Foreign Policy Blogs

No Surprises (Unfortunately) , Part Deux

The Democrats in the Senate have failed again to surmount Republican obstruction on getting even a scaled-down energy package moved along.  Last week, the Democratic leadership was forced to give up the ghost on the Renewable Portfolio Standard.  Today Harry Reid had to give up the package of tax cut rescissions that the oil and gas industry have been enjoying in recent years.  See this from Reuters.  See the vote here.

I'm supposed to be mostly objective, but I'm frankly too depressed now to comment.  I have commented at great length on the failures of Congress and the Bush administration before.  You can refer to any number of recent and not-so-recent posts on the energy legislation.  Where's the silver lining right now?  The upgraded CAFE standards?  Let's see what the White House does to undermine those.  (See A Shameful Presidential Threat, an editorial from today's "NY Times.") 

Consolation Prize for the Week:  California's emission-control law upheld on 1st test in U.S. court, from the "S.F. Chronicle."

 

Author

Bill Hewitt

Bill Hewitt has been an environmental activist and professional for nearly 25 years. He was deeply involved in the battle to curtail acid rain, and was also a Sierra Club leader in New York City. He spent 11 years in public affairs for the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation, and worked on environmental issues for two NYC mayoral campaigns and a presidential campaign. He is a writer and editor and is the principal of Hewitt Communications. He has an M.S. in international affairs, has taught political science at Pace University, and has graduate and continuing education classes on climate change, sustainability, and energy and the environment at The Center for Global Affairs at NYU. His book, "A Newer World - Politics, Money, Technology, and What’s Really Being Done to Solve the Climate Crisis," will be out from the University Press of New England in December.



Areas of Focus:
the policy, politics, science and economics of environmental protection, sustainability, energy and climate change

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