would be called a Republican.

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Posted By: JustAJoe (October 27, 2009 at 3:25 PM)

The Republicans have chosen to be judged not by their proposals, because they don't ever have any, but by their constant criticism. This gets them immediate press, but after the Bush years, America came to dout the Republicans ability to govern. I think there will be a surprised in the mid-term when it becomes evident they have nothing to show to change that opinion. Somewhere on the campaign as they rail against this and that they are going to be asked "OK, but now what?"

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Posted By: Rmoen (October 27, 2009 at 2:44 PM)

Global warming and whether we should attempt to address it is a hugely complex issue for climate scientists.  It helps no one that the Republicans play politics with the issue.  It helped no one the Democrats turned the issue into a form of religious zealotry.

I blame the politicization of climate science on the United Nation's 'Climate Change 2007' report that claimed CO2 drives global warming. This conclusion, made in the report's summary, went well beyond the scientists' findings in the body of the report. The fact is, the UN's claim is not backed up by a smoking gun that proves CO2 drives global warming. This 'leap of faith' is hugely important to our energy policy.

Hindsight also makes it clear that the UN had not even proved their most basic point: that climate change is global. Their data and recent discoveries suggest climate change varies by region.

If 'drives' and 'global' are correct, America and the rest of the world must quickly restructure our energy infrastructure to reduce CO2 emissions. But if CO2 merely 'contributes' to global warming we need to rethink our response to whole thing. If Mother Nature actually drives climate change, then we should not move precipitously to burden our economy with carbon taxes and alternative-energy subsidies. I, for one, do not want to pay a dollar or two more per gallon, skimp on the heater or see the blight of wind mills because of faulty science. Moreover, America just can't afford it.

Sadly, we out-sourced our scientific opinion to the United Nations. ...an organization more concerned about political influence and funding than conducting good science, that needs to perpetuate the Kyoto Protocol to remain in the game.

It's crystal clear. The United States needs our own objective, transparent climate commission to think-through global warming. We need the advice of a Climate Truth Commission before we burden our economy with expensive energy. Both sides of the man-made global warming issue should welcome such an approach. Each is so darn sure of its facts.

-- Robert Moen, www.energyplanUSA.com

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