The Slow Death of Climate Change Legislation

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The climate change bill is yet another piece of legislation being watered down almost to nothingness in a vain attempt to gain two or three Republican votes. This weekend’s new proposal from the Kerry-Graham-Lieberman team, for example, ditches economy-wide carbon pricing and instead would implement lobbyist-friendly caps on individual sectors. (It’s lobbyist friendly because this makes it much easier for lobbyists for specific industries to pick off their little piece of the pie. Before long, the whole thing is gone.) And anyway, Sen. Dick Lugar says it’s still no good: he could support carbon pricing “potentially at some point, but not at the moment.” Aaron Wiener translates:

Which is Congress-speak for: Sure, I’d consider voting for climate legislation, but not until after the midterm elections, when the Democratic majority will be sufficiently reduced to make passing a comprehensive climate bill impossible. At which point I’ll oppose it because “it simply doesn’t have the votes.”

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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