I thought a lot about what to say about the visible-from-orbit, toxic, flaming train wreck that the US climate bill turned into, but luckily I don’t have to — Dave Roberts over at Grist has a post up that nails it perfectly. A few excerpts that stood out, even in that excellent summary:
Blame where it is due: I’m frustrated with Obama’s passivity on this issue. I’m frustrated with Reid. I’m frustrated with the environmental movement. But we should be clear about where the bulk of the responsibility for this farce ultimately lies: the Republican Party and a handful of “centrist” Democrats in the Senate. They are the ones who refused to vote for a bill, no matter how many compromises were made, no matter how clear the urgency of the problem. They are moral cowards, condemning their own children and grandchildren to suffering to serve their own narrow electoral interests. There isn’t enough contempt in the world for them. So when the anger and recrimination get going — as they already are — let’s at least try to keep the focus on the real malefactors.
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Big Coal will be back begging for cap-and-trade: No, really. Right now there are EPA rules in the pipeline that are going to shut down a third or more of the existing coal fleet. No new coal plants are going to get built — they’re not cost-competitive with natural gas or wind, and every one runs into a buzzsaw of grassroots opposition. In other words, carbon caps or no carbon caps, Big Coal is in trouble. Sooner or later, the industry will realize that the funding it can get from cap-and-trade, to support carbon capture and sequestration, is its only path to survival. Robert Byrd tried to tell the industry the truth before he died. Byron Dorgan tried to tell it the truth just the other day. By 2012, certainly by 2015 when many of the rules kick in, the industry will be forced to acknowledge this basic truth. And they’ll come begging Congress for cap-and-trade.
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“We don’t have 60 votes” is bull: Every cowardly senator repeats it like a talisman to ward off the terrible threat of having to act: “We don’t have the votes.” Two things to say about that. First, of course you don’t have votes for something this controversial before you go to the floor and force the issue. Pelosi didn’t have the votes before she took the House bill to the floor. She got the votes by twisting arms and making deals. She forced the issue. That was the only way the Senate vote could ever work — if the bill was put on the floor, the issue was forced, and Dems united in daring the GOP to vote against addressing the oil spill. There’s no guarantee that would have worked, but at least it would have been a political rallying point. It would have put senators on record. And it’s not like the wimpy avoidance strategy is producing better results.
By all means, go read it all.
I think the existing “cRap and trade” bill would not have accomplished half what it was supposed to…and yet I am far more depressed than I would have thought to learn that nothing–NOTHING–is in the energy bill for renewables…
It is like our society is incapable of doing even the smallest sensible thing, until after the F(#**$#& CRISIS!
I was a bit more optimistic about cap and trade — I think it would have made it to about 51% of what was promised. (Yes, that’s supposed to be a joke.)
But the utter failure of this process has convinced me more than ever that we won’t do anything until the feces hits the rotating impeller, as you pointed out. And by then, given the time lags in the human and natural systems, we will be in seriously deep trouble.
That’s the sad truth, Lou. As intelligent people come to realize that our window of opportunity is fast collapsing, we’re seeing more hair-brained discussions of “geoengineered” fixes after the human population has already begun its race for the poles. Well that’s reasonable — just look how well we’ve “fixed” the undersea oil volcano, a disaster that pales in comparison to the one just around the corner.
Have you noticed a rising sense of panic in the scientific community? I have and it troubles me, even though I’ve consciously accepted that disaster is inevitable.
Mark:
I can’t say I’ve noticed panic, exactly, but I have picked up on a heightened sense of urgency. I suspect that at least of the scientists are not only seeing which way the lines on the graphs are going, so to speak, but they’re also noticing the almost complete lack of response from policymakers. I imagine it’s quite a challenge (and a significant source of stress) for them to find ways to communicate this situation with the public and politicians while not harming the message, science, and themselves with overstatement.