Spring Break
Republicans boycott climate meeting
GOP senators protest chairwoman's refusal to order new analysis of legislation
Alexander C. Hart - Tribune Washington Bureau
Issue date: 11/5/09 Section: World News
WASHINGTON (MCT) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Congress Tuesday to take dramatic action to stop climate change, but the political difficulties were evident as Republicans boycotted a Senate committee meeting to consider changes to a climate change bill.
"We cannot afford missing the objectives in climate protection," Merkel said at a joint session of Congress. "The world will look to us, to the Europeans and to the Americans."
But Republicans shunned the Environment and Public Works Committee meeting to protest committee Chairwoman Sen. Barbara Boxer's refusal to order a full new analysis of the legislation, preventing votes on amendments.
Boxer (D-Calif.) and other committee Democrats argue that the Environmental Protection Agency's existing analysis, based on a similar bill passed by the House of Representatives in June, is sufficient.
Republicans rejected that logic.
"I don't recall finding meaningful solutions with incomplete information and stark partisanship," said Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio), who explained his party's objections before departing, leaving the hearing room devoid of Republican senators.
But the fight over the analysis is just one manifestation of the serious divisions underlying climate change legislation.
"All of it has become a bit of a sideshow," said Frank Maisano, an energy specialist at lobbying and PR firm Bracewell & Giuliani. The analysis fight is "the biggest manufactured issue to distract from the real issues so far."
Most Democrats and some Republicans want to take action to reduce emissions of gases that cause climate change. But negotiating the specifics of that action proves challenging.
Among the Democrats, there are coal-state and conservative senators such as Montana's Max Baucus and West Virginia's Jay Rockefeller who worry that legislation could harm their states' economies.
As a result, Democrats will likely need some Republicans in order to pass a bill in the Senate at large, said Daniel J. Weiss, a senior fellow at the left-leaning Center for American Progress Action Fund.
"We cannot afford missing the objectives in climate protection," Merkel said at a joint session of Congress. "The world will look to us, to the Europeans and to the Americans."
But Republicans shunned the Environment and Public Works Committee meeting to protest committee Chairwoman Sen. Barbara Boxer's refusal to order a full new analysis of the legislation, preventing votes on amendments.
Boxer (D-Calif.) and other committee Democrats argue that the Environmental Protection Agency's existing analysis, based on a similar bill passed by the House of Representatives in June, is sufficient.
Republicans rejected that logic.
"I don't recall finding meaningful solutions with incomplete information and stark partisanship," said Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio), who explained his party's objections before departing, leaving the hearing room devoid of Republican senators.
But the fight over the analysis is just one manifestation of the serious divisions underlying climate change legislation.
"All of it has become a bit of a sideshow," said Frank Maisano, an energy specialist at lobbying and PR firm Bracewell & Giuliani. The analysis fight is "the biggest manufactured issue to distract from the real issues so far."
Most Democrats and some Republicans want to take action to reduce emissions of gases that cause climate change. But negotiating the specifics of that action proves challenging.
Among the Democrats, there are coal-state and conservative senators such as Montana's Max Baucus and West Virginia's Jay Rockefeller who worry that legislation could harm their states' economies.
As a result, Democrats will likely need some Republicans in order to pass a bill in the Senate at large, said Daniel J. Weiss, a senior fellow at the left-leaning Center for American Progress Action Fund.
Be the first to comment on this story