Cap And Tax? Maybe Next Year

And by next year, Harry Reid means...never.

Senate Democratic leaders said Tuesday they would put off debate on a big climate-change bill until spring, in a sign of weakening political will to tackle a long-term environmental issue at a time of high unemployment and economic uncertainty.

Legislation on health care, overhauling financial markets and job creation will be considered before the Senate takes up a measure to cap emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases linked to climate change, Senate Democratic leaders said Tuesday.

...Momentum for a climate bill has been undermined by fears that capping carbon-dioxide emissions -- the inevitable product of burning oil and coal -- would slow economic growth, raise energy costs and compel changes in the way Americans live.

"It's really big, really, really hard, and is going to make a lot of people mad," said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.).

Democrats looking ahead to the 2010 midterm elections are concerned about a backlash from voters in industrial and heartland states dependent on coal. Republicans are portraying Democrats' "cap and trade" proposals, which call for capping overall U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions and allowing companies to buy and trade permits to emit those gases, as a "cap and tax" scheme.

"It's really big, really, really hard, and is going to make a lot of people mad," ...that about sums up the entire Obama agenda, doesn't it?

The House barely passed its version of this economy wrecking bill earlier this year and have now been hung out to dry by Senate Democrats. This bill was pretty much DoA this year, there's no way it's going to be coming back in an election year.

Of course, we're not out of the woods because Obama's EPA is likely to rule that CO2 is a public health danger. Such a ruling would give the agency widespread authority to regulate, well, just about anything.

Still, Obama really wanted this boondoggle in time for the Copenhagen Climate Summit. Considering that the chances of that circus producing any sort of agreement have apparently evaporated, it's a pretty bad week for the Gaia worshipers. As we all know, the tears of the Gaia worshipers are among the sweetest tears of all...plus they are carbon neutral!

Related enough...The Great ManBearPig Hunter thinks the temperature of the Earth's core is One Million Bajillion Degrees! Shut up, the science is settled.

posted by DrewM. at 09:52 AM

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