In an earlier posting I said that the US government was going to attempt to get a fairly feeble climate bill through this year. The prospects of getting even this watered down effort passed weren't great. Yet it was crucial it was successful so that things could move forward on a global front.
But this was all before a certain oil rig started spilling it's guts in the Gulf.
Now the Democrats feel the time has come to draft a bill that will set targets and timelines for moving the US towards a low emission economy and away from it's dependence on fossil fuels. This not only makes sense from a global warming point of view but, crucially, it makes sense for America's energy security. And, it sounds like that's how the Democrats are going to try to sell it to the Republicans they need with them to get the bill through. The Democrats seem confident they can do this too.
This is good news. Fantastic news in fact. If they have the time to both draft and pass this bill before the mid term elections (When the Democrats are likely to be weakened) this could represent a turning point in the battle against climate change.
(More here & here).
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