Flickr user TunnelBug
Nobody in the mainstream media seems to care that debate has begun in the House this afternoon on the single most important piece of environmental legislation ever. As of 1 p.m. Eastern, there’s still no mention of the Waxman-Markey climate bill on the front page of the Times‘ website; the paper’s Caucus blog deems it worthy of a mention but changes the subject halfway through to talk about immigration reform. Climate Progress rues the Reuters headline: “Michael Jackson overshaddows Farrah Fawcett on a sad day.”
Meanwhile, Republicans are not being called out for spewing lies on the House floor about the bill’s scientific mandate and price tag. Many of them are repeating the bogus claim that the Congressional Budget Office found that the bill would add $.77 a gallon to the price of gasoline in the next decade. That number actually comes from the American Petroleum Institute, which decided to ignore the CBO’s real analysis and produce its own. In reality, the CBO found that gas prices in 2019 would be about $.20 higher than they are today. More important, it found that the climate bill will cost the average American the equivalent of a postage stamp per day–and before you count the benefit of energy efficiency savings.
Earlier this week, the Washington Post released a poll showing that 75 percent of Americans believe that the government should “regulate the release of greenhouse gases” from cars and other sources. So presumably, many people would actually care to know that a climate bill is up for debate, and that Republicans are doing everything they can–truth and future generations be damned–to kill it. These guys are the true kings of Neverland. We’re missing the one freak show that matters.
