• Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) says he is considering running to fill the Senate seat that Republican Mel Martinez is planning to vacate in 2010.
• Incumbent Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss prevailed in yesterday’s run-off election in Georgia. He beat out Democratic challenger Jim Martin, who was endorsed by Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters.
• The new U.S. Capitol Visitor Center — which cost $621 million — opened to fanfare yesterday. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he’s happy that he won’t have the scent of soggy, swampy tourists wafting through Congress anymore, thanks to the facility’s air conditioning. “In the summertime, because it gets so hot here, you could literally smell the tourists coming.”
• And finally, the D.C. city council passed emergency legislation yesterday to keep city bars open 24 hours a day during inauguration festivities, from Jan. 17 until the morning after the swearing-in on Jan. 20. Yes, I realize this doesn’t have anything to do with environmental politics.
