Senate Pushes Climate Change Bill to Next Spring

Well, we kinda knew this day was coming, but it’s sad to report nonetheless: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has announced that said Senate will not tackle the climate change bill until next Spring, in 2010. Which, to spell it out, means absolutely definitely no deal in the United States before the Copenhagen Conference next month.

AFP (via TerraDaily) notes that the failure to act means not only that Copenhagen is in trouble. The bill itself may have more problems now.

It also pushes what is likely to be a bitter debate to a mid-term election year, potentially making it harder to corral some of the swing-vote Senators needed to ensure passage of the bill.

Yes, now the bill may become watered down in order to pass muster with those Senators that don’t want to rile their constituents. This is what happens when you can’t elect people for life. 

Now, Copenhagen sure won’t come up with a legally binding agreement at this point, but there’s certainly still the possibility of a politically binding accord that will lead to a legal agreement in 2010, after Congress passes its bill. Because of that, the Copenhagen Conference still holds a lot of hope for the start of a global agreement on climate change issues. Simply because the agreement won’t come out of this doesn’t mean we ought to ease up in our pressure and support for a binding treaty to be signed next year - the sooner the better. Click that little “act” button under this post and lend your support!