If you are a supporter of President Obama, you may remember how — up until about two paragraphs from now — you felt optimistic, excited about the re-election of the president, thrilled he mentioned climate change in his speech.
Couple that with an increase in Democrats in the Senate — you’d be excused for thinking until you get a little further down this page — and we could see a real moment, a first-of-its-kind chance to actually address the looming threat of a warming world. Maybe — you thought until you reached the blockquote that’s about to appear — just maybe we’ll finally get the country back on track.
Honestly, Santa would be better.
And then you got to here. From The Hill:
The race to be the next chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee is getting underway.
Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), a climate change skeptic, on Wednesday explained why he’s seeking the gavel. …
Sensenbrenner faces competition for the slot from Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), who an aide said is “actively pursuing” the chairmanship. …
Smith — who has also questioned human-induced climate change — is currently chairman of the Judiciary Committee but must leave the post due to term limits on chairmanships. He said the science job is his true calling.
These are elected members of the House of Representatives, tasked with making laws for the citizens of this country, who are vying to be the head of the fucking House Science Committee.
Anyway, the point is that you shouldn’t have read this post if you wanted to maintain the illusion that Congress would work together to save the planet. Sorry about that.
This post is part of our November 2012 theme: Post-election hangover — whither the climate?
