“Yet the bill has no chance unless President Obama steps up. Mr. Obama pledged to “engage” with the Senate to pass a comprehensive energy and climate bill “this year.” This was one of those ticket-punching statements that isn’t going to change any minds. What he should have said is that he is going to hammer on the Senate until it does what this country needs.” -NYT Editorial, May 14, 2010
The Kerry-Boxer climate bill has finally “rolled” into the Senate for serious consideration. I’d like to think that the recent oil spill in the Gulf put enough pressure on elected officials to cut our dependence on fossil-fuels. I’d like to think that the bill will actually get through the Republican road blocks in the Senate. The fact is, time is running out for wishful thinking. President Obama and the EPA need to realize this, and assume leadership positions on this issue.
There is a glimmer of hope on the horizon: the Washinton Post recently reported that the EPA is “moving forward with carbon regulation,” which could be used as leverage. Industry would rather have a fairly pro-industry climate bill, than strict EPA regulation, so they might ease up their lobbying campaigns. Whether this is optimal, I don’t know. I do know that some type of regulation is better than nothing at all.
As a closing personal note to all of my K2C blog posts, I would like to share how important this climate change issue has been to my understanding of the US public policy process. Next year I will be attending a master’s program in public policy, hopefully to learn more about navigating our policy maze.
