Image credit: Wikipedia/NISTSteve Benen offers this bit of inside baseball concerning the brand-spanking new version of the "energy/climate" bill that's coming from the Democrats real soon now:
So, instead of moving forward with the American Power Act blueprint, the Senate will likely advance a very different bill, with Kerry's package offered as an amendment.
Schumer's comments suggests Senate Dems aren't exactly swinging for the fences -- instead of seizing the opportunity and pushing an ambitious proposal, the new bill will apparently downplay efforts to combat climate change, and not include the cap-and-trade provision that has been at the heart of Democratic plans.
In effect, if Schumer's assessment is correct, Democrats will pursue a bill on energy policy -- new industry regulations, nuclear permits, some alternative energy investments -- not climate policy.
The legislation, then, will be anything but comprehensive. And barring an electoral miracle in November, cap-and-trade won't even be considered in Congress again until 2013, at the very earliest.
The oil spill crisis was enough to capture the nation's attention, but it wasn't enough to generate 60 votes for a modest, common-sense climate bill.
What Kind Of Energy/Climate Bill Might We Get?
Yes, they're going to do exactly what they did with the health care "reform" bill, the stimulus bill, the financial "reform" bill, and the "jobs" bill - start with a watered-down, pre-compromised bill that won't accomplish hardly anything, and then screw it up so badly we'll wish they'd done nothing, instead. You'd think by now that a seasoned observer like Benen would begin to notice a pattern here.
No, on second thought, you wouldn't.
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