I’ve seen about 10 head-scratchers since the election about the prospects of climate-change legislation in the new Democratic Congress. They’re all working with the same basic premises:
- Scientific consensus has rendered denialism untenable.
- International pressure is growing.
- Barbara Boxer, the new Senate EPW committee chair, gets it.
- John Dingell, chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, doesn’t get it.
- Dingell is in powerful thrall to American automakers, who still — unbelievably — don’t get it.
- The oil barons have Democratic quislings in the House too, not just Republicans.
- Bush may veto a bill, or then again, may be forced to compromise.
Every piece more or less rearranges these facts. If I were smarter, better at self-promotion, and less lazy, I would have cranked out such a piece myself.
All of this is a roundabout way of saying that Brad Plumer at The New Republic has one of these pieces out. It’s better than most, and has some background on Dingell’s history on climate change. Worth a read.
