Monday, April 27, 2009

Dems straddle fence on emissions

Even Democrats are not immune to the influence of Big Oil and Coal.  Because of fence-sitting Democrats, we may end up with an energy bill passed by the House that mandates cutting CO2 emissions only 6 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, instead of 14 percent like Obama wanted.  Probably House Republicans will oppose any cuts, no matter how small, making passage uncertain and the bill's fate in the Senate even more precarious.

By comparison, the original 1997 Kyoto Treaty which the U.S. Senate refused to ratify then, and which Bush proudly rejected, proposed cutting greenhouse gas-emission levels 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.

http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2009/04/24/24climatewire-talks-intensify-in-search-for-committee-win-10666.html

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